How to Declutter When Your House is Full of Digital Devices
As technology replaces so many physical items in our lives, don't forget to declutter as you go
There’s no doubt the digital revolution has changed we way we store, keep and access information in our homes. If you think about all the physical ways we kept information only 30 years ago, so many have been replaced digitally… but have you also decluttered the outdated physical items in your home?
In my business, Simply Organised, I regularly find items that have not been decluttered… do you have them too?
Street directories
I’ve never been any good at reading road maps, so I was only too happy to recycle my street directory once Google maps came into being. If you have moved from flicking pages, turning maps and pulling over to figure out where you are on a road trip to using a digital map system, it’s time to let go of your old street maps.
I’ve never been any good at reading road maps, so I was only too happy to recycle my street directory once Google maps came into being. If you have moved from flicking pages, turning maps and pulling over to figure out where you are on a road trip to using a digital map system, it’s time to let go of your old street maps.
If you’re tempted to keep them as a backup, consider that any new roads, highways and estates may not be in your old printed edition. And let’s be honest – how long has it been since you actually used a physical street directory?
Professional organising tips for 6 situations you may face
Professional organising tips for 6 situations you may face
Business cards
Do you have a collection of business cards in your desk drawer or on the bench next to the fruit bowl? Maybe it’s a small stack with the contact numbers of a plumber and electrician you once used, or some advertising magnets that were left in your letterbox. Do you still have the card of a real estate agent from when you bought your house?
Do you have a collection of business cards in your desk drawer or on the bench next to the fruit bowl? Maybe it’s a small stack with the contact numbers of a plumber and electrician you once used, or some advertising magnets that were left in your letterbox. Do you still have the card of a real estate agent from when you bought your house?
You can declutter all your business cards by putting their contact details in your phone – then recycle the business cards. Enter their details followed by some way that you’ll find it easily in your phone, ‘Joe Smith Plumber’ for example, so a quick search for ‘plumber’ will mean you find it faster than searching for that elusive business card.
Find a design professional in Singapore
Find a design professional in Singapore
Diary
I use a diary app, but I know many people still prefer the act of recording events in a physical diary or calendar. Whichever method you use, you probably don’t need to keep any old diaries in your home, especially ones that may still be lingering in your drawers decades later.
I use a diary app, but I know many people still prefer the act of recording events in a physical diary or calendar. Whichever method you use, you probably don’t need to keep any old diaries in your home, especially ones that may still be lingering in your drawers decades later.
Once a year has finished, you may be tempted to keep your old physical diary (in case you need to remember something important) so instead, flick through the pages, record birthdays or anything important in your current year diary, then pop the old one in the recycling.
A Marie Kondo follower confesses
A Marie Kondo follower confesses
Recipes
Have you moved to online recipes or do you have a collection of recipe books that you rarely browse through, if ever? If this sounds familiar, it may be time to declutter your physical recipe books. I found that even in the recipe books I did still use, there were only a few pages I referred to.
Have you moved to online recipes or do you have a collection of recipe books that you rarely browse through, if ever? If this sounds familiar, it may be time to declutter your physical recipe books. I found that even in the recipe books I did still use, there were only a few pages I referred to.
So think about if you could go digital with your favourite recipes and declutter all those largely unused cooking books gathering dust in your kitchen.
11 lessons we can learn from these cooks’ kitchens
11 lessons we can learn from these cooks’ kitchens
Books
If you are an eBook or Kindle reader, you’ll know that reading digitally can reduce clutter in your home. If you haven’t yet gotten into digital reading but love books, you can declutter your physical books too.
If you are an eBook or Kindle reader, you’ll know that reading digitally can reduce clutter in your home. If you haven’t yet gotten into digital reading but love books, you can declutter your physical books too.
Once you’ve finished reading a book, you don’t need to keep it – you could donate it, pass it onto a friend, donate it to a charity or school or sell it second-hand.
Photos
Many families have boxes of photos, albums in cupboards and even old negatives from photos printed years ago. If you’re wanting to go digital and reduce your physical clutter, photos are a great place to begin.
Many families have boxes of photos, albums in cupboards and even old negatives from photos printed years ago. If you’re wanting to go digital and reduce your physical clutter, photos are a great place to begin.
Declutter any physical photos you no longer want to keep (blurry shots, doubles, random scenery), then when you know which photos you’d like to keep, scan them so you have them in digital format. You may still choose to keep some printed photos but knowing you have digital copies means that some can be decluttered to create space in your home.
10 decluttering tips that won’t make you a minimalist
10 decluttering tips that won’t make you a minimalist
Magazines
There’s nothing quite like sitting down with a cup of tea and a beautiful magazine. A great way to reduce clutter in your home while still enjoying magazines is to stop buying physical copies and enjoy your favourite magazines in digital form.
There’s nothing quite like sitting down with a cup of tea and a beautiful magazine. A great way to reduce clutter in your home while still enjoying magazines is to stop buying physical copies and enjoy your favourite magazines in digital form.
Whether you get a digital subscription or borrow magazines online from your library, this is a great way to reduce clutter by going digital.
Anything that you move to in the digital world will usually have a former physical incarnation that you can declutter after you’ve embraced its online counterpart. As you do this, you will gradually reduce the physical clutter in your home.
My advice is when you move to digital to remember that digital clutter can also sneak up on you, so only keep the digital files that you do need and use… and enjoy the freedom!
Tell us
How have you decluttered your home? Share your top tips in the Comments below, like this story, save the images, and join the conversation.
Anything that you move to in the digital world will usually have a former physical incarnation that you can declutter after you’ve embraced its online counterpart. As you do this, you will gradually reduce the physical clutter in your home.
My advice is when you move to digital to remember that digital clutter can also sneak up on you, so only keep the digital files that you do need and use… and enjoy the freedom!
Tell us
How have you decluttered your home? Share your top tips in the Comments below, like this story, save the images, and join the conversation.
Sponsored