October 18, 2016
4 Simple Ways to Eliminate Digital Clutter
It’s a digital world and much like paper clutter, digital clutter is a real thing. An inbox full of unanswered emails can give you that same overwhelmed feeling as a pile of paper and bills on the kitchen counter. For me, the trick to managing digital clutter is having a couple systems in place to deal with it on a daily basis. Systems like folders for emails, automated filing in gmail, and keeping the information that comes at me controlled and intentional is important. Being able to locate an email at a moment’s notice is just as essential as being able to locate an important bill or statement.
- Clean up your computer desktop. Delete anything unwanted, not needed, and unnecessary. This goes for files, images, and apps. Create folders on your desktop to put items in so you can locate them later.
- Clean up your tablet and/or smart phone screen. Delete apps and/or put apps in files to keep your screen less cluttered. Turn off notifications in your settings so you aren’t getting notifications on your screens too.
- Unfollow any feeds that don’t help or uplift you. Digital clutter is a real thing and it contributes to distraction and can even give you a little anxiety if you turn on your computer, tablet, or phone and are overwhelmed by the information coming at you. I don’t have any social media apps on my iPhone (except Instagram) just to keep the information off my phone. I don’t like feeling like I’m missing something or need to look at my phone all the time. Trust me, you might miss it for a day or two, but it’s so nice to have those distractions off my phone.
- Keep a zeroed out inbox. I love having a zeroed out inbox – I keep it this way by unsubscribing when necessary and by making use of folders for keeping action items at the ready. Use Unroll.me to get rid of unwanted email subscriptions (this is a free service that I personally use and love – they have no idea who I am). I did this a couple weeks ago and I deleted over 700 subscriptions – yikes!
Marilyn Trubey Says
Thank you for these tips. Digital clutter is a very real problem. I receive a couple hundred emails a day, most of which I simply delete. However, neglecting to delete for several days results in an overwhelming number of unread emails.
Laura Sue Shaw Says
Great tips! Unroll.me has really helped me keep my inbox under control too. Unfollowing certain groups, pages, and even people on Facebook has also really eliminated some digital distractions for me. I couldn’t believe how much less time I was spending scrolling through the newsfeed after unfollowing several things!
Chrystal Says
Thank you! I just cleaned up my email?, tidied up phone with and tablet and backed up info from computer onto hard rive to clean it all up. Tomorrow I’ll give unroll.me a try.
Perfect timing yet again!
Leanore Says
I have been doing steps 1,2 & 3 for a while now but am not quite zeroed in my inbox. I live in Australia and after typing in my email and a password, the continue button remained on the screen. Is this just a USA site? If it is, what a pity becuase it is a great idea and one sorely needed.
Becky Says
Post authorNo, you should be able to access worldwide 🙂
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