How To Declutter Your Digital Life

20 November 2022 - 5 min read

Digital clutter is one of the areas we're noticing people are finding it increasingly difficult to stay on top of. Decluttering your digital life can include things like overflowing inboxes, too many unused apps (besides Eggy of course ; ) and not tracking online passwords.

Little frustrations like a device performing slowly can build up each and every day creating stress for families, so we’re here to help with some top tips on how to digitally declutter your devices and gain back precious time.

At Eggy we are all about unscrambling the chaos more commonly known as life. We developed our app to put a little coordination into the chaos, so families could gain some quick wins and have more time to focus on the best things in life - each other!..... or a Netflix binge fest - whatever takes your fancy - there's no judgment here.

With a few simple adjustments you can start your digital declutter and feel more in control of your digital life - and we think that is a pretty big win!

Digital Declutter Checklist

1. Clear up your email inboxes

Get it out of your inbox - some of the emails in your inboxes can take up space and slow down your device. Instead, when a bill comes in or the school sends the Christmas concert reminder don't let it get pushed to the bottom of the inbox list - flick it to Eggy. You can save a copy of the email, create a reminder and even add a list of to-do's to get ready. Then remove it from your inbox and bask in the glory that is 0 unread emails. #winning

2. Use a software scan to declutter your hard drive

When your laptop gets a little sluggish, you can usually speed it up by freeing up space on your hard drive. On a Windows PC, the "Disk Cleanup" application can purge old, unused software or files. On Macs, you'll find a similar feature under the "Storage Management" menu from the Apple toolbar.

It is often best to use these built-in and trusted tools, and avoid downloading any unfamiliar software that might be poorly reviewed or unverified. You don't want to risk having malware (malicious software) on your machine!

3. Backup media to the Cloud

Keeping all of your family photos and videos on a computer can seriously slow it down over the years. Ideally, you should be backing them up somewhere too, just in case the worst should happen and you lose those memories.

Fortunately, using a Cloud storage solution solves both of those problems. You'll be able to free up all of that space on your hard drive while having a persistent backup of all the irreplaceable snaps you've taken over the years.

4. Remove old browser extensions

This might seem boring but in the wake of the Optus, MediBank and other breaches cyber security needs to come front of mind for all families. Browser extensions can easily sneak onto our web browsers; they're often packaged with software for starters. If you missed a small checkbox when installing an app, you could easily have extensions lurking on your computer.

The problem is, some browser extensions are malicious and can compromise your security. They may just annoy you by changing your default home page, but at worst, they could steal your personal information or install malware.

In popular browser Chrome, you can do this by simply inputting chrome://extensions into your URL bar. For Mac users, it's under Safari, then Preferences and Extensions.

5. Kill startup tasks on your computer

This ties back into the idea of reducing time spent waiting for devices to respond. When you have numerous startup tasks that run on your device, it'll take longer before you can actually use your PC when you first log in.

Startup tasks are routinely added by new software installations, so it's worth reviewing this regularly. All you need to do is hit Ctrl, Shift and Escape simultaneously on Windows. Go to TaskManager and then Start-up. Here, you can check which programs run at startup and disable them.

Now, it may sound a little contradictory to recommend you add another App to help you with your goal of digital decluttering. However, at Eggy, we're all about trying to find solutions such as these digital decluttering tips to make life easier for busy and overwhelmed parents.Β 

Helping families is also the reason behind creating our app. We wanted to reduce the mental load burden of parents and give them time back with the people they love.

Some additional ways that Eggy helps parents out is by:

  • Tracking all of those endless tasks, like paying bills, picking up kids, buying groceries, meeting your mates and pretty much anything else.

  • Handily categorising everything so that you can have a quick glance at work, home, family or other tasks within a group.

  • Enabling you to synchronise your calendars in one convenient location, while dragging calendar items directly into your task list for action.

  • Connecting both partner's schedules, and letting you set notifications for key dates so that you both never miss a thing.

  • Giving you a safe and secure place to store all of those important documents, like invoices, bills, letters from the doctor, and anything else you need quick access to.

With Eggy, our users are seeing a real difference and significant reduction in the mental toll that a busy workload can take.Β 

We know little wins like this really make a big difference to family life, so this is the first in a series of articles about how to declutter your digital life to gain back the most precious commodity of all - your time.

Proudly made by a team of fair dinkum Aussies 🧑