Life is so busy, and while technology does make my life easier, I find that I am bombarded with everything from notifications to emails to texts.  Sometimes this can be a bit overwhelming.  Just like physical clutter, electronic clutter can also be stressful, distracting, and cause anxiety.

Every so often I go through my devices to do some spring cleaning! Too many e-mails?  Too many notifications? You can pare down and feel less stressed about it.  Plus, by getting rid of stuff on your devices, you can clean up and open up more space.

E-mail

Start by going through your e-mail and unsubscribe to anything you don’t need.

For example, if you subscribed to a newsletter about a certain topic, search your e-mail for the name of the newsletter and delete them all.

I find that I often subscribe to a newsletter to find a good deal, but then I am bombarded with e-mails from a company – even multiple e-mails every day!  I usually sign up for some digital store flyers in the fall to help me with my holiday shopping, and before I know it, I am getting texts and emails left and right. It is so refreshing to get rid of all those newsletters and have less in my inbox to have to sort through.

Photos

I take a lot of photos, and they add up quickly.  I find that a good time to go through these is when I am stuck waiting for something.  For example, car repairs or a long sports meet.  Sort through your photos and get rid of duplicates and things that need to be tossed.  When I went to upgrade my phone last time, I had almost 13,000 photos on my camera roll, but was able to delete several thousand.

Videos

Videos can take up a lot of room, and it is good to stay on top of these.  When I go back through my videos, I usually find some can be deleted, shortened, or uploaded to YouTube (and then deleted).

Texts & Voicemails

It is good to go through texts once in a while and delete the conversations that you don’t need.  I find that there are some that are irrelevant and can be deleted.  Then when I am looking through contacts and conversations, it is easy to find what I need. I also tend to have voicemails dating back months or even years, so go through those and get rid of anything you don’t need.

Notifications

Getting a lot of notifications all day can be distracting and stressful.  I do want to keep tabs on certain things, but I often find unnecessary or unexpected notifications popping up from apps, so I go into my notifications center and change my preferences to reduce the number of notifications.

Apps and programs

My mac and iPhone both have a place in the settings where I can see what apps and programs are not being used, so I can get rid of them as desired.  I tend to accumulate apps, and it is nice to get rid of some and prioritize what I use.

Trash

Go through spam and trash and empty these.  I get so many spam e-mails and website comments, and it is nice to get rid of them.

Update

Lastly, make sure your files are backed up and updated!

Marysa

About the Author: Marysa

Busy blogger and mom of two girls! We love traveling and the great outdoors, and are always looking for our next adventure!