How to Declutter Your Digital Life

A few times this year, I’ve lost almost 30 minutes searching for a document I knew existed.

‍

Not one I thought might exist.

‍

One that I knew was there—because I had written it.

‍

And even though I run a small business, I'm not the only person in my files.

‍

Which means sometimes several hands touch our files before it’s finalized and before it finds its permanent home.

‍

A handout or a worksheet usually starts in Google Drive.

‍

I edit it there, just like I’m doing with this article right now.

‍

Then someone proofreads it, someone else might style it and then it’s saved as a PDF, hopefully properly named and likewise, hopefully properly filed.

‍

And even though we have a written SOP for how to name files and where to file them, every so often, someone names a file their own way.

‍

Or gives it a temporary name because they “know” they’ll rename it before it gets styled and finalized.

‍

Only sometimes it doesn’t.

‍

We’re human.

‍

We lie to ourselves all the time.

‍

Not maliciously, but sometimes deviously.

‍

We mean to clean things up before we’re finished but something urgent crops up.

‍

We race off to deal with a different issue.

‍

And then by the time we’re ready to get back to what we were doing with our temporary file, we’ve forgotten it or yet another urgent task interrupts us.

‍

That’s just some of what happens.

‍

So I search.

‍

And as robust and powerful as my computer’s brain is, there are major holes in its index.

‍

I’ll type in a search string that I’m sure will capture the file and nothing comes up.

‍

I go digging and there it is.

‍

Not where I would have filed it.

‍

But where someone filed it.

‍

So I do eventually find what I’m looking for.

‍

But it took way longer than it needed to.

‍

For multiple reasons.

‍

In those moments, I really want to understand how this happened.

‍

Not to assign blame.

‍

But to understand how someone else connects the dots.

‍

And hopefully gain better insight into how these kinds of digital errors happen so we can prevent or reduce the frequency of something similar happening again.

‍

I don’t expect perfection but I do insist on excellence.

‍

From all of us.

‍

And here's the thing about digital clutter.

‍

You can't trip over it.

‍

It doesn't pile up on the dining room table or block the entry into the guest room.

‍

So it's easy to ignore it or pretend it doesn’t exist.

‍

Or more likely, that it isn't going to create as many bottlenecks and waste as much time as it does.

‍

But it does.

‍

It happens on your phone.

‍

On your laptop.

‍

In the cloud with the 7 email accounts you’ve created with variations of your name.

‍

Not because they each have a unique purpose.

‍

Because they all have the same purpose.

‍

And that is allowing you to communicate online despite the fact that you keep losing your password and getting locked out of your accounts.

‍

And when that happens, you just create a new email address and start over.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DECLUTTER YOUR DIGITAL LIFE?

Decluttering your digital life means making decisions about the files, photos, apps, and emails you've been saving because you couldn’t figure out what else to do.

‍

So keeping them was easier than tossing them and then needing something in the future.

‍

In our unstuffed world, the goal is finding whatever you need in 30 seconds or less.

‍

And that’s both analog things and digital things.

‍

And having a few reliable and predictable behaviors so you don’t stockpile deferred decisions anywhere you can find a spare megabyte.

‍

Think about a traditional off-site storage unit.

‍

The kind you rent when the house is full and you still have stuff you want to keep or at least want to not decide about right now.

‍

So you tell yourself, it’s just for a little while.

‍

Just until you get more time to sort it all out.

‍

Then, anytime you’ve got something big or potentially valuable or sentimental, you drive it over, roll up the door, shove it between some other boxes, then pull down the door and drive away.

‍

And every month, the bill shows up.

‍

Your phone works the same way.

‍

You take photos, download apps, documents and other things until you get a message that your storage is full and then, you've got two choices.

‍

Take the time to decide what goes and download everything you want to keep that doesn’t need to be in your pocket or bag…

‍

Or you buy more space in the cloud.

‍

Most of us buy more space.

‍

Because it's a couple of taps and a few extra dollars a month, and deciding feels like it'll take an entire weekend … and you don’t have one right now.

‍

Not one you can give over to something as boring as sifting through 14,000 emails and 8,500 pictures.

WHY DOES DIGITAL CLUTTER FEEL SO DISMISSABLE?

Because physical clutter has the temerity to get in your way and annoy you.

‍

Digital clutter is only visible when you need or want something and can’t find it in a quick search.

‍

Otherwise, it just waits until you need the PDF of your mortgage or lease.

‍

Or the declaration page from your insurance policy.

‍

Or the photo you took of where you parked at the airport.

‍

Or the confirmation email or boarding pass for your flight that leaves in 2 hours.

‍

Or the one you took of the license plate on the rental car when you got to your destination.

‍

When that happens, you start scrolling.

‍

And searching.

‍

But your phone isn’t syncing with your computer so you can’t actually download the file even though you can see its ghost right there on your screen.

‍

Or you can’t remember what you called it.

‍

Or even if you named it anything or if it’s still called whatever it was called when you first downloaded it.

‍

“Monthly statement.”

‍

All that wasted time, cortisol spike and irritation are the costs nobody adds up.

‍

Because if we’re lucky enough to find what we were looking for, we’re on to the next issue.

‍

And maybe we tell ourselves we definitely need to set some time aside to deal with this later … or soon …

‍

But that time never comes.

‍

Now full confession: as I write this, I've got 19 browser windows open.

‍

Some with 20 tabs and others with just 2.

‍

All representing something I started researching, am actively working on or plan to start working on very soon.

‍

So I'm not going to tell you one window open at a time should be your goal.

‍

But I do work my way through those tabs and close them as quickly as I can.

‍

I also force quit my browser so I don’t lose those tabs when I reboot.

‍

And I definitely only work on one project or task at a time.

WHERE DO I START DECLUTTERING MY DIGITAL LIFE?

Not with the whole device.

‍

Start with the place you dump things without thinking.

‍

For most people, that's one of three:

‍

Your Downloads folder.

‍

Your computer desktop.

‍

Or your camera roll.

‍

Pick one to start.

‍

You’ll eventually touch them all anyway.

‍

Set a timer for 15 minutes.

‍

Sort like with like—all the statements together, all the selfies together, all the screenshots of things you meant to buy or watch or share but never have.

‍

Then decide.

‍

Keep it or delete it?

‍

Then rename it using your naming lexicon and file it where you'd actually look for it—and with its siblings, if it has them.

‍

When the timer goes off, stop.

‍

Even if you're on a roll.

‍

Tomorrow, pick up where you left off.

‍

This is a total rinse and repeat exercise.

‍

And sure it can be mind-numbingly dull.

‍

That’s why we use the timer.

‍

So we’re not bored or disaffected for too long.

‍

Anyone can tolerate just about anything other than waterboarding for 15 minutes.

‍

If you read last week's post on brain fog and losing things, this is the same rule we talked about there just in a different format.

‍

So you’ll have one place for passwords, ideally a password manager app.

‍

You shouldn’t really be storing your passwords anywhere loose on your devices.

‍

You’ll have one place for documents with subfolders for subcategories of documents.

‍

And one place for the photos you actually want to keep, again subdivided by subject, location or date.

‍

Always properly named before you tuck them away.

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO DELETE OLD PHOTOS AND FILES?

Because deleting feels permanent and also intangible.

‍

It’s literally erasing something.

‍

Letting go of a sweater doesn't feel quite the same way.

‍

Sure it’s permanent.

‍

But the very act of erasing something, of making it disappear like it never existed can feel harsh.

‍

If you read any of Milan Kundera’s novels in the 80s and 90s, he wrote about how the Communists often erased people from photos and eventually from history.

‍

Or at least they tried to.

‍

So it feels dangerous.

‍

And aggressive.

‍

When viewed through that lens like you were erasing a person.

‍

But you’re not.

‍

You’re getting rid of the 14 extra January bank statements you downloaded when you were in a hurry or just forgot you already had them.

‍

Or some photos from your dad's last birthday where you snapped 20 images of basically the same shot just to be sure you got at least one good one.

‍

And if you did, you don’t need the other 19.

‍

Certainly not buried between 400 screenshots of organic skin products you wanted to research one rainy afternoon.

‍

Or next to the voicemail from some fictitious loan officer calling to update you on your non-existent application.

‍

Or even the one from your former BFF you can't bring yourself to listen to.

‍

That doesn’t need to be deleted.

‍

But it could definitely be downloaded and stored someplace so you don’t have to scroll past it every time you check for new messages.

‍

You can pretend that out of sight is out of mind, but it isn’t.

‍

Not really.

‍

And more space is seldom the answer.

‍

Making choices slowly and deliberately is.

READY TO DECLUTTER YOUR DIGITAL LIFE?

Now I get how overwhelming this can seem when you’re not a huge fan of technology or you just have way too much to deal with.

‍

Which is why I’m teaching a workshop on this very topic on October 29.

‍

And if you’re reading this after that, the self-guided version is still available.

‍

So you don’t have to do this alone and you don’t have to figure it out by yourself.

‍

If you'd rather make these decisions with me—devices and apps, files and photos, email, and how to keep it all maintained—join me for Declutter Your Digital Life™, a 90-minute live workshop on Thursday, October 29, from 7:00–8:30pm Eastern.

‍

You'll also get a 45-page Companion Workbook and unlimited replays.

‍

Save your spot here → https://go.andrewmellen.com/ddl-live

‍

As always, the best way to start is to just set a timer.

‍

15 minutes max.

‍

Then pick one folder, app or category of stuff.

‍

Start there.