7 Ways To Declutter Your Computer

Nothing says “clean me” like a full memory on the computer.

I was trying to download pictures onto my computer and I had a pop up that said there was not enough memory and storage on the computer to even VIEW the pictures. When I pulled up the meter, I was embarrassed to see that I had not even 300MB left. Yikes.

That is when I decided that I needed to clear off my computer. I know that a large portion of it is taken up with my digital photo book program Blurb, but since I am almost done with my book, I can soon delete that.

I take a lot of pictures. Most of them are with my phone, but because I do an Around The Home post each week with pictures, I end up saving them all on my computer, and eventually put them in our family’s and Mazy’s book too. Needless to say, I feel I am constantly organizing pictures.

Every other week or so, I transfer pictures to a large thumb drive that I have, to keep them all organized. I also download any pictures I want printed to my shutterfly account, and then when a great deal comes along, I print them. I know that may sound like a lot, but it is much easier to take 15 minutes every other week to do this, than hours later on, when I am really far behind.

Not only have I been working on decluttering my pictures, but also other areas on my computer as well, such as emails, my Pinterest account, and my documents. Here are some other ideas on how you can declutter your computer:

1. Put all of your pictures into file folders on your computer. Once in folders, put them on an external hard drive or a thumb drive, and put it in your safe. Protect those memories!

2. Do the same as #1, for all of your documents as well.

3.Declutter your pinterest boards. Go through each board and decide if you need or will ever use all of the pins on each board. Do the pins reflect who you want to be or who you are?

4. Declutter your facebook and minimize your time on it. Facebook can be one of the biggest time killers out there. How often do you tell yourself, just 5 minutes, and 15 minutes later, you are still flipping through posts? Think about unfollowing some friends who you do not really need to follow anymore or who even bother you with their opinions? By unfollowing them, you are not completely blocking them off your friend list. Do the same with groups.

5. Run your anti-virus scan. Clear out any potential viruses!

6. Unsubscribe from emails. Are you constantly deleting emails from your junk mail or inbox folder? Unsubscribe from those companies. It will take you 1 minute to do so, but will save you precious time everyday, from having to delete them.

7. Spend time wisely on the internet. Do you have more pressing things that you need to get done? Don’t get stuck on the internet, letting your priorities go down the drain.

To think that 20 or 30 years ago, decluttering computers were not even a thought. Now that computers consume so much of our time, they are becoming something we need to make sure do not clutter our lives. Hopefully these tips help you make more room for what you value most in life – time NOT on the computer!

What do you need to declutter most when it comes to social media and/or your computer?