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Summer Tech Tip: Clean Up Your Digital Workspace Before the Busy Fall Semester
Posted July 8, 2026
by ITS
Summer is the perfect time for SIUE faculty and staff to perform a little digital housekeeping. With fewer meetings, classes, and campus activities competing for attention, taking a few minutes now can improve productivity and reduce stress when the fall semester arrives.
Start by reviewing your OneDrive and Outlook storage. Delete outdated files, archive old emails, and organize important documents into clearly labeled folders. A well-organized digital workspace makes it easier to locate information quickly and collaborate with colleagues throughout the academic year. Microsoft 365 tools available at SIUE provide cloud-based storage and collaboration features that work best when content is organized and current.
Next, take time to review your Teams settings. Unsubscribe from inactive channels, update notification settings, and pin the teams and chats you use most frequently. This helps reduce distractions and ensures important messages don't get lost when campus activity ramps up in August.
Summer is also an excellent opportunity to strengthen cybersecurity habits. Update passwords, verify multifactor authentication settings, and refresh your knowledge of phishing awareness. Cybersecurity threats don't take vacations, and a few proactive steps can help protect both personal and university data.
Finally, consider exploring other Microsoft 365 features such as Copilot, Teams enhancements, advanced Outlook organization tools, or numerous other applications withing Microsoft 365. Learning one new productivity feature during the summer can save hours of work over the course of the academic year.
Summer Tech Challenge: Spend 30 minutes this week organizing files, cleaning up your inbox, and checking your security settings. Your future self will thank you when the fall semester begins!
