PULIZIE DI PRIMAVERA… DIGITALI!

Every app, programme, and on-line tool we use is meant to help us do things better and faster. But how many apps are there on your personal phone that you haven’t used in months? Or how many group chats are you in but aren’t actively participating? It’s time to roll up your sleeves, seize the moment and spring-clean your personal devices!

Rinse out your inbox

Let’s start by creating categories and labels for your incoming mail. Next, empty out your spam, trash and junk folders; they take up lots of space. Then, do yourself a favour by unsubscribing to e-mail lists, newsletters, or updates that you never read. Try automated inbox sorting to clean out your inbox entirely. Yes, this is time consuming but having a squeaky-clean inbox generates better workflow.  

Deep clean your social media

Be wary of your social media presence and manage it. First, take note of how many platforms you are active on, identify which ones you use the least or that don’t suit your current self anymore and start downsizing. Second, take a look at your friends, followers and the accounts you’re following, ask yourself if deleting or unfollowing some of them will be beneficial. Lastly, leave on-line groups or chats that you never participate in. Chances are you aren’t drawn to those topics like you once where and getting constant updates isn’t necessary and creates clutter. 

Sort through your apps

Ever find yourself searching for an app but can’t find it? The best way to start is to check out  all your installed apps, assess if you really need them, and delete the ones you don’t. Remember to erase your account and remove all data with the app developer before deleting. For the ones you keep, think about disabling or limiting push notifications, they’re intended for really important stuff. 

Next, start organising your apps by tasks, such as scheduling (for your calendars), workouts (for your health and fitness), or entertainment (for your video-on-demand accounts). You can also organise your apps by frequency of usage, ordering them by the apps you use the most. Or if you’re a visual person, try arranging your apps in alphabetical order or grouping them by colour. 

“Storage Almost Full”

While using personal devices, storage and data backups get the least amount of our attention. Let’s start with the desktop! Having lots of desktop clutter can slow your computer because these files take up operating memory to display all the time; so move them away to predefined folders such as “Documents”, or organise them into your own.

Tidy folders and in the process delete any duplicate files. Try to get rid of huge files, they’re also responsible for slowing down your system. Discard temporary files. Set up automated backups to save yourself time. Backing up your computer to an external hard drive also frees up space. Lastly, clear up your downloads and trash folders. It’s also very likely that you’ve picked up some trackers, spyware or viruses along the way. Try running a desktop scan with antimalware programmes  to get rid of the nasty stuff.  

After your data spring cleaning is done, try to keep these best practices in mind as you’ll inevitably accumulate more in the future. Think twice before downloading new apps or starting free trials. Constantly back up what you know you really need and then wipe the data storage on hardware as soon as you do that. Whenever possible delete documents as soon as you’re sure you’re done with them.  

Take control of your digital footprint and it will be easier to manage it, next time around! This will also help you to reduce screen time, which is one of the great challenges of our digital life. 

Many of the useful tips above can be applied also in our work, as well as our 5 ways to stay safe online. 

In case of professional devices, be aware, additionally, of our Group guidelines and Dos and Don’ts of Data Protection shared in our Internal platform: data is one of our asset and we are all committed to protecting them.