Do you consider yourself an organized person? You know—the type of person who has a place for everything in their home, car, and workspace.
If that sounds like you, well done! We envy you.
We challenge you further — is your online world organized as well? Does everything have a place on your computer, phone, tablet or are there apps and documents saved everywhere and anywhere?
If you answered yes, we are impressed!
One last question — when was the last time you went through your online devices and cleaned up the content? We are talking about archiving old photographs, deleting emails and documents, then doing the same to your social media accounts.
Our online lives are just as hectic as our off-line lives. Whew, it makes our heads spin just thinking about it.
If you haven’t started (or even thought about) organizing your online life, now is the time to do it! Call it spring cleaning for your electronics. Trust us, you need to. It is easy to overlook our online clutter. Out of sight, out of mind, right?
Speaking of spring cleaning, you do not want to miss our spring cleaning for the workspace and wardrobe. Click here for that.
Organization at Work: The Power of Clean
Ahh, a clean space is so important for the psyche. Don’t just take our word for it. There have been research studies on it, like this one at Indiana University. Or this one at Princeton University.
You know the feeling when you wake up, walk into the kitchen and there aren’t any dishes in the sink? It feels so great to walk into a clean space.
The same is true for your bedroom. When you make your bed in the morning, you are actually making a difference in your day, according to Navy Seal Admiral William McRaven. He gave a commencement speech at the University of Texas in 2014.
Speech excerpt:
“If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. And by the end of the day that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.”
Watch the full commencement speech here.
If the former commander of U.S. Special Operations wasn’t enough to convince you, the National Sleep Foundation commissioned a research company to conduct a public opinion poll and the results show that the majority of Americans believe that aspects of the bedroom environment do affect their sleep. Read the full research study here.
Organization at Work: Technology
Et voila — now that we know an organized / clean life is a healthier life, let us translate that to the tech world.
Computer
As a busy professional, we know you are pressed for time and when you need to save something in a hurry, the desktop is a convenient place on which to quickly save something.
After 1 week—no, after 1 DAY of this shortcut, your desktop is filled with miscellaneous documents and it takes just as long to find something on the desktop as it would clicking through a few folders.
We suggest creating folders and subfolders for your documents. It will comfort your mind to know that your important documents can easily be found and are not “somewhere on the computer”.
Honestly, the appearance of a cleaner desktop is half the battle.
Cell Phone
Similarly to the computer desktop, start organizing your cell phone “desktop”—the home screen. We like the color coding method. Have you seen it? You can see an example here and also learn how to achieve it step-by-step. The apps are filtered by color, not category and organized in separate folders.
As a fashion company who loves color, the cohesiveness and harmony brings so much joy to our eyes.
Once you have organized your cell phone home screen, look through your contacts, text messages and notes and delete what you no longer need.
Social Media
Facebook has just come out with a new look. Perfect timing to declutter your account. Go through your friends list and “unfriend” who you no longer share a connection with. That is what the online social world is all about—connection.
Delete any photographs that portray you in an unfavorable way. Although we know that once we post information online, it never really goes away, at least it won’t be easily accessible on your page.
If you need some help in the organization department in general or want to learn more about the positive psychology that organization brings, take a look at what Dr. Ralph Ryback advises in this Psychology Today article.
Other related reads listed here:
What is the KonMari method? Here’s How to Declutter the Marie Kondo Way
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