Are you overwhelmed by digital clutter? Yes, you likely are, and so are most of us. Desktops full of files, overflowing inboxes, too many apps and photos on our phones, and dozens of open tabs in our browsers—the signs of digital clutter are everywhere.
Not only is digital clutter annoying, but it can also be a problem for our productivity and flow. The average person has more than 9 unused phone apps and over 1,000 unread emails. The people interviewed for such surveys are likely underreporting how bad it actually is. But they know the impact: 39% said it slowed down their devices, 28% said digital clutter causes them more stress, and over half never have enough space on their phones or PCs.
Digital clutter slows you down and overwhelms you. But there are ways to take charge, clean things out, and keep your digital spaces clean.
What causes digital clutter?
We often have no real concept of space in a digital context. When clutter invades the real world, we can see it and react. But in the infinite reaches of digital space, it's easy to keep hoarding files, tabs, and messages.
This can foster a "save everything" mentality. We fear deleting something we might need later. Even when digital items are no longer useful, "just in case" anxiety can make it hard to let go.
Finally, it's not always simple to sort all our digital stuff, especially when new things keep coming in. You clear your email, do a few things, and when you get back, there are a dozen new messages. It's frustrating and wearing. If you don't have a good system to manage digital items, things get out of hand very quickly.
Tips to digitally declutter
There is no secret formula for decluttering. Yet, there are methods and tools that, with some diligence, can help you get rid of things you don't need or that don't require your attention.
- Tame your email: Your inbox is likely the biggest culprit and overflowing with messages. Begin by establishing a fresh start. Create a folder called DMZ and move all the messages in there. Now, consistently manage the emails coming in by using a system, and dip into the DMZ folder if you need to look for important emails. A popular technique is the 4 D's of email: delete, do, delegate, and defer.
- Use mail filters: The best email clients let you create filters to manage your emails. For example, you can send newsletters to a specific folder and check them once a week. You can create filter rules easily in Gmail and Outlook Online.
- Clean your desktop and PC: Go through your desktop and get rid of files. Put all the documents on your desktop that you want to keep into specific folders, and delete the unwanted files. Here are more tips to organise your desktop.
- Uninstall unwanted apps: Remove unused apps on your PC by using the Add/Remove Programs feature in Windows. To find out what's taking up space on the rest of your PC, you can use a free application like WinDirStat (just be careful not to delete anything vital, such as the Windows or Program Files folders). On your phone, you can use the Android or Apple methods.
- Backup to cloud storage: Cloud storage is relatively cheap for a lot of space. While this more defers clutter than eliminates it, at least the clutter won't get in your way or slow down your device. There are cloud storage services that create a folder on your device, such as Pcloud, iDrive, and Dropbox. When you drag files there, they are automatically uploaded to the service.
- Clear your WhatsApp folders: You can unintentionally hoard a lot of files through WhatsApp. Every image and video that you see in a WhatsApp chat is downloaded to your device. Luckily, WhatsApp has several ways to sort and delete files—as per this handy guide.
- Close those browser tabs: Browser tabs slow down your system, even the ones in the background. You can reduce those tabs in several ways. Most modern browsers offer features such as bookmarks, read-later lists, and groups to organise tabs. You can also install an extension such as OneTab, which will automatically save tabs to a single page.
The digital world offers us unlimited space to keep our files and messages. This will remain constant, so the key to decluttering your digital life is to maintain consistency. Find systems that work for you, periodically clean things out, and keep an eye out for when clutter starts getting too much. Ultimately, you'll realise that you don't need most of the things you're hoarding and only keep what is important.
