A few years ago the world went on a Marie Kondo cleaning binge, cleaning their homes out of extraneous items that don’t bring us joy. Closets were cleaned, drawers emptied out, and endless storage containers donated. Most of us think about spring as a time to get into this spirit once again and clean our homes and workplaces out as the whole world seems to be “reborn.” Unfortunately, not many of us carry this concept over to our digital world. When was the last time you cleaned your desktop or laptop? Can’t remember eh? If this is the case, here are a few suggestions to help you get your digital world a little less chaotic and messy this spring.
Physically Clean Your Computer
Let’s start with probably the most concrete action you can take to tidy your digital world…clean the device. This means powering down and unplugging your device whether it's a mobile device or a desktop version. Once you have done that you will want to clean the monitor of all those fingerprints and smudges that have accumulated after so much use. We suggest using a microfiber cloth for this chore. For the keyboard, you can grab a can of compressed air and blast away years of dust, debris, and food bits that have been making your keyboard sticky.
Delete Older Apps
Once you have physically neatened up your computer, you can get down to the nitty-gritty inside your computer. We suggest deleting old applications that you don’t use or have not updated in ages. These could be slowing your computer down considerably as well as taking up precious storage space. Remember you can always reinstall them after you uninstall them if you find you need them again.
Clean the Clutter
Now we challenge you to check out your files and downloads. How many of these do you still need to store on your actual computer? While you are at it, clean your web browser where you can uninstall and delete old browser extensions.Still have the energy and bandwidth to clean more? Then on to your email inbox, we go! We realize these things can take an inordinate amount of time to break into manageable segments that you can tackle a little bit each day. Remember that taking junk mail to the trash bin is not enough, you need to actually empty the trash.
Change Your Passwords
This may not be seen as spring cleaning, but it’s a really good idea to change your passwords regularly. What better time than when you are conducting a digital clean-out! While you are at it, check to be sure your software has been updated and the latest patches are installed. A little extra vigilance while you tidy is imperative to a secure digital world.
