Can you believe April is coming to an end? I’ve spent the last few weeks diligently working on my spring cleaning. Not only was I dusting the shelves and wiping down the walls, but there was also a lot of decluttering involved. After making several trips to the donation bins, I’ve realized that decluttering doesn’t just apply to our physical space but to our digital space as well.
Keeping an area that’s organized and free from clutter is so important. It lowers our stress levels and boosts productivity. This applies both physically and digitally. We wouldn’t want to go through a drawer filled with unorganized papers, so why would we want to open our inbox and scroll and scroll through unwanted emails? The task of decluttering digitally may seem overwhelming, but here are 7 tips you can utilize today.
Decluttering Your Computer
1) Create folders. Create folders to ensure that each document and file has its own place. Separate your personal files from your professional files so they may be found with ease. I like to create folders within folders. This means that I’ll have a folder that says ‘Personal’ and then add additional ones inside. This ensures I’m not looking at a screen filled with folders and can’t determine whether it’s personal or work related. Some folders for your personal files may include schoolwork, music, photos, and eBooks. While folders for your professional files may include taxes, contracts, and invoices.
2) USB storage. In order to keep my computer free from digital clutter, I store files that don’t need to be accessed often on a USB stick. These can include receipts for warranties, contracts, and tax files. While there are services online that allow us to safely store these files, I prefer to use a USB stick since I already own several. This ensures that only current and used files exist on my computer.
3) Name files mindfully. It’s easy to save a file under the name that’s automatically generated, however it’s not practical in the long run. If your files aren’t organized, it can be difficult to locate because you can’t search the file name. Instead, take a moment to mindfully name the file so it can be found with ease when you need it. For example, I like to include the month, year, and topic for my invoices. This is especially helpful during tax season when I’m trying to locate and organize my files.
The best way to find out what we really need is to get rid of what we don’t.
marie kondo.
Decluttering Your Phone
4) Delete and unsubscribe. If your inbox is currently overflowing, take a few minutes to create folders to store important emails such as personal, work, receipts, etc. Once they’re stored, it’s time to go through the rest and start unsubscribing from newsletters that are adding to the clutter. From here on out, when you receive unwanted or unimportant emails, delete them immediately so they don’t get the chance to accumulate again.
5) Get rid of unused apps. How many apps do you have on your phone? How many of those apps are utilized daily, weekly, or monthly? If you haven’t used an app in over a month, it’s probably a good idea to get rid of it to free up extra storage space. If you’re unsure about whether to get rid of an app, just remember it’s always available for re-download when you need it.
6) Go through your camera roll. Photos can accumulate just as quickly as emails. I previously had over 400 photos on my camera roll and now I’m left with less than 30. If you currently have a lot like I did, take a few minutes each day to go through your photos. Store the memories you want to keep on a photo storage site such as Google Drive and Photobucket or on a USB stick like me and delete the rest.
7) Delete those messages. How many text messages are currently in your inbox? How many of them are over several weeks or months old? How many of them are actually useful? We not only use our phones for texting friends and family, but for receiving 2 step verification codes, credit card alerts, delivery confirmations, etc. These messages can take up a lot of space. Take a few minutes today to delete and clear out your inbox.
Have you thought about decluttering your digital life? Do you use online storage? If so, do you have any recommendations? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I hope this post inspires you to not only declutter physically but mentally as well. We deserve to let go of the things that aren’t adding value to our lives. For more productivity posts, visit my tag here.
RELATED POST: 10 Quick and Easy Ways to Declutter
Orgnaising in folders and correctly renaming them is such a great way to keep track of everything. It saves time too, instead of going through folders, just search for it and you get it in seconds
Yes, it makes things so much easier! Thank you for reading Pooja!
Went through my phone recently, only to discover that I had almost 20 redundant apps! Hoping it will help with the battery life. Thank you for this post!
It’s so easy to allow old apps to linger! I’m happy you were able to get rid of so many. Thanks for reading Laura!
These are all such great tips – thank you for sharing! My digital life has a way of getting so cluttered SO fast. You’ve inspired me to go get more pictures off of my phone today! 🙂
I’m so happy this served as inspiration! Good luck with clearing space on your phone Heidi! Thanks for reading. 🙂
These are good tips! Photos are the hardest things for me, I have them on my phone and on google photos until I run out of space on my phone, haha! Then I back them up to external storage, so they are online with google and I have a copy too. I have had data storage fail on me before so I’m trying to be really careful with more than one backup!
Hope that you had a good weekend 🙂 It’s a nice relaxing long weekend here.
Having back up is so important! Nothing’s worse than losing those precious memories. Thanks for reading Mica! I had a wonderful weekend and I’m so happy you did as well! Wishing you a lovely week ahead! 🙂
I wound up deleting a bunch of photos and text messages off my phone yesterday because I ran out of space… and it had been MONTHS. I’m quite a minimalist when it comes to possessions in my home but goodness am I a hoarder digitally. Great post and maybe I will delete emails from uni like 10 years ago….
Digital clutter can add up so quickly! Good luck clearing your inbox! Thanks for reading Kal.
Love this article. We’ve trying to be organized with folders for out content.
That sounds great! Good luck organizing your folders. Thank you for reading!
Wow, these are all very useful tips. I’m terrible about the organization of my computer and phone. I’ll be using these tips right away!
I’m happy these were helpful tips! Thank you for reading Wendy and good luck decluttering!
I am a HUGE fan of digital declutters and periodically go through my files to organize and delete. I am pretty good about categorizing and sub-categorizing, and I have a folder where I store essential files that I periodically back up as I add to it. 🙂
That’s awesome! Staying on top of it is the best way to keep things organized! Thank you for reading Jaya.
Fab tips! A couple of weeks ago I went through and organised my laptop files and folders and it was such a good feeling, and now it’s time to move onto my phone, haha! I love the idea of deleting messages for things like authentication codes and I also need to go through my camera roll again. Thank you so much for sharing x
That’s wonderful! It’s such a great feeling to organize and declutter, especially our digital workspace. Good luck going through your phone! Thanks for reading Ceri!
I love having a clear digital space, I hate it my folders, inbox and files are all in a clutter! This is such great advice x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Same, it’s much easier to get things done. Thank you so much Lucy!
I love your tips on unsubscribing from emails and deleting 2-step verification text messages! You listed actionable steps and I thank you for that!
Crystal | http://www.amazingbaby.app
Thank you so much Crystal! I’m glad it was helpful!
Creating folder in your computer is one of the best ways to declutter. It also makes you organised. Thank you for sharing your tips.
100%! Thank you for reading Fadima!
I always delete emails as soon as they come in and have been read, unless they’re a receipt or needed in some way. If they are needed, I star them (using Gmail) and then once I’m finished, it gets deleted or archived. Although thinking about it, I could probably save myself some time if I just unsubscribed. Great post, with some great tips though, especially the USB stick idea
Using the star feature on Gmail is such a great idea. It draws attention to what needs to be looked at and then it can be stored away or deleted. Thank you for reading David!
My digital space is getting better. I used to be stressed by it until I took some time to sort it out. I still have to sort out my emails and photos. Thanks for this post. I didn’t know it was okay to sort out my digital space, I thought I was being weird and stressing myself for nothing
Not at all! Digital clutter can be incredibly stressful and I’m glad that you’ve had some time to sort through it. Thank you for reading Jeannie!