Digital Minimalism: 8 Ways to Organise Your Devices
When contemplating what to declutter, it is easy to overlook our digital devices, however, it is possible to accumulate a considerable number of items, from photos, apps, and documents. So far, I've looked closely at our emails and pictures. But this guide will cover a broad spectrum.
Let's chat about some digital minimalism, shall we?
1. Delete Unused Apps
It is easy to accumulate apps, but I guarantee you have a few on your phone that you haven't used in a long time. Review the apps you have on your phone, and remove apps that you don't use often. It's best to get rid of unnecessary things and focus on the ones you really need and use frequently. This will make it easy to find and use on your home screen.
2. Turn Off Notifications
Certain notifications hold significant importance, whether they are sounds or banner notifications that appear on your screen. Occasionally, it may be necessary to receive a phone call or text message. However, in general, I prefer not to receive excessive notifications as they tend to distract me. I find it useful when I add a new app to my phone to consider, do I need to be notified immediately by an action, if not, I can turn it off? This means when I do feel a vibration or hear a noise, I know it is something significant.
3. Storage & Backups
You can save space on your computer by backing up or archiving files on an external hard drive. However, avoid moving cluttered files from one place to another by organising them beforehand. If you have large files, external hard drives might be useful, alternatively you may wish to use a separate drive for different projects. You can also utilise cloud storage and delete old backups to create more space if you would rather not buy extra cloud storage.
4. Use Folders
This can be accomplished by simply creating folders containing files and naming them appropriately to facilitate easy discovery and search. For example, having a folder for work, which may have separate folders for important documents, different tasks etc. Additionally, you can create photo albums, as discussed here, I make folders for each memorable event and add the year.
5. Do A Regular Review
It is advisable to conduct a weekly or monthly review of your photos, files, and documents, ensuring to include the downloads' folder. If you haven't cleared old files in a long time, it can be a daunting task, but it will be easier to stay on top of it if you set aside some time and do it every few weeks. Don't forget to delete the files from the bin afterwards!
6. Remove Unused Items from the Dock
If you are a Mac user, you will utilise the 'dock' frequently, the bar at the bottom of your computer. By pressing and holding with one finger and moving the application away from the dock you can remove it, and going into launch pad you can drag apps onto the 'dock'. Keep the essential daily apps, like your web browser, and consider removing less commonly used apps from the 'dock'.
7. Avoid Creating Too Many Accounts
To help streamline the amount of stuff you're dealing with, avoid signing up for too many accounts for various services. Consider the value of a service before creating an account.
8. Organise your Email Inbox
Avoid subscribing to unnecessary mailing lists and unsubscribe from current ones you don't read to reduce the number of unnecessary emails you receive. This was one measure included in my organise your email deep dive. You may wish to create folders within your inbox to save important emails, and don't forget to carry out the dreaded task of deleting emails you don't need to tidy things up.
