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Digital Declutter
I think most people agree that clutter is rarely, if ever, a useful or productive thing to have. Whether it is a cluttered desk, kitchen, bedroom, car, or whatever else, I think most people can agree that having a clean/organized space not only feels great, but also can help you be more productive. Now I will be the first to admit that I am the king of clutter. I am really bad at putting things away and I let my desk pile with papers for far too long before doing something about it. However, I think there is an area that far too many people let get cluttered without realizing it: digital spaces.
When I say “digital spaces” I am referring to any digital interface that you interact with on any sort of regular basis. This can include, but is not limited to, your phone home screen where all of your apps are, your computer desktop, your email account(s), cloud storage such as google drive, or any other digital interface. Although I am somewhat of a digital hoarder (I never really like deleting files since they are so easy to keep), I am pretty good about being digitally organized and have made a recent effort to become more digitally organized.
For instance, I use the “notes” app that comes preinstalled on all apple products religiously. Whether it is my grocery list, a draft of a text message, a random idea, or really anything else I might need to write down or remember, it all goes into my notes app. And up until about a week ago my notes app had no filing structure - I had 977 different notes all sitting in one single folder. If I was ever trying to find a specific note - it was difficult. So over the past few days, as I have had time, I’ve been creating new folders within my notes app and trying to file my notes accordingly. The hope is that this will declutter an app I use very frequently and allow me to easily separate the important from the not important and quickly find what I need.
I have done similar things with file storage on my laptop - I try to keep minimal folders on my desktop and little to no loose files. I have also recently tried switching to a zero email inbox system and that has been a game changer (if you’ve never heard of a zero inbox system I suggest looking it up). The other thing I’ve recently done is clean up the home screen on my phone where all my apps are. I have rearranged everything so the apps I use often are easy to find and the ones I don’t have been put in a folder or just removed from my home screen completely. All of these different things are ways that I have tried to declutter my digital life. With the word becoming ever more digitally focused every day people are spending more and more time interacting with digital interfaces that are starting to become very cluttered.
So that is my challenge to you this week: be aware of digital clutter in your life. It is easy for us to gloss over cluttered digital spaces as they aren’t physical clutter such as papers on a desk, but the benefit of decluttering a digital space isn’t so much for aesthetics but for usability and efficiency. Having 977 notes filed into specific categories makes my life way easier when I try to find something because I don’t have to sort through one huge folder. And you don’t have to go crazy with this, but I encourage you to keep this in mind with some of the more high use digital spaces that you interact with - a good digital filing system can go a long way!
Stay Motivated,
-Dan
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