Each new year is a chance to start fresh and make new resolutions. One new year’s resolutionMaintaining an organized work space throughout the year is one of the best things you can do to ensure your success. Just as you would keep your physical space clean and free from clutter, so should your digital one.
Your online workspace can get bogged down with what’s known as digital clutter. Digital clutter is the overflowing number of files, apps, and downloads that can be blocking your computer or phone. If you find that your devices are often slow or it’s hard to find things you need online, it may be time for you to re-organize your digital workspace.
The following are some tips that can help you get started in the New Year with a Digital Deep Clean. This will enable you to be more productive, and less stressed.
1. Emails Labeled
You didn’t know this. 35%Did you know that half of all email go unopened? An unorganized inbox can lead to missed messages. If you’re finding that important emails from clients or your boss are going unread, it may be a good time to reorganize your inbox.
Filters and labels can help you organize your inbox. Create filters for important email addresses (like your boss or clients) and label emails as “To Dos” or “Needs Reply” to help sift through the clutter. Your labels will filter what’s important by categorizing them in your inbox. With just a few important places to check instead of a never ending inbox, you’ll be more productive and less likely to miss something urgent.
2. Make Your Desktop Clean
If you can no longer see the background of your desktop because it’s filled with documents, files, and icons, it’s time to do a digital deep clean. Begin cleaning up your desktop. Make sure to delete duplicate files. You can then sort the files into clear folders once you’ve cleared everything else.
You should only keep the files and folders you are using every day. This will reduce your computer’s performance. Be choosy about what you keep and tuck everything else away into the appropriate folders or drives like “Documents,” “Downloads,” or “Pictures.” It’s even better if you use the cloud to store your files so that you free up storage on your device and speed it up.
3. Your Phone Should Be Purge
Is it frustrating to have to swipe through so many screens just to find what you need on your phone. If so, it’s probably time to purge your phone of excess apps, pictures, or messages.
Start by going through your apps and deleting anything you haven’t used in the past month. You can always redownload something if you need it, but chances are you’ll find it was just taking up valuable storage space.
You can then go through the messages again and decide if you want to remove any that have been older than one year. Either delete everything older than one year, or go more strict and delete all messages older that three weeks.
Last but not least, make sure you check your camera roll. Before you delete anything, it’s good to back your pictures up to the cloud or a personal hard drive if you want to save your memories. You can set a goal for halving the number of photos you keep after you have saved special images. This will make your phone load faster and last longer.
Decluttering digital devices can help you be more productive, and also improve their quality. These are the benefits that will allow you to be more productive and better prepared for professional and personal success. The benefits you get from clearing out your digital clutter will be hard to resist. Check out this infographic for more information on digital minimalism. The Zebra below.
Addicted 2 Success first published How to Organise Your Digital Space For the New Year.