Is it time to declutter your digital closet?

Even though the Southern Hemisphere is transitioning into autumn, there is always room for a spring clean. But don’t panic, we don’t mean your actual physical space, we are referring to digital cleansing. Let’s be honest – how often do we clean up our ever-growing digital footprint? This article shares tips on how you can declutter your jam-packed ‘digital closet’.

Taking inventory

Let’s begin by taking an inventory. Make a list of all the digital channels you use – email accounts, social media accounts and the apps on your phone. Once the list is compiled ask yourself which digital channels do you want to keep and which can be deleted. If you haven’t used a channel the answer is easy. It should go. The other question to ask yourself is how much fun have you had using a channel over the past weeks and months? If the answer is none or if you are unsure, our recommendation is to get rid of the account.

Getting advice

There is a lot of great guidance available on managing your digital engagement in a more balanced way. We recommend listening to the advice of ‘digital essentialists’ (mostly referred to as digital minimalists, but we like the other term more). Digital essentialists focus their online time on a small number of carefully selected and optimised activities that strongly support things that they value. They recognise that cluttering their precious time and attention with too many screens, apps and services greatly decreases the benefits that each individual item provides in isolation. So, to decide whether a digital channel is worth keeping, consider whether it supports your values. If it does, then ask yourself if it is the best way to support your values. If it’s not, get rid of it or replace it with something more appropriate. Then, determine if this technology maximises value and minimises harm for you, and consider when, where and how will you use it.

Creating good digital habits

Here are three recommendations to help you put better digital habits in place.

• Decide whether you are an active or passive user. Active users create and publish content, connect with people and engage with posts by commenting and sharing. Consuming, reading, watching and ‘liking’ is considered passive use. Now, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, but research has shown that this may lead to depression. If you are a passive consumer of content you should be mindful of the type of content you are exposing yourself to, and how you feel – happy or sad – after using a particular social media channel. If it is making you sad, lonely or leaves you feeling unwell we recommend you delete it immediately.

• If you’re an active user, set goals for each channel (e.g. by the end of 2020, I will have gained 100+ quality connections on LinkedIn or by the end of 2020, I will have posted 50 tweets helping people solve their problems). Setting goals keeps you accountable, motivates you to make progress and enables you to measure success. As a result, you can assess where your highest point of contribution lies and where you should put your time and energy to make positive impacts. Plus, you get better at content creation – just like Gary V. says ‘document don’t create’.

• Take the social media challenge by deleting all your social media applications from your smartphone for 30 days. After 30 days, decide which apps are essential for connecting with friends and family, your work or support other things that you value. After 30 days bring back only the apps that have stood the test of time, but make sure to bring them back with a clear plan for when, where and how you will use them.

For a more detailed checklist have a look at Dan Silvestre’s article on the medium.

Enjoy your digital cleanse.