5+ Tips on Digital Decluttering Before the New Year

Year after year, we suggest our best tips and tricks for decluttering a physical space before January 1st through the donation of goods. Having a clean and clear home upon entering a new year can help one start off on the right foot. There’s nothing like an organized abode to help you feel relaxed, stress-free and calm.

But with our ever-increasing usage of technology, our “spaces,” also expand into the digital sphere. Our brains operate and live in a self-curated world of the Internet through email, social media, apps and more.

Therefore, one must not neglect the environment behind the phone or computer screen. A decluttered work email inbox or personal phone photo collection can contribute to improving one’s mental health and productivity. To help you get started, here are some tips to guide you through the digital decluttering process:

1. Prioritize your most-used digital spaces

It can be overwhelming when diving into your phone, for example, on a decluttering mission. If you have no idea where to begin, we recommend, at the very least, listing all of the places where you spend the most of your tech time. From there, you can start organizing and deleting. Spots that might need your attention include:

Phone photo collection
Email Inboxes: Both personal and work
Phone apps
Text message inbox
Missed and received call log
Voicemail inbox

2. Help meet your goals by refreshing your work email inbox

Did you set some new work-related goals for the new year? If so, organizing your work email might help you achieve your desires and set you on the right path to success. Giving some attention to this space will help you sort important information and track current projects more easily. Here are some tips for maintaining your inbox:

Manage unread emails: If you’re like me, you have some unread emails sitting in your inbox from newsletters that you were mysteriously added to. Now’s the time to delete/read all of those notes and unsubscribe from any unwanted communications.
Clear out your Drafts: A Drafts folder is like that bin of incomplete craft projects in your closet. The Drafts might have just been a place to take notes for future inspiration, or letters that never saw the light of day – almost like a t-shirt DIY creation that you never wore out in public because the design wasn’t to your liking. Go through this folder and remove what’s outdated. You might even find some emails that you didn’t realize were not sent! That’s always fun to experience……
Refresh your email signature: Take a look and make sure that it includes your correct phone numbers and title.

3. Don’t sleep on social media

Once you’ve organized the space on your phone or computer, it’s time to give your social media accounts some attention. You can do this by:

Clearing messages in your social media message inboxes
Deleting and/or archiving posts and photos
Editing and revising profile information
Revisiting privacy settings on all accounts

These reminders are just the tip of the iceberg. We recommend checking out these articles for further inspiration:

And to tie this final sentence, full circle, to our opening line – digital decluttering affects your donation practices too. Before donating items like computers and phones to Goodwill, make sure that all data is deleted. This will ensure that your personal, private information will not be comprised.

5+ Tips on Digital Decluttering Before the New Year

By Marketing Communications