Clutter and chaos get to me; when things are out of whack, it’s like my head gets clogged up and I’m distracted. Keeping my non-digital clutter, like my laundry and dirty dishes, in check is one thing. I can make sure everything lands in the hamper and the dishwasher gets run before I go to bed, but handling my digital clutter is another battle altogether.
It’s easy to minimize the effect digital clutter can have because it’s not right in front of us, taking up space in our living rooms. But we spend so much time in digital spaces that keeping those spaces clean should be a priority. The things that bog me down the most are my social media feeds (specifically Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest) — I routinely clean up my feeds, unfollowing accounts and hiding updates, because having feeds full of things in which I’m not interested defeats the purpose. Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist has a great list of digital clutter (from social media to emails to TMP files) to minimize.
Attack one cluttered digital area on Becker’s list and see how you feel. I bet you’ll be surprised at how nice it is to keep your email inbox at zero and to know that your hard drive has been defragged. Keeping my digital spaces a little less cluttered has lifted weights off my shoulders that I didn’t even know were there.