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Don’t forget to Declutter your digital life

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.

Woman's,Hands,Cleaning,Kitchen,Top,In,Gloves

What are some of the dirtiest items in your home?

Everything we touch daily is covered in millions of living bacteria but not a lot of us know how often we should clean the items we use all the time. Some bacteria is actually good for our immune system but on the other side of the spectrum some can make us really sick. Germs can spread from person to person and from person to surface. Hand washing is so important and so many still go to the toilet and do not wash their hands.

Did you know?

Your bed

That you sleep in every night is covered in dead skin and your pillow case can contain more germs than your toilet seat.and your sheets can contain more germs than your bathroom door handle!  How disgusting is that. I am always asked about yellow pillows and this explains all, always use pillow protectors and ensure you wash your bedding at least one a week.  Fresh air in the bedroom too can really help and keep the bacteria from spreading and go deeper and deeper into your mattress. You should turn your mattress every six months and get a new mattress every seven years. Over time your mattress can become heavy from dead skin, gallons of sweat and millions of dust mites so make sure you hoover your mattress too or use a mattress cleaning system.

TV remote

Is one of the most commonly overlooked household objects that nearly everyone comes into contact multiple times per day. Your remote gets dropped on the floor, lost in the couch, coughed on, sneezed on, spilled on, and covered with any number of sticky messes. Most remotes are not designed to be easily cleanable and some TV remotes with a lot of nooks and crannies can’t be cleaned well even if you try to do so. ensure you wipe over your TV remote daily and spray with an antibacterial cleaner.  Always wash your hand when you come into the home or after using the bathroom to help keep the build up or germs and bacteria at bay.

Mobile phone and tablet

It’s a well-known fact that phones and tablets are dirty objects, but just how unclean are they? each square inch of your phone or tablet contains roughly 25,000 germs making it one of the filthiest things you come in contact with on a daily basis. That’s something to think about the next time you press your face to your phone. I tend to wipe mine over a few times a day with an antibacterial spray plus I also remove the case and place this in warm soapy water.  If your out and about having a coffee use handy handbag cleaning wipes to clean the table before you put your phone down and have an area in your handbag just for your phone or tablet.

Makeup Brushes

This is an important one. You need to be cleaning your brushes and sponges at least once a week. Among the nasty bacteria living in the bristles on sponge is Streptococcus, which can cause strep throat, scarlet fever and impetigo. If you are suddenly suffering from acne, pimple or an outbreak of spots then your makeup brushes could be the problem. Wash with baby shampoo or swirl in some olive oil.

Dish Cloths

The most important thing you need to know is that your dish cloth is most likely dirtier than your toilet flush handle or button. Soak daily in bleach or an antibacterial cleaner.  Sponges can go in the dishwasher too.

Washing Machines and Dishwashers

You would think that because these are constantly filled with soapy water then they are clean  but your wrong. These items keep your cloths and plates clean so they need to be cleaned on a regular basis. Think of all the dirt they pull off daily! A dishwasher can contain E.coli and pathogens that lead to infections of the urinary tract and skin. You should place a cup of vinegar and run through a hot water cycle weekly add in a drop of lemon juice too to create a fresh clean smell and with your washing machine keep the seal clean and run an empty cycle weekly..Read my Washing Machine Care feature and How to look after your dishwasher

Toothbrushes

In my opinion you need to change your toothbrush monthly as they are pron millions of oral bacteria. Did you know that when you flush the toilet chain and don’t put the lid down first, particles of toilet water, including faecal matter can spray up to 6 feet and land on your tooth-brush! Gross!  But this is true try to keep it in a cupboard or as far away from the toilet as you can. Its important to give your bathroom an Intense clean once a week, take a look at how I do mine CLICK HERE

Good habits like taking your shoes off before walking through the house and washing your hands after using the bathroom or touching raw food can help the amount of germs that build up in your home.

As always Thank you for reading
Lynsey Queen of Clean xoxo