Digital decluttering has become as essential as brushing your teeth twice a day. Especially now, when the knowledge industry has mass moved to online and remote work. Our mental wellbeing and productivity can suffer great consequences unless we learn to keep our online spaces tidy and organised. Clutter can take up space on devices and slow them down.
The way you set up your desktop on your home computer, browser can easily be distracting you and slowing down your productivity.
Ask yourself
Which apps do you use most, and which do you rarely use? Which are distracting, and which are genuinely helpful? How much time do you spend on your devices? What do you spend most of your time doing? Are your phone and computer equally cluttered, or is one more organised than the other?
The better you understand your digital life, the more effectively you can declutter and simplify it. Get honest with yourself about what’s necessary to hold on to and what parts of your digital life you can let go.
Below are some practical simple tasks that don’t just declutter, but keep you better organised and keep your files safe.
Organise your photos
Organise your photos’s into folders. Kids, Holidays, Day out, Instagram. Work, etc.
Delete any photos that are of bad quality or unimportant.
Set up a drop box or one drive on your computer and store the good ones in here weekly.
Use photo apps like Chatbooks and create simple photo books for less than £8.00. I love producing these and we store than in month order so we can look back at memories.
Clear out those Apps
There are so many great free apps out there that is hard not to resist downloading a few every so often and just having a play. But how often do you actually use that app? Try and keep the ones that you actively use all the time and the ones that help you out in your day-to-day life. Apps can take up so much space so make sure you go through these and delete the ones you haven’t used or have maybe only clicked on twice in a month.
Inbox
First, put any important emails into folders. Think receipts, client-related emails, and anything you reference often. Even if you have to keep a lot of emails, it’s better to have them filed away than sitting opened in your inbox.
Next, delete the junk! Clean out your inbox, promotions folder, and junk mail. Then, enjoy your beautiful, empty inbox!
Delete Email accounts
Delete accounts that aren’t necessary and that you don’t use often. Or at least remove them of your phones and tablets and keep access via your computer just in case something important may come through.
Unsubscribe to email marketing
Since the new GDPR rule has come in you should have been given the option to opt out of unwanted email marketing material. If you’re getting lots of these emails a day and they are services you don’t require or maybe once did years a go now is the time to hit the unsubscribe button. Every time and an email with no real relevance to you hits your inbox scroll down to the bottom and hit unsubscribe.
If you haven’t already subscribed to my mailing list then please do as I send out regular tips and tricks,
Social Media
This may seem harsh but defriend, unfollow and clear out those social media feeds. Do you really need to be in touch with people who when you pass in the supermarket turn their head. Social media can be a real numbers game a bit of a popularity contest amongst friends but stop seeing it as this and have the people on yours that really matter to you and start to enjoy your news feed.
Desktop
A clean and organised desk helps you focus and become more productive.
Clean up your files and folders and get rid of any unnecessary old files. Create folders to organise
and have a happy engaging wallpaper to keep focus.
Remember to allow yourself time to declutter your digital life.
