Your Smartsheet Isn’t “Too Complex” It’s Just Doing Too Much

If you’ve ever opened your Smartsheet setup and thought “this feels like a lot,” you’re not alone.

Many teams assume that when Smartsheet starts to feel heavy, confusing, or hard to maintain, the system has outgrown its usefulness.

In reality, most systems don’t become unusable because they’re too complex.

They become unusable because they’re doing too much at once.

How “Helpful” Systems Slowly Turn Into Messy Ones

Almost every messy Smartsheet system starts with good intentions.

A new column gets added to track one edge case.

An automation gets layered on to solve a one-time problem.

A duplicate sheet gets created because “it was faster than fixing the original.”

None of these are mistakes on their own.

But over time, they stack.

What you’re left with is a system that:

• Has more columns than anyone actually uses

• Fires alerts people ignore

• Includes logic no one remembers setting up

• Feels fragile (like touching one thing might break five others)

That’s not sophistication. That’s clutter.

When Complexity Starts to Cost You

Overbuilt systems don’t just feel annoying, they quietly create risk.

Teams stop trusting the data because they’re not sure what’s accurate anymore.

Dashboards feel “off,” even if no one can explain why.

New team members struggle to onboard because nothing feels intuitive.

Eventually, people work around the system instead of inside it.

At that point, the problem isn’t effort. It’s that the system no longer supports how the team actually works.

Why Rebuilding Is Usually the Wrong Move

When systems reach this stage, the instinct is often:

“We should just rebuild this.”

But rebuilding without simplifying usually recreates the same problem — just in a cleaner-looking format.

If you don’t remove what’s unnecessary:

• You carry forward unused logic

• You keep automations no one wants

• You preserve complexity instead of eliminating it

That’s why many teams rebuild… and end up right back here six months later.

What a Smartsheet Cleanup Actually Does

A cleanup isn’t about starting over.

It’s about subtracting intentionally.

A proper cleanup focuses on:

• Removing columns that don’t drive decisions

• Simplifying logic so it matches real workflows

• Eliminating automations that create noise

• Consolidating duplicate or outdated sheets

• Restoring trust in the data that remains

The goal isn’t to make the system impressive.

The goal is to make it usable, reliable, and calm again.

This is exactly the kind of work I do when teams tell me, “It technically works… but it feels like too much.”

Simple Is Easier to Maintain (and Easier to Trust)

The healthiest Smartsheet systems aren’t the ones with the most features.

They’re the ones where:

• People know where to go

• Data means the same thing everywhere

• Dashboards answer clear questions

• Changes don’t feel risky

Simple systems are easier to maintain, easier to support, and easier to grow with.

And when your system feels lighter, your team feels it too.

Final Thought

If your Smartsheet setup feels overwhelming, the answer usually isn’t more structure.

It’s less noise.

You don’t need a rebuild.

You don’t need more features.

You need a system that’s doing exactly what it should and nothing more.

If your Smartsheet feels bloated or hard to maintain, a cleanup is often the fastest way back to clarity.

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