Digital Declutter Checklist
It’s the week between Christmas and New Year when we lose track of the date and time and are allowed to spend all day in pajamas relaxing. If you’re anything like me and would prefer a little project to pass your time.
Now is the perfect time to tackle your digital clutter. There is nothing better than starting the new year fresh with an organized computer and phone.
What is digital decluttering?
First things first, what exactly is a digital declutter, and why would you do one?
Digital decluttering is the process of removing unnecessary technology and reorganizing your content to become more organized and productive. This can include our phone, social media, computer, personal and work emails, and digital photos.
The need for a digital declutter is not new: since the widespread adoption of the smartphone, the digital world has been where we spend a significant portion of our lives. When “clutter” builds up, feelings of stress and disorganization increase along with it.
It may help to imagine your digital life like a physical office; your desk is piled high with papers in random stacks. Files spill out of boxes. Mail arrives and sits unopened for weeks, you wouldn’t be able to work in that, so why is your digital space any different?
Diving into this cleanse may seem intimidating, but it’s well worth it. Even the simplest digital declutter provides benefits:
Lower your stress: Digital clutter, like its physical counterpart, increases your anxiety. Too many notifications, a stack of unread emails, and chaos in your document folder can all take a toll. When you have the systems in place to avoid these common stressors, you can use your energy to focus on the things that really matter.
Reclaim your attention: Your attention is finite (and highly valuable). When you’re living in digital clutter, you are needlessly giving energy and attention to managing that mess. When you organize your digital life, you free up your attention for other, more meaningful tasks.
Be more productive: When you can quickly find what you’re looking for, you can get more done. It’s that simple.
Digital Declutter Checklist
Ready to begin? Here are 15 steps to kickstart your digital declutter.
And please note: some of these suggestions take time. You shouldn’t expect yourself to complete all these items in one sitting. Take a little time this week, do some tasks while you’re watching a movie, while your kids are outside or when you can sneak out on your own.
Phone
1. Go through all your apps and delete any that are no longer valuable to you. Bonus points if you cancel costly subscription-based apps, like unused streaming services or old fitness apps. These add up!
Note: In some cases, deleting the app doesn’t mean nixing it from your life, just removing it from a place where you always have it on hand. This allows you to use your apps (like social media) with more intention, because you have to seek them out versus scrolling mindlessly.
2. Remove old images. Create folders for the images you keep to easily find them. If you want media off your phone but still want access, upload your images and videos to a cloud storage service like Google Drive or Dropbox.
3. Delete contacts you no longer need. Add your most frequent contacts to your Favorites for quicker calling.
4. Disable notifications. Keep only the notifications you truly want or need. You can also Disable or Snooze notifications for times when you want to avoid distractions.
Social Media
5. Declutter your feeds. Unfollow people who cause you stress or who you’re no longer interested in following. Unsubscribe from groups you’re no longer interested in. Opt out of ads that aren’t relevant as they come up.
6. Unsubscribe to newsletters you no longer read. Similarly, unsubscribe when new newsletters appear that you know you won’t read.
7. Create inbox folders (or tags). This can help you stay on top of your emails and get to the coveted Inbox Zero. Use the emails search function to group similar emails.
8. Delete old emails, Batch delete by searching an email address
9. Delete unused email addresses. We’re looking at you, wackygirl67@hotmail.com.
Computer
10. Set up a filing system for your computer documents. Create your broad categories along with subfolders on your desktop. Do the same for your cloud documents, like in Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Dropbox. Don’t file unused documents – you’ll thank us in the next step.
11. Delete unused desktop and cloud files. This will be easier after completing the previous step, because you’ll see all unnecessary documents haven’t been filed. Once deleted, empty your recycle bin. What a feeling!
12. Delete old bookmarks in your browser. Organize your bookmarks into folders and subfolders for easy navigation.
13. Install an ad blocker to minimize distractions online.
14. Organize your notes. You may have notes across your desktop, your cloud storage service, your phone, or even sticky notes. Consider migrating all your notes into an easy-to-access place: one for work, and one for personal.
One final tip: Digital declutters work best when done regularly. Consider setting a regular declutter schedule to repeat this process. New apps get downloaded, email subscriptions find their way back in. Scheduling a monthly or quarterly digital declutter can keep your digital life tidy, and will save you time and mental energy in the long run.
And with that, kick back, relax and enjoy your freshly organized digital space!
Happy Organizing!
-Jocelyn