HOW TO PURGE YOUR DIGITAL CLUTTER

Cleaning out inboxes, documents, photos, and other digital junk can reduce stress and improve productivity.

- JILL DUFFY

A few times a year, I get an urge to purge. Whether it’s spring cleaning or taking a moment to archive last year’s emails, I find it incredibly gratifying to dump (or sometimes simply put away) stuffI don’t need. I feel less stressed and more able to focus when the junk is gone.

If you, too, enjoy a good purge and have a messy digital life, here are five places to start:

• Files on your computer desktop

• Messages in your email inbox

• Photos on your phone

• Apps on your phone

• Your open browser tabs Here’s some advice on how to do it.

1. CLEAN UP YOUR DESKTOP

Sometimes we place a file on the computer desktop so it’ll be in our line of sight and we’ll remember it. Then we do the same thing a few more times. Before you know it, the principle defeats itself: How can you see and remember a file among a messy heap?

The easiest way to clean up the desktop is to start by viewing your files in a list rather than in a graphical representation of the desktop and file icons. In other words, open a Finder window in macOS or File Explorer in Windows. This view can make it easier to see which files you should delete or put away.