Digital clutter is still clutter! And it can still stand in the way of your productivity! It’s often a type of clutter that gets overlooked.

Tell me… are you an email deleter, or saver? Do you like apps? Or games? Or social media? Or YouTube?

You may not even realize that you have digital clutter! You may not even see it building up!! Did you save that funny picture from Facebook? Do you have something saved on Pinterest that doesn’t even exist anymore? Did you just take a screenshot? Do you email yourself things so that you can refer back to it later?

All of these actions create digital clutter!

All of this is fine if you have it organized somehow. But really, how organized is your phone? Can you create folders for your apps to keep like apps together? Have you figured out how to make albums in your photo app so you can find specific pictures quickly? Do you use filters or rules in your email so that you can separate emails into categories for easier reference?

Ok, so full discloser, I am an email saver! I’ve saved almost every email. I don’t really know why. I often think I will come back to read an interesting article or recipe, or the email itself may be important…one day! A number of months ago, I had to spend a LOT of time going through my emails. I needed space on my OneDrive. I literally deleted hundreds of thousands of emails! I unsubscribed to a BUNCH of things I subscribed to way back when! I sometimes receive almost 50 emails PER DAY!! Of just….junk! Ads from stores mostly! It’s crazy! I generally lose important emails amongst all the junk ones I get. It’s just another way to feel overwhelmed by clutter! There’s no way I can read all of my emails in a day, which makes my mental to do list add up!

I have a lot of apps on my phone. I am always looking for improved versions of apps I’m not in love with anymore, or new better ways to use my phone so that it works for me. The problem with it is that I often have apps that aren’t worth keeping after a while. I like to go through my apps every six months-ish and really ask myself whether I want to realistically keep the app still. Sometimes I find apps I haven’t used in a while and I am reminded of what a great app it is, other times, I simply uninstall the app because it’s no longer useful.

The home computer is no exception!

Do you have documents you no longer need? Or internet bookmarks that lead to an error page because the page is no longer active? This kind of digital clutter can weigh on your mental health just like physical clutter. It’s all excess stuff that gets in the way of the way you want to spend your time!

Think about going through your devices, just like you would your home if you were decluttering. Hit up each folder on your computer, or each app on your device. See how many items you can delete. Always ask yourself, does this add to my life or hinder my life? Do I really need this anymore? When was the last time I interacted with it?

It’s another way to feel on top of the world when you are done! Bonus tip – you can start or pause at any time with no excess mess to clean up! It’s particularly easy to declutter your device while waiting at the dentist office, or in the parking lot for a curbside pick up, or even while the oven preheats – just, um, don’t forget that you turned it on!

May your devices add efficiency to your life, not weigh you down!

Thanks for coming home!