How to Declutter Your Digital Life–A Simple Guide

If you’re reading this blog, congratulations! You’ve taken the first step you need to declutter your digital life. Usually when we think “declutter”, we mostly think of physical spaces like our homes or workspaces. But digital decluttering is also something you should make a point to do just as often. Clutter is clutter, no matter where it is and our phones and computers are full of it. Professional organizer Peter Walsh seems to agree with us:

“Clutter is not just the stuff on your floor – it’s anything that stands between you and the life you want to be living.”

So many times when we’re working on an important assignment, our devices start to lag or stop responding altogether. But have you ever wondered that maybe we could be the reason? Well, one of them is the mountain of files and photos we have stored on our computer. Digital clutter can also look like having a ton of tabs and windows open at one time, or the 100s of unopened promotional emails you’ve signed up for crowded your inbox. Getting rid of your digital clutter not only helps clean up your device but can also help you browse, shop, or work with clarity and less stress.

Don’t know where to start? Don’t worry! Take a look at our digital declutter checklist for everything you should do for a clutter-free digital life!

Your Digital Decluttering Checklist

1. Delete all your useless pictures

There can never be too many photos… until they start slowing down your phone. We know it’s tough deleting photos. They remind us of so many great memories. But those thousands of selfies with the cute-yet-cringe Snapchat-filter pictures from when you were in college– let them go. Your computer will thank you!

2. Get rid of documents you don’t need

Remember that novel you started 8 years ago – the one that you swore you’d get published someday? We’re pretty sure it’s still somewhere deep in your archives hoping to see the light of the day as a bestseller. Yeah, at this point…it’s just clutter.

3. Unsubscribe from promotional emails

Yes, there’s an option for that! Right at the bottom of any promotional email or newsletter, you’ll see a tiny, almost invisible hyperlink called “unsubscribe”. If you’ve never bothered opening these emails, you need to open one and click on that. This is the bulk of a lot of our digital clutter. So a decluttering project that leaves this out, would definitely be incomplete.

4. Organize your playlists

A digital decluttering idea probably not as obvious is your playlist. Whether it’s Netflix or Spotify, organizing your music into playlists (giving them quirky names is super fun!) and getting rid of the songs you skip every single time is going to make your digital life feel a lot more organized. So, make today the day you finally accept that you’re not actually going to ever watch that movie you added to your watchlist three years ago.

5. Clear those forgotten bookmarks

We all bookmark websites we think we’d want to revisit later. But suddenly it’s five years later and you’ve forgotten that blog on ‘the tastiest sandwiches’ even exists. So how about finally deleting it while you’re decluttering your computer?

6. Deactivate unused accounts

Remember when you wanted to be a famous poet, so you started an Instagram page to publish that poetry? Or the matching email ID you created in case you ever received fan mail? For some of you, that may have come true (yay!). But for most of us, that dream is long gone and, it’s time those accounts do too.

7. Unfollow/remove accounts you don’t interact with anymore

It’s the age of social media and your digital decluttering spree is incomplete without cleaning up your social media accounts too. We’re following new people and accounts nearly every day – maybe they’re brand-new online friends or simply a creator whose content we enjoy. Then there are creators we used to love but now their videos just seem annoying. It’s time to hit that unfollow button!

8. Create and organize folders

Digital decluttering doesn’t have to mean deleting everything! It also means organizing everything into folders so you know where to look when you need a document urgently (and will also make it quicker to delete stuff next time!). Maybe all those tasty bookmarks can go into a “recipe” folder?

9. Throw away bookmarks, screenshots, and excel sheets of online stores

We all know that feeling when we’re mindlessly scrolling on Instagram and we see an ad for the cutest bag ever. Obviously, you have to have it – if not now, then a few weeks later – so you screenshot it to show your friends.

Then, you completely forget about it, but the bookmark stays in your gallery for weeks or months. Digital De-cluttering means finally deleting it.

But what if we told you never to have to take a screenshot of an item you like online to share with your friends anymore?