Declutter Your Digital Life: 5 Easy Spring Cleaning Practices
Here in northern New England, we’re experiencing what people call “the spring of deception.” The weather warms up just enough to make you excited… and then it’s back to sub-zero temperatures. Nevertheless, it is a sign that spring is, if not around the corner, then somewhere off down the road, plodding slowly our way.
The start of spring is a time when we typically yearn for a refresh: we air out the house, clean out the cupboard(s) of doom, and generally give things a good sort out. Something I’m thinking a lot about this year is another area of my life that we don’t typically consider when we think about spring cleaning, but one that can also feel a little cluttered, unwieldy, and definitely disorganised:
Our digital lives.
We tend to think of clutter as something exists in the physical realm, spilling out of wardrobes or stacked into organised chaos in various parts of the house. But a lot of our modern clutter exists in the digital realm. Unread emails. Too many notifications. Multiple versions of the same thing we saved or downloaded because we forgot about the last seven times we saved or downloaded it. Lots of stuff in digital “piles” in various corners of the laptop. It all contributes to a low-level hum of overwhelm and stress.
So I’m embarking on a bit of a digital spring clean over the next few weeks. The good news is I’ve this before, and it only really takes a few small changes to reduce the background noise and introduce a sense of calm again. With that in mind, this week I want to share five very easy and extremely effective changes I’m making (and you might find helpful too) in order to introduce a little more zen into my digital world. If you’re interested in doing a more thorough digital declutter, I also wrote about that here.
1. Unsubscribe from email subscriptions you never read
My rule of thumb is if I haven’t read the last three to five emails, I let it go (including those subscriptions I’m keeping “just in case” or will read someday). This also applies to emails from platforms like Substack, where the post is available to read in the app anyway.
2. Delete apps you no longer use or want to use
With each app ask yourself: Do I use this regularly? Does it actually improve my life? If not, time to delete.
3. Clear your desktop
Visual clutter can take up mental bandwidth, and reducing it makes it easier to find things and creates a calmer digital atmosphere. If you don’t currently have a file system, create a folder for work, one for personal and one temporary file (mine is called “move elsewhere”) for stuff that needs a home. The key is to keep it simple: the more complicated the file system, the less likely you are to maintain it
4. Clean out your downloads folder
If you’re anything like me, the “downloads” folder becomes a random mishmash of things Similar to your desktop, you want to give everything a home.
5. Review your subscriptions
Get rid of anything you’re not actually using or no longer need/want. Streaming services, apps, newsletters and paid tools. Ask yourself: am I actually using this? If I weren’t already signed up for this, would I subscribe today?
Over to you: Choose one of the tasks above, set a timer for 15 minutes and get as much done as you can.
Further reading: Planting and harvesting in your creative practive & how to know when it’s time for a change
Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash