Technology is great, until it isn’t.
Our digital world can sometimes be a reflection of our physical world. The way we organize our papers can be reflected in how we organize the digital files on our computer.
It is much easier to accumulate information on our computers because we don’t see the “piles” anymore. When the paper piles got too big, we dealt with them (mostly). It is easy to ignore dealing with digital files, until you get the "no more storage" prompt from the computer. You can clean it up, or buy more cloud storage. We both know which is the quicker, easier choice.
I had a computer scare last month when my iMac decided it was full. I went through and deleted lots of files and I’m committed to continuing to clear out. What I didn’t realize was that I had a few ‘previous system’ folders which I no longer needed. There were applications that no longer worked with my current system and files that could no longer be opened on my computer. I also moved big video files to an external hard drive. Thankfully, my iMac is now functioning again:)
It goes without saying that you need a back-up system. Whether it is a cloud-based system or an external hard drive - set up a way to secure your digital information and then check to make sure the system is working. If using an external drive, creating another copy and storing it elsewhere is recommended.
I have received a ‘storage full’ alert from my phone and was offered additional cloud storage for $2.99/month. It happened at a busy time, and I didn’t have time to go through my phone and delete things, so I reluctantly purchased the extra storage.
Since then I have gone through my phone and deleted things like old texts and attachments, photos I didn’t like or need, podcasts that I already listed to, old voicemails and pared down my music. I now keep an eye on the storage and will often go through my phone, editing out things I don’t need, while waiting for an appointment.
5 tips for dealing with emails
They just keep coming, and many are junk. To clear some out, and help you stay organized, try the following tips.
1. Sort your inbox by sender to delete several at one time
2. Take the time to unsubscribe to mailing lists you don't want
3. Create a separate email for online shopping, so you don't clutter your inbox with offers
4. Create folders to put important emails into labeled by topic or person
5. Define rules so that selected emails automatically go into a folder. This is good for newsletters you want to look at later or list serves that you only want to reference on occasion.
These should help reduce the email into your inbox. Work on it for 15 minutes at a time and you should see a huge difference. As with all things, you'll need to do some upkeep - but seeing how much better your inbox looks will help build momentum!