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Why Declutter Your Digital Space?
We all know how good it feels to declutter our physical spaces – getting rid of clutter can improve our stress and anxiety levels. But what about our digital spaces? Just like our homes, our computers and phones can get cluttered with digital files and information that can be overwhelming. A digital declutter is simply the process of getting rid of unnecessary files and organizing the ones you do need. (This is probably easier said than done but completely possible!)
The reality is that life is extremely fast-paced nowadays. We get bombarded with social media notifications, email newsletters, pictures of friends and family, our endless camera roll, and more. All of this can lead to increased stress, anxiety, and a constant need to keep up. A digital declutter is a great way to improve your stress levels and regain control of your digital life. Learn how to organize your digital space to improve your productivity and your overall mental health.
Steps To Do A Digital Declutter
- Identify your main sources of digital clutter. This could be your email inbox, your desktop, or your social media feeds.
- Start decluttering by deleting any files or emails that you no longer need. Unsubscribe from any emails that you don’t read regularly.
- Organize the remaining files and emails into folders so that you can find them easily when you need them.
- Delete any apps on your phone or computer that you don’t use regularly.
- Set up a system for dealing with new digital information. For example, you could set up a folder for new emails and only check it once a day.
Identify Your Main Sources of Clutter
You don’t want to start decluttering all at once, as this can be a time-consuming process. I would recommend choosing 3 main places you want to start decluttering.
- Your email inbox is most likely riddled with abandoned newsletters, very old promotions in your promotions folder, and just in general junk mail. However, sprinkled throughout, you may have some important emails that you simply cannot delete. Make sure you star or favorite those emails.
- Your desktop probably looks like a digital file folder exploded all over it and is a mess of files. Every time you look at your desktop you get anxious and don’t know where to start…
- You may have thousands upon thousands of unread social media notifications.
Start Decluttering!
Once you have identified those messy digital spaces, get working.
- Your email inbox:
- Start unsubscribing from emails you don’t need in your main inbox but if you have an email such as Gmail, there is a promotions folder. Clean that out too! Unsubscribe from shops or newsletters you know you really won’t read. (There are some valuable newsletters out there so make sure to remain subscribed to the ones that give some great value.
- Delete all of your promotions folder. I am the one to tell you there will be new promotions every time. No need to keep accumulating all that information in your inbox.
- If there is a certain type of email in your main inbox that you know is junk, type a keyword in the search bar and batch delete all of them.
- Your computer desktop screen and files in your computer: Delete all the files you know you won’t be needing on your desktop and go through other folders such as your documents and trash everything you know is not important.
- Your social media feed: Do a quick scan and see if there is an important notification that you missed but other than that, mark everything as read. And if there is a certain place you are getting unnecessary notifications from, unfollow that channel or creator. Getting so many notifications from something that is not important to you creates so much mental pollution.
Organize Your Files
This doesn’t have to be complicated. It takes up some time because you have to go through possibly months or years of files you have accumulated. Here are some tips for organizing your digital spaces:
- Use a desktop organizer picture as a background on your computer to keep your files neat and have fun in the meantime. (I would recommend using a desktop organizer background to have fun when organizing your files. You can download one for FREE below!)
- Invest in a cloud storage service of your preference to store old pictures and files that of course you want to keep but don’t want to bog up the files in your computer or your phone. I personally love Google One and how affordable it is. I pay the yearly subscription for a discount.
Download this Desktop Wallpaper to organize your desktop!
Set Systems To Handle Incoming Information
The truth of the matter is that we live in a world where everything moves too fast. We take too many pictures, we save too many inspo pictures or screenshots. Here are just a few ways you can deal with this influx of files:
- Delete or back up (and then delete) at least 10 pictures on your phone per day. This doesn’t take long, if you incorporate it into your daily routine, it helps immensely and it takes just a few minutes.
- Continue to unsubscribe from content that you no longer value.
- Clear out files on your computer at least once a month.
Well Then How Does This Improve Your Productivity?
How do you feel when you clean up your room, declutter your closet, or freshen up your home? You feel renewed, you feel focused. Although not the exact same feeling, doing a digital declutter can help you feel motivated and focused to do more. If you are a person that works from home or that uses their computer for a business or side hustle, you get so overwhelmed with files. It bogs you down. Being organized really helps you stay optimized in your daily life. Good luck! You can do this and it doesn’t have to be perfect…
Organize Your Physical Space Too!
I love working in an organized and aesthetically pleasing space. These are some of the items that I use to organize my office space:
- This is the perfect white desk for two people! It has a spot for your printer and a great place to organize your files.
- This is a simple and practical file organizer that looks amazing in a minimalistic space!
- These patterned file folders are the perfect complement to your file folder organizer.
- This desk organizer set will help you keep your space tidy. It includes a pen holder, paper tray, magazine holder which I use for notebooks, and a letter sorter which holds my notepads.
- This utility cart is the perfect extension to your desk. I keep all of the items that I need to be handy in this cart but that don’t actually fit in my desk.
