Dealing with Digital Clutter

Dealing with Digital Clutter Digital clutter is different from physical clutter. Yes, it is important to remember that digital clutter actually isnt as troublesome as physical clutter. For example: Have you tried to carry a thousand books up a flight of stairs? How about a dozen photo albums? Or maybe a library of DVDs? If you have, then you know its much easier to move those possessions when theyre digital: thousands of books fit easily onto an e-reader, photo albums display beautifully in digital frames, and nearly every movie ever made streams effortlessly from the cloud. That said, digital clutter can still be problematic: unlike the physical world, youll never eliminate digital clutter completely, so its best to organize our digital world to make it easier to navigate. Take the Internet as an example: the World Wide Web is infinite, and thus impossible to declutter. It is, however, organized with precision through the use of URLs, IP addresses, etc. We can do something similar with our personal computers, smartphones, and other devices. Heres a tip: once a month, organize the folders on your computer, delete excess photos on your phones, clear unused bookmarks from your web browsers, and archive any files and emails you havent accessed in the past 90 days. With a backed-up archive, youll have searchable access to all your files should you need them, but theyll be out of the way until you do. Personally, The Minimalists  save everything to Dropbox, and then once a month we move unused files and folders into an Archive folder. This monthly maintenance ensures our hard drives, desktops, devices, browsers, and inboxes are clear and easy to access. This essay is an excerpt from of our 31-Days of Practical Minimalism Tips, which you can follow on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.