Day 31 - phone

We use our phones for so much. Most of you are probably reading this from your phone right now!   

Decluttering your phone could:

• extend the life of your phone

• improve the speed

• save battery

• improve your productivity

• make your phone easier to navigate

Do you wish your phone ran faster? Do you ever feel like you can’t find what you’re looking for on your phone? Do you have apps that you don’t remembering downloading in the first place? If you answered yes to any of those questions, today’s blog is for you!

Like every other decluttering task, the key is to only keep what you need and get rid of the rest!

1. PURGE

   • Delete apps

     1. Delete unused apps.

     2. Delete apps that are taking up too much of your time.

     3. Delete apps that are any kind of distraction to you. 

     4. If you have multiple apps that serve the same purpose, only keep one.

     5. Determine how often you use an app by looking at the usage or battery sections in settings. Delete what you don’t use.

   • Delete photos

     1. This one is hard, I know!

     2. Take time to narrow down your photos by deleting these:

        1. duplicates

        2. deleted folder

        3. unwanted photos from bursts

        4. screenshots you no longer need

        5. videos take up a lot of space

     3. Back your photos up or use a cloud service or an external hard drive to store them instead of keeping them ALL on your phone.

   • Delete music

     1. If you still have music stored on your phone, consider a streaming service.

     2. Delete music you are no longer interested in or haven’t listened to in a while.

2. Create folders.

   • Depending on your preference you can put every app in a folder or you can only use the folders for a few apps. It’s up to you.

     1. You can create folders based on type of app, purpose of app, usage, etc. 

        1. I have a few friends who sort their apps by color and it is so visually appealing when they open their home screen! 

        2. I have found that organizing apps by task helps me to stay focused on what I’m trying to accomplish. 

     2. Label the folders accordingly 

     3. If your phone’s home screen has a dock, keep your most used apps here. 

3. Keep the home screen simple.

4. Store large files in a cloud service, external hard drive,  or back them up to your computer. 

5. Turn off notifications.

   • Keep the important ones turned on but be selective in which apps you allow notifications from.

   • If you get notifications from apps that you never even read, turn them off!

   • There is something so satisfying about having ZERO unread notifications on your phone.

   • You may need to scroll back through the blog & and read the one on decluttering your e-mail inbox!

6. Take a break.

   • If you think your phone is hindering your productivity, relationships, or rest - take a break!

   • Don’t let your phone control you!

   • Manage your screen time. Set specific limits if you need to. 

7. Maintain

   • Don’t download apps you aren’t going to use.

   • Periodically revisit the decluttering steps above.

   • If you take pictures or videos that aren’t worth keeping, delete them. Don’t wait.

   • Delete your deleted photos.

Today is the last day in the 31 days of organizing & decluttering! I hope the tips have been helpful for you or at least inspired you to think about ways you can declutter your life! Tomorrow, I’ll be posting details about a giveaway on both Facebook & Instagram. Let me know if I can help you regain control of your space, coordinate an event, or evaluate your day to day productivity! I offer these services to individuals, families, and businesses.

Thanks for following along!