Spring Cleaning: Digitally Decluttering Your Devices

Spring is upon us and so is the time to downsize and declutter is upon us. It may be too obvious to notice but, usually the most cluttered thing you own is not your closet bursting with clothes and shoes, it’s your technological devices.

A lot of unwanted things reside in your phone and computer which is carried around with you everyday. Can you remember the last time deleted toxic friends from your contact list? Or, cleared some apps you don’t use? All of these used and unwanted things hiding in your pocket sized phone is contributing to the never ending “storage is almost full” alert.

Yes, it may be hard to delete the photos with your ex, but there is also many positive emotional benefits of tidying up your phone too.

Tips on having a better grip on clutter in the technological world:

• Delete. If you haven’t used the app in a year, you probably don’t need it on your phone taking up storage.
• Utilize the access of consolidation. Just like multi-use skincare products, the label all-in-one is quick and easy. Combining apps will save you time, you don’t need to endlessly search for that app you know you have yet, don’t know where it is amongst the sea of apps on your phone. Why have multiple apps for the same thing? A study shows that the more you spend time on social media, the more likely you will let your peers influence how you feel. Sticking to only a few apps is more healthy than having multiple that serve the same purpose. For example, Instagram lets you post, private-message, tag friends, and make live videos to stream on your account.
• Use Folders. Nothing is worse than asking to use your friends computer and logging on to see one hundred photos floating aimlessly on their desktop. It isn’t pretty, you probably don’t even know what files, photos, or documents are truly there, and lastly, you can appreciate your pretty desk top background! Creating a file with broad topics are useful to keep miscellaneous photos or things you might need down the road.
• Manage alerts. Clutter isn’t only visually unappealing but it can be very distracting. Only enable push notifications on apps that are important to you. You don’t need push notifications on when Victoria Secret is having their semi-annual sale.