Your digital desktop deserves order: tips for cleaning your PC like a Pro Organizer

Digital clutter has the potential to generate the same stress as a chaotic room. Just like a table cluttered with papers and misplaced items, a messy digital desktop makes it difficult to concentrate well, it is time consuming, generates more visual stress and increase the possibility of losing valuable information.

As a professional organizer, I know that order is not just about shelves and drawers, it also involves our virtual spaces. That's why today I want to share about practical tips on how to give your computer a good cleaning, like a pro!

Start with the Desktop

Do the same as you would do on a physical desk: clear out everything that is not essential. But first, view your files as a list instead of icons to easily identify which ones need a new location and which ones should be deleted.

Create a temporary folder called “to review” and move everything you have on your desktop to this folder after sending to the trash the ones that are not needed anymore. Then you can sort it out carefully and locate them in new folders such as “work”, “photos”, “old times”, “fun times”. Only shortcuts that you frequently use should remain on your desktop.

Organize your folders as if they were drawers

The key is to create a simple but logical structure. Example: /Work, /Work/Customers, /Work, Invoices, /Staff, /Staff/Photos, /Staff/documents. Use clear and consistent names. Avoid “new thing”, ‘file1’ or “aaa.doc”.

Another helpful idea is to create folders based on the year they were created and then subfolders that make sense for you. You can use simple categories like: 2022 Photos, 2022 Work, and so on. Don’t leave them on your Desktop but somewhere still easy to access on your computer.

Remove duplicates and unnecessary versions

Tools such as CCleaner, Duplicate Cleaner or advanced search functions will help you identify duplicate files. When finishing a project, keep the final version and create a backup version.

Consider this suggestion for your email inbox as well. This option relies on the same concept as above: clearing out those old emails out of sight by moving them into folders, if that’s all you want to do. Or archive all the messages which is almost the same thing but also gives you a method for make the organization sustainable.

Start by creating a new folder or two or three, depending on how many messages you have to clear out. If you choose to create folders, name them by current year and the month, or previous years if needed. Choose the system that works better for you, although time based names can make it easier since every email has a date, that means you would need to take fewer decisions about how to sort them.

Empty the Downloads folder and make it a habit

This is what I call the “messy drawer” of every PC. Spend a few minutes every week or at least every month to move what is useful, delete what is not and keep it clean. Create sub-folders like /Pictures, /PDFs, /Programs if you need to keep things temporarily.

Use this folder for transferring and sorting your phone photos to your computer. It will free space and make it easier to find the images you choose to keep there. Then save them to an external storage device or send them to a cloud or email address.

Make an automatic backup

Organization is pointless if you lose everything due to a technical issue. Use services like Google Drive, Dropbox or an external drive to make regular backups. You can also set up automatic copies so they don't depend on your memory capacity.

In addition to this, think about getting rid of unused apps as another way you can start purging the digital clutter from your life, as well as getting more free space on your phone and computer. To choose which apps to remove, start on the screen that's farthest from your home screen. Your home screen probably has apps you use all the time, whereas the farthest screen likely has apps you never use.

Make a fresh start, few people have good habits when it comes to cleaning up digital junk. If you're not one of them, don’t worry! it is very common since digital clutter is relatively new. We don't have a lot of established habits for digital maintenance and hygiene. But trust me, cleaning up your desktop, email account, phone, and web browser can be as rewarding and relieving as cleaning up physical clutter.

I hope this is helpful for you, see you next time!

For more ideas, tools and suggestions check on this: https://www.simplifycreateinspire.com/how-to-do-a-digital-declutter/