It seems like there’s a “National Day of XX” for practically every single thing out there.
National Dress Up Your Pet Day…
National Awkward Moments Day…
National Spinach Day…
You get the idea.
And while I find myself rolling my eyes at a lot of these days, today’s “holiday” is one I can really get behind.
It’s National Clean Out Your Computer Day.
(Depending on when you’re reading this, the “holiday” takes place on the second Monday in February.)
I’m a firm believer that decluttering your computer is essential for a productive — and peaceful — environment.
Digital clutter is easier to ignore than physical clutter, but that’s exactly where the danger lies. We don’t usually notice how bad it’s gotten until it’s really bad.
The good news is that there are a few quick things you can do right now that’ll drastically help ditch your computer clutter:
1) Empty your downloads folder. On a Mac, you can find your downloads folder by opening up a Finder window and selecting the Downloads folder from the menu on the left-hand side. If you use a PC, your downloads can be found in File Explorer. Be sure to double-check you’ve saved any downloaded documents you need in another folder!
2) Empty your trash. On a Mac, navigate to your trash can by clicking the icon on your Dock. On a PC, it’s called the Recycle Bin. It doesn’t hurt to make sure nothing landed in the trash by mistake before deleting.
3) Delete your browser history, cookies, and/or cache. In Chrome, click on the three vertical dots in the upper right-hand corner of your browser window. Scroll down to “More Tools,” then click “Clear browsing data.” Choose the time range for how far back you want to delete as well as if you want to delete the browsing history, cookies and other site data, and/or cached images and files. Click “Clear data” once you make those choices. (Note: If you delete your cookies, you might be signed out of websites.)
Bonus: check your email spam folders and delete accordingly. You can also take this time to unsubscribe from any newsletters that landed in spam.
Doing these four things to declutter your computer takes under five minutes. Even better, the more consistent you are with this ritual, the less clutter you’ll accumulate.
Here’s my challenge to you: take the next five minutes and honor this very special holiday with a quick computer cleanout. 😉
