Spring will be here, officially, in just over a week. It inspires people into annual rituals that give their homes a fresh face for the warmer months. And, it has me thinking about another mainstay of our everyday lives: the devices we all use every day: laptops, tablets, smartphones…
Back in February, I asked my social followers which “corners” of their tech devices need cleaning out the most. I thought it would be emails or texts. But, it turns out that files on the desktop or personal computer were the top choice by more than half.
No matter what needs the most attention in your life, tech-wise, now is a great time to get organized. And, since a good friend of mine is a professional organizer, I asked for a little advice. JoAnn Krall manages a Facebook community, Organized Path to Peace, and she recommends the following four steps for kicking off spring cleaning for your personal tech:
- First stop the bleeding by being mindful of what you are downloading, subscribing to and bookmarking.
- Devote 15 minutes a day to purging old files.
- Devote another 15 minutes to purging photos. Many of us just keep them all because we have the space.
- Stop saving every file to your desktop. Think about creating folders as holding spots. I have To Read, To Do, To Pay and To File. I use these categories for paper, digital and email.
These tips are a great place to start. If you’re looking for more, JoAnn provides information like this as well as self-study programs for organizing through her website joannkrall.com— and through her Facebook community.