Day 3: Digital Declutter
Welcome to Day 3 of the Room To Bloom 14-Day Challenge. I’m so glad you are here! The goal of this challenge is to create a home that nourishes us on a daily basis.
Most of us are connected to one or more of our devices for most of the day--every day. With that much usage, there is bound to be digital clutter lurking in those megabytes, slowing down your digital AND physical system, causing stress and, draining your energy.
For example your phone has myriad icons, with indications in bright red [!} warning you to stop and address them. Informing you of all you have let go unanswered: the 300+ messages, 2000 + emails, etc.; all causing low level anxiety. Having that much 'unfinished' business' will do that. But, who has the time or energy to respond? You feel guilty that which causes you to ignore it even longer. Result? It continues to pile up, adding guilt and toxicity to the anxiety and stress.
Below are digital declutter tips that can help make your life a lot easier, and healthier.
Application
Action 1: Phone
You might be a person who always performs the required updates to your phone, removes and backs up the pictures regularly, and maintains and deletes apps that aren’t used. If that’s you, then disregard this task. If not, now is the time to do so. Perform the updates, back up your photos and remove them from your phone, clean off your text messages, and delete any apps you haven’t used in the past six months.
Action 2: Computer
If you are anything like me, you might be panicking a little about what I might have you do to your computer. Trust me, I’m not a computer wiz, but I do know a few things. An easy fix is sub folders. I have a lot of documents on my computer so I created sub folders, which are similar to file cabinets for your documents; it gives you easy access to what you are looking for. For example, I have a digital folder, ‘Healing Arts’. The files there are broken down into categories: Reiki, Chakras, Essential Oils, etc. This helps me find what I want quickly. Back up your computer to an external hard drive or to a cloud-based system. Set aside a few hours or do it a little each day or week. Remember the rule, everything doesn't have to be done in a day, just be consistent.
Action 3: Email
This is the area that makes most folk nuts! Do you avoid reading your emails because you have thousands of unread messages, some stretching back years? For most, just the thought of going through all of those messages causes procrastination and denial! It's easier to ignore and promise you'll get to it, 'one day'. Plus, you're hesitant to delete anything because, well, you don't want to delete something important.
The truth is, you’ll never know. If there is something that is of vital importance, they would have contacted you through other means. If there is something you’ve missed, it's over. That's the peril of not handling your business. The most important thing is your peace of mind. To get that, you’re going to have to rip off the band-aid. Don’t worry, I’m here for you!
Tips For Deleting Emails
Option 1
At the end of each year/month, I delete any emails from the previous year or month.
Using the search button, type in the month. For example, if it’s April, type in March. Give a quick look through and delete and/or unsubscribe. Most of what we receive is spam or stuff we subscribed to years ago and never bothered to unsubscribe.
Option 2
Search for a particular sender. For example: type in Groupon. When the messages from Groupon come up delete ALL of them at once, without looking. If you start reading, you’ll never finish. I like this method because you choose those emails that you
rarely open. The benefit to this is that it allows you to then see the emails you may actually want.
Choose one or both. The key is to execution!
Question
Ask yourself, "Why don't you just answer these emails and texts? What's causing you to avoid them?
Reflection
Using your journal, reflect and journal about the following questions:
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What can you do lessen your anxiety around incoming texts and messages?
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What are the benefits of staying on top of your messages or emails?
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What, besides messages/emails are you avoiding that may need deletion.
I know these tasks are not easy. ‘Finding’ the time, much less the energy to do them can be daunting. Invest in yourself. Take it easy, go at your own pace. I love hearing from you. Please hit me up on Facebook, Instagram or email me and let me know how things are going.
Love, Pleasure and Prosperity…
Hakikah
Holistic Home & Health Coach