One of the ways we live as Modern Minimalists is by decluttering our devices. This doesn’t mean we have to live with the least amount of anything. This means anything we decide to keep has value behind it. If we decide to keep an application, it is because we either use it on a regular basis. “Regular basis” doesn’t have to be an everyday occurrence – I (Nancy) check my credit card and bank account once per week to make sure transactions look right.
When it comes to keeping possession, you don’t need to justify it with anyone else but yourself. If you are comfortable with why you’re keeping something or tossing it out, own it! You often hear about decluttering your physical space, have you decluttered your digital space before? Have you reviewed what’s on your phone and computer? If not, we’re here to help.
Unsubscribe from Emails
Email subscriptions can quickly fill your inbox. Up until a couple of years ago, I was guilty of subscribing to every vendor of interest. Most of the time, I would ignore the email and it would become another clutter in my inbox. I started unsubscribing from receiving emails and found my inbox more manageable. There are stores that I shop at almost regularly but unsubscribed to. Another benefit of unsubscribing from emails is the reduced likelihood of making a purchase (out of sight, out of mind).
One of the easiest ways to start unsubscribing from emails is to review the most recent promo’s you’ve received. If you rarely visit the website or have little to no interest, unsubscribe! There are other services such as unroll.me, where you can unsubscribe in bulk. However, nothing is free – you need to review the privacy policy to ensure whether you’re comfortable with your anonymized data being sold to third parties. If you choose to utilize these services, make sure you revoke the app’s access to your email once you’re done!
Delete Unwanted Files (Including Pictures)
Have you reviewed your Downloads folder on your computer? If not, that is the place you want to start to review and delete any unwanted files. I try to review my Downloads folder on a quarterly basis at the very least – files accumulate quickly in there. Once you’re finished, don’t be scared to check out other folders on your computer; Documents, Pictures, and Desktop.
Once you’re done, spend some time reviewing the pictures on your phone. Make sure your pictures are backed up to a separate device or on a cloud solution. You probably do not need 15 of the same poses, so choose the best one (or two).
Remove Unused Applications
Sometimes, we install an application once and forget about it, or there was a period when the app was a hype that now died off. Either way, review those applications, both on your desktop and phone! For example, I had some games that took up a lot of space on my computer that I don’t play anymore. I don’t see myself going back to those games, so I might as well uninstall them. That way, I free up some space on my computer!
How will you declutter your devices?
These are great reminders, since my files do accumulate so fast without really noticing it! If there’s one thing I unintentionally hoard, it’s definitely photos and all the other things inside my Downloads folder which I forget to review and delete later on. I like your habit of clearing your files quarterly; I think that’s something I’d like to incorporate into my life as well. Thank you Nancy for sharing with us, Happy Friday!
Anna Jo | http://www.helloannajo.com
This is such a helpful post! I love decluttering my devices. I declutter my devices as often as possible and I find that decluttering my devices helps me work better. I love all the tips you gave especially “UNSUBSCRIBING FROM EMAILS”. Ah! Emails could end up being a very big clutter on my device. I find that unsubscribing from irrelevant emails , deleting unwanted files and removing unwanted applications does help order my thoughts as well. Great post x!
Ruth| Ruthiee loves Glamour
Such a good reminder! I currently have 500 unread emails on my main account. Most of them various subscriptions that I don’t really care about. Really need to declutter on that end!
There’s nothing more therapeutic than unsubscribing to pointless email lists!
I definitely need to declutter my phone. I like to check who I follow on different social media and unfollow anyone who I don’t relate to anymore. I also need to unsubscribe from some emails as they’ve been spamming me.
Antonia || Sweet Passions
It’s weird but my mind feels so much clearer when my device is organized! I’ve always been hot on deleting apps I don’t use and transferring my photos. What reaaaallyyy gets on my nerves is when you are trying to unsubscribe from someones email and they make it extremely difficult. To this day, I still get emails from H&M – i keep unsubscribing and it does nothing.. I contacted them and they told me I need to call someone…so now they go into the spam folder.
Hayley || hayleyxmartin
This is something I really need to do. I started unsubscribing to emails last year as I was tired of my inbox always being full. And like you say, it often tempts you to shop! But I need to be better at decluttering other areas of my digital life. I have a ridiculous amount of photos on my phone!! X
Unsusbscribe from emails – this will be key to my success
This is such a great reminder. I need to do all this! Thanks for sharing.
This post has lit a fire under me to resume the photo declutter – I can’t tell you how many pics of flowers, trees, lakes, clouds I’ve accumulated in my phone over the past year. They’ve got to be condensed down indeed. But for vanity’s sake, I’ll keep me & my 5 poses 😉
Good reminder on e-mail housekeeping. Have been unsubscribing from mailing lists of recent (mostly retailers of fashion phases past) & boy does it feel good!
Yes, yes, and yes! Photos and videos have a habit of piling up and most often there are heaps of files we no longer need. I end up saving helpful emails related to new writing markets and poetry journals but, a few months after saving the emails, I usually have explored all the places I am going to explore and hence can safely delete it.
With email subscriptions, I try to unsubscribe from the emails I am just deleting instead of letting the unwanted subscriptions pile up, though it is so easy to just hit delete!
Thanks for sharing the ways you keep digitally decluttered. It is healthy to have space to grow! 🙂
Great post! And it’s inspired me. I’m going to find time, starting on Monday, to get unsubscribing from certain emails. What you said is exactly like me – subscribed, but never reading the emails!
This is a really great post Nancy! I feel like I have no choice because my phone has the least amount of storage haha and I need to clean it up in order to film content! “You probably do not need 15 of the same poses, so choose the best one (or two).” <- that statement was definitely yelling at me hahaha I'm so guilty of keeping all 15 pictures that look the exact same! I've got to go in a delete some. Thanks for the reminder xo
http://www.lynnmumbingmejia.com
Great suggestions! I needed this post. I have to declutter my devices big time! It’s one of those things that keeps getting pushed to the bottom of my to-do list, but with the new year upon us I think it’s time. Thanks for giving me the push I needed.
I need to go through and unsubscribe from some emails SO badly. I have one email address that I use for anything where I have to provide an email (like stores, etc) and it’s getting a little crazy! The number of emails that make their way into that inbox is a little crazy… I should probably tackle that sooner rather than later – it’s not like it’s going to go away unless I do something about it lol
I feel like this is something I really need to do! I’m subscribed to so many emails that I delete as soon as they enter my inbox xx
I got to do this on regular basis, since my phone is old and gets really slow whenever I have to many apps installed. Should move trough my disks as well, cos I’ve always been excessively taking pictures from my adventure but rarely sort them out afterwards.
LackaDaisy
I’m guilty of subscribing to emails/newsletters and my inbox is filled up. Guilty of being too lazy to unsubscribe now (it’s on my to-do list though). I hide apps on my phone that I don’t use much so I actually forget about them. Don’t know whether that’s a good or bad thing. Nevertheless, this is a great reminder. Thank you for sharing!
Shuana
http://www.howivebeen.com
I definitely need to work on unsubscribing from unwanted newsletters! It’s such an overwhelming task, but will definitely be worth it once it’s done xx
I desperately need to clear out my devices (and organise my laptop files!). Unsubscribing from emails sounds like it’ll be the perfect place to start 🙂 x
https://www.femaleoriginal.com
It’s always so satisfying when you have a big session unsubscribing from emails or clearing apps. I had to reset my phone this weekend and took it as an opportunity to only redownload the ones I truly needed (plus a few travel ones that I hope I’ll need again very soon 😂). It felt so good! x
Sophie
Simple things – easy to do and good to be reminded to do them.
I think it’s so important to declutter all aspects of your life! I really make a habit of unsubscribing to emails as I get them (if I don’t want to receive them anymore of course)! And I have to clear my photos out as I have the smallest iPhone size in terms of storage! But I always feel a bit lighter when I do!
Katie | katieemmabeauty.com
Love this post, everyone loves a good clearout but bet 90% of people forget about their phones, I know I do! I definitely need to need to clear out my emails and contacts and old apps, and not even to mention my photos and videos album🤦🏻♀️ Amount of memes or silly screenshots still on there ahaha x
I need to set time to do some of these but always back out coz it always seems do darn daunting/long winded ( ;
Happy New Year to both of you! ( :
Such good tips, Nancy. I don’t unsubscribe from unwanted emails as often as I should and I’m definitely guilty of not clearing my downloads folder – thank you for these prompts, I shall make sure I follow both this year! x
Omg decluttering devices for the new year is such a must! I used to get so many emails from stores and now I try to unsubscribe from as many as possible. It’s just too much! I have been deleting lots of pictures from my computer because they take up so much space on my computer! I hope you and Mario had a great holiday season 🙂 Happy new year!
Jill
https://jilliancecilia.com/
These are good tips! My old phone wasn’t a top of the range one, I had to replace my old one at a time money was tight, so it didn’t have a lot of space for photos or apps, even with a micro SD card, and so I have a very slimmed down amount of data on my phone, it’s habit now! I only install apps if I will regularly use them, and I frequently move the photos off onto external storage.
Hope that you had a great weekend! Ours was a nice quiet one at home with the 3 day Brisbane lockdown due to there being a case of coronavirus outside hotel quarantine, but lockdown ends tonight as there have been no more cases 🙂
Thank you for these tips. I really need to declutter my phone and it has been ages. Ugh.
Unsubscribing from emails i right, goodness the amount of storage marketing emails at up in your inbox! And because they don’t go straight to your inbox either they just pile up since you don’t check lower-priority folders. Thanks so much for these tips!
The declutter of devices is really important. Thanks so much for the reminder.
Have a great day! XOXO
Rampdiary
Very good advice – I have a whole email address set up specifically to receive spam. I do, however, have far too many photos which could be deleted…
I really need to do this! I’m sure I have far too many apps on my phone that I no longer use. I also keep most my emails in folders however, I’m sure I don’t need an email from 2017 anymore 🙈 This has given me the push I need, thanks! xx
I have a lot of emails that I don’t open haha. I need to start cleaning the things that I don’t want.
These are really smart space and time saving tips. It’s amazing how much time email can consume on a daily basis, so I am also always trying to delete unwanted emails. Plus, that was a really great tip about deleting unwanted photos. I tend to take a LOT of pictures and always have more than I really need.
I definitely need to do a bit of a digital clear out! I actually went through a load of my photo’s on my phone the other day as I had got a notification telling me that I was running out of space, so had a bit of a clear out with that. Although I still have so much more to go through! I really do need to go through and unsubscribe to a load of mailing lists too – it’s all definitely on my to do list. Great post! xx
Great tips here,
I feel so much better when I declutter my devices.
I need to delete all the applications I don’t use and unsubscribe to more unwanted mails.
Thanks for sharing.
xx
Margot
https://troughthepasturesofthesky.com
Couldn’t agree more! I honestly feel like I can breathe better after I declutter all the junk email or unnecessary files from my computer or cellphone (as well as contacts that you no longer need). Great way to start a year refreshed! Happy 2021 xx
Naya
http://www.nayatilly.com
I must do this so baaaaad, unsubscribe from silly e-mails.
Where’s da strengthhhh?
Ana, http://www.adreamersland.com
http://www.facebook.com/adreamersland
http://www.instagram.com/anaccsa
I am so glad I came across your new blog! I am all about decluttering and actually enjoy the process LOL. What I am not good at is immediately deleting unwanted pictures because I always wait for them to pile up LOL. Have a great week!
PerlaGiselle | iamperlita.com
♥ | INSTAGRAM
This is something I need to do more often. I am terrible at clogging up my phone and laptop with unneeded things! An external hard drive has been a lifesaver for me, especially for storing all the pictures I take. Now to unsubscribe from all those unread emails!
Thanks for sharing!
Aimsy xoxo
https://www.aimsysantics.co.uk
Love the idea of decluttering my electronics. We don’t realise how much stuff we have in our inboxes, files etc. until we sit down and go through them. You’re motivating me to go through my email and unsubscribe from anything that I’m not interested in. Awesome post! Hope you’re having a brilliant weekend 🙂
Julia x
Last Post: Make The Most Of Your Week With This Sunday Reset FREE Checklist & Advice! 💪
Such good tips here. You’ve reminded me how much I need to declutter my pictures on my iPhone and GoPro. I’m a nightmare for taking screengrabs and never deleting them!
This is something that I have recently started doing with my phone, I have been removing pictures from the phone and placing on my external hard drive and asking myself do I really need this app and sometimes getting rid of it. My idea of doing that with my laptop is placing everything on my external hard drive lol. I do try to keep my phone clean especially because I am always downloading music, which needs a lot of space.
These are all great ideas to declutter! I never thought about doing it on my phone and laptop. I have so many files and emails I don’t need, so I will have to take the time to do it. Thanks for sharing x