Five Tips to De-Clutter Your Digital Device

Earlier this year, I bungled my iCloud settings and every app my 14-year-old daughter downloaded on her phone magically appeared on mine. While this was at first an interesting exercise in parental surveillance, it quickly became a case of severe clutter. Compounding the problem was the sad fact I hadn't consistently deleted any of my own unused apps (and their push notifications). My phone became the equivalent of a clogged closet begging for a KonMari cleaning.  I knew things had to change when accessing my traffic app to drive home from work involved swiping through five screens.

I recently got to work streamlining the content on my mobile device, and in so doing, I realized what I was doing was less about cleaning up screens and more about clearing mind space for more of what matters. We spend a lot of time on our smartphones – hours a day, on average – and so what we put there is essentially a choice about how we are going to spend a considerable portion of our waking hours.  What is front and center in our digital life is ideally a reflection of where we’re trying to go in real life.

Here a five strategies I employed to de-clutter my digital life – and guide the time I spend on the small screen.

1. Delete the apps you don’t use or want. They are occupying precious space, needed device memory and mental bandwidth. 
2. Move your most commonly used apps to your home screen. For me, the ones that belong there are apps for getting around (parking, traffic, maps, travel), apps for staying in touch with work, news, my banking and credit apps, my exercise apps, weather, entertainment (podcasts and music) and social media.  I put apps that are related in folders so I can easily find them. For example, my work apps are in one folder and my “getting around” apps in another.
3. Now study your home screen and ask yourself if it reflects how you want to spend your time. Do these apps make your life better or easier? When I did this part of the exercise, I realized that some of my commonly used apps were not necessarily ones that provided a lot of value in my life other than passing the time. And there were better ways to use those minutes. Social media apps are especially important to scrutinize – do your apps and the people you follow make you feel connected or unhappy? It’s also helpful to think about the best use of your idle moments. Do you want to knock out key tasks like paying bills or take a mental break and meditate or play games? Move the habits you want to keep to the home screen and demote the ones you don’t.
4. Consider what’s missing. Are there apps that would help you do more of what matters? Or enforce healthy habits? Consider apps that help you stay in shape, build your credit or get smarter about your intellectual passions. They might be a good addition to your mobile life.
5. Last, review your alerts. Ask yourself when you want your apps in the foreground with notifications that are useful rather than distracting. For example, I want to know about breaking news and charges going through on my credit card, but I’m less interested in the fact a new podcast is downloading. I’ll find that when I need it.

There’s a saying that where your attention goes, your energy flows. De-cluttering your digital life not only saves battery life – it also saves your energy for what matters most to you.