Digital dashboards are designed to minimise clutter on your screen; a core panel that keeps your widgets tidy and readily accessible. But as more and more productivity tools come into the market — each one boasting to do and look better than the last ― we’re finding ourselves bogged down in dashboards and the apps they contain.

But isn’t the whole point of these tools to simplify our lives and our work? If you’re finding that technology is starting to work against you, let’s take a step back and remind ourselves of their purpose; dashboards should support you in keeping track of your content marketing metrics. Here’s some things to consider to get the best out of your tech.

More time spent on downloads

Nielsen data released earlier this year showed that U.S. consumers are now spending around 65 per cent more time using apps on their smartphones than they did a couple of years ago (to see what I mean, just check how cluttered your phone is right now…). This has meaningful implications for the world of content marketing. Firstly, it tells us that people are now more engaged in the digital environment than ever before, which just goes to show why a solid online content marketing strategy is so important.

It also reminds us that, as businesses, we too are consumers; we’re always looking to download the latest technology that claims will help us do our jobs better and faster and more efficiently. Marketing metric dashboards are an excellent example of this; they allow us to monitor large amounts of data such as sales statistics, conversion rates, website performance and social media, without wasting time trawling through numbers. However, as your widget collection expands and your dashboard grows more confusing, this drive towards productivity can backfire.

Technological overload — when less is more

You'd be forgiven for assuming that the more dashboard details you have at your disposal, the more efficient you will be. But is that really the case?

Dashboards create a ‘central control’ platform for your metrics, and that's valuable. Working without one is almost like having documents scattered all over your computer with no structured filing system in place. However, most of us have a tendency to oversubscribe to digital tools simply because they’re available, not because they’re actually useful.

As your attention stretches across too many apps, oversights start to become commonplace. The the risk of miscommunication and unseen messages or — even worse, missed deadlines and cranky clients ― can dramatically rise. To deal with this, many of us add more apps in an attempt to stay afloat, thinking that better organisational tools is the answer. But all this does is provide an opportunity for further distraction (just think of how many alarms, tings, rings and notifications already pop up and interrupt your work day), and productivity suffers as a result. It's total technological overload.

Too many apps slow down your computer and your mobile devices, so when you think about it, they’re probably slowing you down too.

Consolidate your dashboard and boost productivity

Do you really use all of the widgets on your dashboard, or are they just creating clutter and scattering your focus? Before investing in a dashboard system, consider exactly what data and apps you need to display; how you’ll use the information on your screen, and how tracking various metrics will, in practice, help you achieve your content marketing objectives. Dashboards let you customise, so don’t just go with the default.

Remember: these tools exist to consolidate information and boost productivity — not create additional work.

Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter which apps or technology you choose or adopt for your business— so long as it benefits your content marketing strategy and broader business goals. Furthermore, make sure everyone on the team is working with the same technology, so that you’re all basing your decisions on the same set of information.

Which brings me to another awesome resource: over the past few months, we’ve been using ourselves as guinea pigs to seek out the most effective systems that enhance productivity — and we’re going way beyond your digital dashboard. If you’re keen for some of that intel, contact us here — we’re eager to share what we’ve found!

In the meantime, visit our blog to access a stack of other tips on how to streamline your online content marketing activities and connect with the audience you want to reach.