Digital Decluttering
I did a blog post back a few years ago heading into the new year where I shared a desktop organizer that I liked to use to do some digital decluttering. You all loved that organizer so much that we created one with Paige and Willow for every month of the year in 2024! You can sign up HERE to receive that at the start of every month beginning in January!
Since then, I’ve wanted to write a longer blog post on Digital Decluttering now that everyones relationship with their phones and computers seems to have intensified. I think we’re all looking for solutions to strike a better balance between ourselves and these devices that connect us, but also can cause a lot of unnecessary urgency and overwhelm.
Here’s a few ways you can declutter your digital spaces heading into the New Year:
UNSUBSCRIBE
Right after (or during) Black Friday sales is a great time for you to get familiar with the unsubscribe button. Emails are landing in your inbox with a greater frequency at this time of year, so why not use them as a reminder to clear out any emails from people and companies that no longer serve you.
CLEAR STORAGE
I go through my inbox and tie up any loose ends, so that I can begin the year with space and a bit of organization. This includes filing away emails, deleting anything unnecessary and anything else that could help to clear out my inbox completely. If you’re the type of person who never has enough phone storage and it’s mostly because of photos and videos, you can also use a device like this one to quickly get a lot of files off of your phone.
This is also a great time to do an “app audit” and delete any apps that you haven’t used in the last 6 months or more. If you’re a podcast listener, your phone may auto download episodes from podcasts your subscribed to and that can eat up a lot of your storage, so make sure to check that out! Nothing feels better than clearing out a bunch of storage on your phone after you’ve been operating at near capacity for longer than you’d like to admit.
CLEAN UP YOUR DESKTOP
If you’re like me, your desktop can sometimes become the common place to store downloaded documents that you needed to find quickly. I find that having a desktop wallpaper that helps with daily organization of files to be extremely helpful in keeping my digital space clear. In fact, I’ve loved doing this so, so much that I asked Paige & Willow (the company who I designed these planners with) to create a series of desktop wallpapers that will compliment the planner. They not only look great, but will help you to keep your desktop clear all year round. You can sign up for those HERE.
REMOVE (MOST) PUSH NOTIFICATIONS
I find the constant flow of notifications from every app on my phone a bit overwhelming, so I’ve made the decision to silence most push notifications on my phone. The only ones I still allow are the apps or messages that I care most about. If you have an iPhone, here are easy instructions on how you can do that. If you have an Android, you’ll want to follow these instructions. Another anxiety-provoking notification that I found extremely helpful to remove was the number of emails I had sitting unread in my email inbox that shows up on your home screen. You can remove that by following these steps.
ADD THE SCREEN TIME WIDGET
There’s nothing more motivating when it comes to spending less time mindlessly scrolling your phone than a widget placed front and center on your phone’s home screen. The moment you open your phone, you will see how much time you’ve spent on your phone so far that day. For Android, you can do that by following these steps. For iPhone, you can follow these steps.
GO ANALOG
I know this is easier said than done, but I find my weeks much less overwhelming and find tasks easier to remember when I am using a planner with pen and paper to set up my week, month, and year. I custom designed this planner with Paige & Willow to have space for all the timely prompts I wanted, but could never remember, such as
monthly habit trackers
monthly budget sections
monthly goal sections
quarterly check-ins
an annual check-in
In previous planners, I have always found these templates useful, but never had a specific reminder to do them at the intervals in which they were important. The planner that I’ve designed makes all of that so easy and it’s completely offline, which makes it feel much more intentional. ...and who doesn’t want a bit more intentionality at this time of year?
As a special holiday gift from me, the next 30 planners ordered from Paige + Willow will get a Christmas card personally from me (or maybe even Carey!) in their order. If you’ve been waiting for the right time to buy, this is it. You can get your planner HERE.
I hope you try some of these tricks for digital decluttering and that they help you start of 2024 on the right foot. I’d love to know if there are any other tools or tricks that you use to declutter and have found really helpful! Leave them in the comments below.
Much Love,
