How to Declutter Your Digital Spaces

Sometimes, I find keeping up with my digital possessions harder than keeping up with my physical ones. It’s very easy for things to be out of sight, out of mind, until I need to find a specific file, email, or photo. Then it’s a search and rescue mission through a million discarded menu downloads and the meme my sister sent me yesterday.

So here are some steps to keep your digital life simple and organized:

Organize Your Files and Folders:

Clean your desktop and organize your files into logical folders. As much as possible, and when it makes sense, I put a date in the file name.  I also use the PARA file storage method, which has been working well. The sooner in life you start this, the easier it will be.

Delete Unnecessary Files:

Get rid of duplicate files, old downloads, and files you no longer need. If you use Google Drive, they have a feature that somewhat helps with this, but if you have one file with different names or revisions, it’s not the best. Which is why you need to do step one.

Unsubscribe from Email Lists:

Unsubscribe from newsletters and promotional emails that clutter your inbox.  FOMO is real when it comes to your inbox—always worried about missing out on a great deal.  So, if you really can’t bring yourself to unsubscribe, create a filter for promotions to go to and have it skip the primary mailbox. 

Clear Out Your Email Inbox:

Archive or delete old emails and create folders to organize important ones: archive and file.  I also prefer to print emails to PDF if I just want the information and then delete it so all my data is in one place.

Clean Up Your Contacts:

Remove outdated or duplicate contacts from your address book. There are always those contacts that are there for the memories, but really, you don’t need it.

Organize and Update Passwords:

Use a password manager to organize and update your passwords for security.  We use one password at work, which is primarily fine. I have my method of password maintenance that works great until I have to update a password for some reason, and then I have to start over. I try to use Google log-in whenever possible, so I need to keep one password super secure. 

Review and Clean Up Social Media:

Unfriend or unfollow people you no longer interact with, and review privacy settings. This step depends on how much you need your social media to be clean.  I’ve never felt the need to sort through and unfollow/friend people. If something bothers me on a feed, I take care of it in those moments so I can keep my feeds up to date as I go. Remember, if it takes less than two minutes, just do it in the moment; don’t save it for later.

Organize Apps:

move everything into folders to keep them organized and remove anything you’re not using. I feel like every time there’s an update, they try to sneak some new game or app onto my phone. Also, clean up your home screen from time to time and make sure all the apps there are still useful.

Organize Your Desktop Icons:

Try to keep your desktop icons as minimal as possible. If it’s a program you use a lot, just pin it to the bottom banner or set up a shortcut for it.  There is almost no reason to need an icon on your desktop. You can also look into personal dashboards if you feel like you need links that you can organize. My rule is if it’s on my desktop, it needs to be deleted when I’m done with the file. 

Clear Browser Bookmarks:

I’m in the process of switching to a personal dashboard over bookmarks.  I still have my bookmark bar, but if it doesn’t go there, I put it into my second brain or dashboard, depending on what I need it for. A dashboard is for productivity; a second brain is more for information storage. 

Backup Important Data:

We use Google Cloud and an external hard drive to ensure all our important and semi-important things are backed up regularly. 

Streamline Notifications:

If you like notifications, make sure they are silent. The interruptions kill your focus. But don’t let them get out of control.  Turn off notifications you don’t look at so the important ones get noticed.

Review and Delete Old Text Messages:

Every now and then, I’ll scroll to the bottom of my texts and delete the ones with a random group of people I texted once or all the coupon code-type emails.  

Delete Unused Accounts:

I only bother with this if it was something you actively used or if you gave it access to some main accounts.  You can go to your Google settings, find out what programs or platforms are connected, and decide if it’s still needed. If it’s an account you signed up for a trial with or something small like that, I wouldn’t worry about spending too much time deleting it.

Optimize Email Filters:

Filters are your friend, especially on Gmail. I try to make sure everything has a filter, even if it still comes to my inbox. This way, when I’m checking email on the go and want to file it, it already has the right tag. I just need to hit archive. Way easier.  Filters also ensure things don’t clutter up your inbox from the start.

Organize Photos and Videos:

Sort and organize your digital photos and videos into folders or albums. I haven’t gotten here yet, but try to go through your photos and videos each month, delete what you don’t need to keep and export the rest to a backup.  Upload anything you might want for an album to your photo program, and then you’re ready for next month.

Organize Digital Notes:

Organize and declutter your digital notes and documents in note-taking apps or cloud storage. Export to PDF, make sure there is a date in the file name, put it in the correct folder, and link it in your second brain if necessary.

So, if you missed it, here are the first three parts of decluttering for a simple life.

Living Simply Living Abundantly

How to Declutter the Mind

How to Declutter Your Environments

Hopefully, you’ve been inspired to let go of some of the things that were holding you back and can have more space and time for the relationships that matter.

Stay Weird,