In the same way we clean out our pantries or get rid of clothing during a spring clean, consider decluttering your digital world too. This is not merely to be more organized, but is crucial to maintain privacy and prevent hackers from exploiting anything you don’t even use.
Clear out your inbox. Unless you’re a passionate Inbox Zero fan, it’s likely your inbox has thousands of emails. Inbox maintenance can be a daunting task, but use it as an opportunity to address unwanted communication or to tag/file important ones. Delete en-masse by sender name and unsubscribe from those emails you never open anyway.
Review your digital accounts. Go over your apps list and delete any you no longer use. Some of your accounts are flooding in your emails through subscriptions so hopefully you find you kill two birds with one stone through clearing your inbox. Another way to cancel subscriptions is to go on ‘Settings’ on your phone and search ‘Subscriptions’ then press it and you should see a whole list of them and be able to ‘Cancel’ within a single click.
Password safety. While going through your accounts, update your passwords. On your mobile or browser, find ‘Settings’ and type in ‘Passwords’. Most devices will highlight any passwords you have that could be easily guessed or have appeared in a data leak with an option to either delete the account or change the password. Use a notebook dedicated to your passwords to document your new passwords and update it as you go.
Make every photo count. If you’re guilty of taking dozens of photos for that one special shot, your camera roll probably needs some attention. Delete the extras and organize your photos into albums for easy access. Once you’ve put in that work, make a habit of deleting extra photos as you go. Bad photos not only clutter up your camera roll, they also take up storage.
Back it up. If there’s anything you can be sure of, our devices will break, freeze, or get stolen at the most inopportune times. That’s why backing up your information is essential. Set up a system that automatically saves your data and you won’t be left with a useless brick when things go wrong.
Shred and encrypt. Security software can protect you from viruses, malware and other cyberattacks on your privacy, identity and any sensitive info. Install and research various apps or softwares for file encryption, a digital file shredder, and identity theft protection. Many think the ‘trash’ icon equates to permanent deletion, but those can be recovered easily.
With a little digital reshuffling you can rest easy that your digital world is as organized as your in real life one.
