Digital Organizing

(Like a Professional Organizer)

We have a multitude of files, photos, emails, and online accounts today. It’s easier than ever to have digital assets that are cluttered and disorganized. So if you’re drowning in digital clutter (like most americans) and need help with your digital organizing, look no further than the people who share the secrets of living an organized physical life.

Professional Organizers, of course!

Here are a few steps you can take today to live an organized digital life.

1. Make the Unsubscribe Button Your Favorite Decluttering Tool

My favorite place to start digital organizing is your email inbox.

Before tackling a labeling system for your old emails (which you should do, but we can talk about that another time) you need to get on top of the endless flow of useless NEW emails you’re receiving daily.

Scroll through your inbox until you see a sender whose content you no longer wish to receive. It shouldn’t take long if you haven’t ever gone on an unsubscribing spree. Maybe it’s a store you shopped at once and didn’t realize you opted in to email marketing, maybe a newsletter for a yoga studio you no longer go to, or anything else you don’t need being sent to you.

Once you’ve identified the sender, open up one of their emails. Scroll to the bottom and find the unsubscribe button. Follow all the steps they provide and make sure to confirm the changes! Some email platforms even have their own built-in unsubscribe button these days. Use these with reckless abandon! You can always resubscribe later if you really want to.

2. Reviewing Photos & Videos IS Digital Organizing

To protect your memories, it’s incredibly important that you back up your photos and videos off your phone, onto your computer, into the cloud, and even into an external hard drive. But that doesn’t mean you should back them all up.

Blindly backing up everything can lead to an increase in digital clutter. That’s right, you can clutter your digital spaces just like your physical ones. So let’s work on decluttering at the source, the habit.

Accidental screenshots, videos taken of the inside of your pocket, or just pictures where you’re not looking your best—there are always going to be pictures and videos that you don’t need saved and backed up. Set a time once a week to review your camera roll.

Once you’ve deleted the items you don’t need, it’s time to back them up to your computer, cloud, hard drive, etc.

3. Consistent Naming Conventions Keep You Organized

Here are two examples of file names, which one do you think is easier to remember and find later?

Madrid – Trip Itinerary – 2025.doc OR kje3249hdnw48bf39nf357.doc

Feel free to pause reading this post for as long as you need to come up with the answer. Are you back? Which file name did you choose?

Obviously, you’ve chosen the one that clearly describes what is in the document.

When creating files on your computer, it is pivotal that you label them in a consistent format. This will streamline your workflow by making the retrieval of your files easier, the identification of your files faster, and decrease the amount of confusion and wasted time opening and closing old versions of the same document trying to find the current iteration.

If you work collaboratively with others, consistent file naming conventions also help them quickly and simply navigate your files.

Just like everything else with organizing (physical or digital), it’s all about discipline. It doesn’t take much time to name a file properly and it can save you heaps of time in the long run. A helpful rule that I like to incorporate which usually affords me more time and less stress in the long run is the 2-minute rule. Naming a file properly definitely takes less than 2 minutes to accomplish so just take the time and do it right! Future you will thank you.

4. Clear Desktop = Clear Mind = Digital Organizing Win

Imagine you have a big, beautiful office with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and a massive desk.

Now, imagine that every shelf on those bookshelves was haphazardly overflowing with loose paperwork and books. The desk is covered with half-finished documents, open folders, unopened mail, and various bric-a-brac. In this imaginary office, do you feel like you’d be able to concentrate and get work done easily? Of course not!

Whether you’ve actualized this thought or not, physical and digital clutter make it harder for you to work.

Now, imagine that imaginary office was your computer’s desktop.

Do you think that having files overlapping files in no particular order just landing where they land scattered across your computer’s desktop is conducive to a healthy positive work environment? No chance.

As we’ve talked about throughout this post, physical and digital clutter affect you in similar ways. Not only do they make it more difficult to work, but they can both cause you stress and anxiety and ultimately deter you from getting work done.

Your desktop (physical and digital) should only have two categories of items on it.

Items you need to deal with & items you are dealing with.

Once you’ve dealt with an item, it should leave your desktop and be filed into a folder (with a consistent naming convention) only to be seen when, and if, you need it in the future. Don’t let things live forever on your desktop. You deserve peace of mind and no hurdles when it comes to your digital (and physical) workspace!

Happy Digital Organizing!

-Jordan Katcher, O.C.D. Experience Director of Operations

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