10+ Tips To Organize your digital life

 

Your photos, computer files, passwords, financial data, online banking information, correspondence, and possibly job-related information may be screaming for digital organization. Technology is your best friend when it comes to storing and organizing certain aspects of your life, but as you move in that direction, it becomes necessary that you learn to organize your digital life too. Digital information that is appropriately organized is easy to manage and move around.

The following tips and best practices will help you get a handle on your virtual and digital data and information. 

1. De-clutter your computer desktop

This idea, however, is not always practical. I much prefer to have no more than two applications opened when I'm working on my laptop. When this is impractical, use applications to organize your desktop for your peace of mind and clarity, e.g., Fences, Tiles, One Tab, and ObjectDock.

A cluttered desktop screen can be a timewaster too. So please keep it clean and with minimum icons.

2. Organize your passwords

Let's be honest. A lot about our lives and work is on the internet these days. How many times have you clicked on "Forgot Password" because you are subscribed to so many sites that you forget your credentials?. There are two options to help you organize this area of your digital life, manually recording all your online subscriptions and login information - or signup to a resource like LastPass to manage your passwords.

LastPass is a free password management tool. You can store all of your passwords and frequently visited websites there, providing quick and safe access when needed. 

3. Organize your smartphone

Just like desktops, smartphones are pretty much operating as computers now. We access the internet, do banking, and almost everything else we do on computers. So it's essential to keep them just as meticulous.

Customizing and organizing your Android smartphone is possible with applications like LauncherPro, Google Now Launcher, and EverythingMe. iPhone users can use  Brewster, Carousel, and Clean.

4. De-clutter your inbox

You can create folders within your mailbox to segregate emails by work, personal, project, etc. If you are a Google mail user, they will notify you of subscription emails that you haven't opened in a while, with an option to unsubscribe from them automatically. 

We should all take advantage of this nifty feature.

5. Live in the cloud

Decluttering and organizing your digital life means taking advantage of cloud storage. DropBox and Google Drive are services that offer free and paid cloud storage, and your accounts will be available from any of your devices with internet connectivity. 

Cloud storage is also helpful as a backup mechanism for both your hard and soft copies of documents. For hard copies, scan them to your phone or computer, and upload them to the cloud.

6. Say no to notifications

Organization means simplification and focus.  Turn off notifications that alert with every minor detail of online activity, e.g., your friend liked your photo, you've got mail, etc. You don't need the distraction. This hack will save you time since you will no longer do mindless and unintentional browsing on your phone.

7. Set up a file structure

Just as you have physical file folders in your filing cabinet, you can do the same with digital files. Set up the highest level of digital folders first, e.g., "work." This level is your file drawer. Then set up sub-folders under each folder, e.g., "Project A." These are the equivalent of your manila folders. Keep creating as many sub-folders within a folder as you need, but don't go overboard as you can reach a point where it becomes counter-productive.  A file structure saves you time when locating digital files.

Example: your photos from a trip to the ABC islands might look like this: your highest folder level might be Photos. A sub-folder could be Caribbean 2016. A set of sub-folders could be one of the places visited: Bonaire, Aruba, Curacao.

8. File on the spot 

File any document that you receive as soon as you receive or open it. You won't need to go back to find it when needed.

9. Shortcuts

 Create desktop (or home screen on phones) shortcuts for files and folders that you use frequently. The beauty of this is that you can do it even for websites that you access a lot.

10. Switch off auto-download

Chatting apps like Whatsapp, Messenger, and Telegram have settings that allow you to download automatically (or not) photos, audio, or video files sent through the chats. They are a nightmare to organize, too, as you have no say on where each of these files goes. Save space by switching off the auto-download feature. 

As you can see, these tips to help organize your digital life will not only save you time but your sanity too. Implement one at a time, and see how good it feels.

How do you declutter and organize your digital life?