Digital minimalism: keeping your lockdown-desk tidy
By: Yaiza Narganez Gomez
Tags: Minimalism, Digitalhoarding, Digital Clutter, Digital Minimalism, Decluttering

Digital minimalism: keeping your lockdown-desk tidy

Hard drive manufacturers will hate this simple change but your concentration and a stress-free day working from home starts with the decluttered heap of files on your computer. Yaiza Narganez Gomez Dec 25, 2020·3 min read

Most of us would never leave our workplace desks in an overflowing mess, let alone work day after day in a chaotic environment. A clean and orderly workplace ensures that we feel calmer and ready to tackle the day and it’s challenges.

How come we let ourselves go when it’s about digital files instead of real paper ones?

Is this a typical view for you ? Behold this article that will save your digital sanity !

Hoarding on our devices

The human being is a hoarder by nature, we keep our stuff as long as possible in the case of a tragic or fateful event where we might need said stuff. It’s about survival, having our needs met at any time because that’s what how we survive better than other species. Our long-term risk and possibility thinking defines our everyday actions.

This has grown into a digital clutter with our computerized everyday lives.

As much as we hate the cluttered home of our Aunt Theresa and her 56 porcelain tea-cups and 17 throw blankets, (who even needs that many blankets in California?), we unknowingly hoard too. Our computers and phones are filled to the brim with receipts, documents, blurry pictures and bookmarks we’ll never read.

What if we need that super specific article that we read 3 years ago for work one day? Or those 52 pictures of a nice sunset in Spain for your next meeting powerpoint?

The abundance of stuff, chaos and information makes it harder for us to focus on the task at hand, find the useful information we really need and makes working on our computers from home almost overwhelming.

That’s why your productivity is higher at the workplace, because that computer is empty and doesn’t ring bells of distractions at every file click.

The solution? Trust me, it’s not buying more external hard drives.

A common sight: a pile of full hard drives that will stay in a dusty closet for years.

Getting rid of useless files

Tackling a cluttered home always seems logical, something you have to do because you live in that place every day. However, with all of our daily time spent on computers and phones, we would’ve thought better than just hiding countless files in folders and subfolders.

But with a pandemic going on, our workplaces closed and our personal computers and phones becoming our digital homes, this will make your life much easier.

Decluttering your digital life is a process that takes time, energy and some motivation. So put your favorite music on, get yourself comfortable behind your device with a cup of tea and get scrolling.

Let’s start together

• Tackle your devices step-by-step, begin with your receipts first: toss away all those you don’t need anymore and reorder the ones that survived.

• Sorting out your vacation pictures might be the next step, indulge on laughing through some old memories again.

Getting started in decluttering your digital life is the hardest part, but you’ll be glad once you’re finished.

Decluttering a work-in-progress and might seem never-ending but don’t give up !

As much as we all hate working out at first, maintaining a good condition is far easier after a while. This is the same with decluttering, it will take some time but soon you’ll find yourself keeping your device super neatly ordened in just 5 minutes a day.

A clean mind in a clean workspace

Now take a breath and enjoy the free space on your device, the empty desktop and that beautiful wallpaper. You’re ready to get to your best work without any trouble!

Do you also want to declutter your digital life?

Take the #DigitalDeclutterChallenge !