5 Tips for Digital Spring Cleaning

All day, you keep yourself busy by tidying up your bedroom, deep cleaning the bathroom, and even planting a new garden in the backyard. You are exhausted, but happy with all your progress. However, that feeling quickly slips away when you sit down at your computer and get bombarded with the mess that is your digital space.

Spring cleaning doesn't just apply to your home. As we use technology more and more for every aspect of our lives, that space gets messier and messier.

Here are five ways to start digital spring cleaning today.

• Categorize the chaos: Use your email's filing system to your advantage by creating categories for the different types of correspondence you receive. Break your inbox into sections labeled bills, work, social media, etc. to help establish a sense of priority and order.
• Make a flash drive your friend: If your computer is overloaded with files you rarely use, move those documents to a flash drive. Not only will this help free up your machine, but it will also give you peace of mind by serving as a backup in case anything ever goes wrong on your computer.
• Unsubscribe: How many times do you actually open a promotional email from a brand? If you aren't interested or hardly even look at the messages themselves, unsubscribe. With just a few clicks, you will be free from the annoyance, and able to devote your space to more important things.
• Free up your phone: Do you really play all 58 games on your phone? Delete any apps that you haven't touched in the past month. This will free up the memory on your phone, and give you the peace of not having to scroll through pages of apps just to find your camera roll.
• Respond regularly: The number of unread emails or text messages on your device can be overwhelming, so take half an hour and respond to as many as you can. This process will not only help chip away at your work, but it will also leave you will a sense of accomplishment.

Digital spring cleaning may not require as much effort as household chores, but it is just as important when it comes to helping you live a more organized life. When your digital space is organized, you and your machine are able to work better and more efficiently. If the task seems too daunting, start by devoting 15 minutes at a time to sorting through your email or emptying your machine's trash.