Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Matt Madeiro of Three New Leaves. It is also an answer to one of your Frequently Asked Questions.
You’ve cleaned your closet. You’ve decluttered your attic, your garage, every drawer in the kitchen, and can now count the items you own on about five or six hands. That’s great!
How’s your computer looking?
Minimalists we might be, but the hard drive tends to get the short end of the stick. Here’s the thing: clutter is clutter, whether it’s digital or not, and there’s absolutely no reason to skip your computer during your next scheduled cleanup. You might not see the immediate benefits of emptying out the My Documents folder, but a clean, well-organized computer can do wonders for both your ease of mind and workflow.
Here’s a few tips to get you started:
1. Dump the junk software!
It’s not easy. It’s not fun, either, but it’s absolutely necessary if you have dozens of programs littered across your desktop. Take a good look at the applications you use on a daily basis. You’ll find, in most cases, that it’s only a handful, which raises serious questions about the rest still clogging up your task bar.
Do you need multiple music players? What about three or four productivity programs? Probably not. But remember — deleting the icon off your desktop does not mean you’ve uninstalled it. If you’re using Windows, you’ll need to go through the Control Panel to properly uninstall a program. Mac users can simply delete it from the “Applications” folder.
Start uninstalling the junk. It’s usually a slow and tedious process, so split it up over as many days as you can. Every time you start up the computer in the morning, why not uninstall a few useless programs? Your C:\ drive will appreciate the new space, and you’ll have far fewer applications slowing down your startup process too.
2. Clean your desktop!
It might seem unimportant, but a cluttered digital desktop can weigh you down just as well as a physical one. Why would you want to stare at a huge mess of icons every time you turn on your computer?
The best solution is to clean it by hand, deleting files or moving them to their respective folders. If that’s too much work, however, a Windows user can put those icons out of sight by right clicking on the desktop, selecting ‘Arrange Icons By’ and then clicking ‘Uncheck Show Desktop Icons.’ The icons will still be there, but at least they’ll be made invisible. Mac users can check the Preferences for any Finder window and unselect all the options underneath “Show Items on Desktop.” That’ll still leave folders and applications, though you can just move those where you like and enjoy an unobstructed view of your wallpaper.
3. Let Hazel do the work!
I’m not a big fan of background applications, as they tend to hog resources and slow down your computer. I make an exception, however, for Hazel (Mac OSX) and Belvedere (Windows), incredible programs that act like digital housekeepers for your hard drive.
You start by telling Hazel which folders to monitor. The program keeps tabs on my Downloads folder, currently, and runs a set of rules every time I add something new to it (in this case, downloading something from the Internet). Hazel automatically moves pictures, documents, and music to their respective folders, and even auto-trashes files that have been sitting in my downloads folder for more than a week.
Hazel’s power just grows from there. If you’re already stuck with a cluttered computer, why not set it do a sweep through the hard drive itself? Give it a decent set of rules and it can do an incredible amount of work for you, organizing files based on their type and generally making your life that much easier.
I have it set to empty out my trash can once a week, too. Hazel can be set to interact with your files in whichever way you want, making it incredibly easy — and incredibly simple — to keep your hard drive in great shape before regular use starts to clutter it up. The biggest benefit, I think, is in time saved — Hazel works in the background to keep your hard drive well-organized, saving you from doing most of the grunt work yourself.
4. Prune your RSS reader!
RSS readers are a great way to stay updated on your favorite sites, but they come with a price: the infamous “Unread” count, which grows higher and higher if you don’t keep up with your feeds. For that reason, I’ve implemented a pretty strict set of rules for my RSS reader to follow.
I subscribe to less than 10 blogs at any time, and only those that I legitimately care to read on a daily basis. Likewise, I avoid sites that update frequently throughout the day, which normally includes news sites and most commercial blogs. My RSS reader is pretty sparse as a result, but anyone with an Unread count in the hundreds knows how heavy that can weigh on your mind. It’s not clutter in any physical sense, but an unregulated RSS reader can be every bit as stressful.
5. You only need one password!
Passwords are messy business. With more and more sites requiring registration, it’s difficult to keep track of which password goes where, resulting in the same basic set of characters being used all across the web. Password managers like 1Password (Mac OSX) and Roboform (Windows) work wonders, however, by generating — and remembering — complex, secure passwords for each site you login to.
Both programs ask you to set a “master password” that you’ll use to unlock the vault, and from there a simple key combination will auto-fill your login information with ease. The change is a welcome one, and probably the best way to streamline and simplify the dozens of accounts we juggle at any given time.
6. Don’t forget the Internet!
This might be the most important trick of all.
Hard drives aren’t getting any smaller. Just because you can store millions of files, however, doesn’t mean you should. Your computer will thank you for keeping it in clean, organized form, and you already have the most valuable tool for doing so at your disposal: the Internet.
It has everything. Manuals, music, photos and books — they’re all accessible via a quick Google search, eliminating the need to make backups of your favorite content for storage on your hard drive. The most important files, sure, will benefit from a local copy, especially if you don’t have the most consistent of connections. The majority of content you’ll interact with on the Internet, however, never needs to leave the “cloud” and start cluttering up your hard drive.
The “I might need it someday” mentality can be especially strong here, but don’t fall prey to the promise of future functionality. You don’t need it. And if you do, somewhere down the line, a simple web search will provide everything you need.
That’s the real lesson here: even as computers are built bigger, faster, and stronger, the same principles of minimalism — of simplicity and mindfulness — have become more important than ever before. So why not treat your digital desktop with the same respect you afford the real one?
***
Matt Madeiro is a minimalist/traveler/health geek who likes computers more than he probably should. He writes about all of those things and more at Three New Leaves. You can also follow him on Twitter.
Marc Morgan says
I linked this article to one of my new posts. Thank you.
Sayz says
While it is true having a clean desktop remove clutter. But it doesn’t mean you have to hide or move all your desktop item to a folder. You need to know what you want to do with your desktop. If I have a assignment or work that requires me to open each time I log into computer, doesn’t it make it faster by leaving them on the desktop?
Some users doesn’t understand how the computer works (And they don’t need to know). But trimming down the unnecessary software is a great boost to your notebook performance. And try not to run too much background program, unless you really need it.
So declutter is not same by throwing everything out of your sight.
Matt says
I agree! I think the thing to remember is that these are just tips in the general sense — they may or may not ever apply to you. They’re just suggestions, after all, on ways to reduce digital clutter on your computer, and keeping certain icons on your desktop for easy access doesn’t really sound like digital clutter at all. :)
So sure, decluttering is not the same as throwing everything in the trash. But I think the majority of users probably have far more icons and clutter on their desktop than they actually need, so I’d say they could probably benefit from doing a little cleaning. It all depends on your personal needs, in the end, and these tips are no different. Take what you need, ignore the rest. ;)
Thanks for reading, Sayz!
Russ says
I’d love to see more argument/evidence/reasoning in minimalism articles and less bare assertion. How, exactly, is it possible that having some shortcuts on my computer desktop can “weigh me down” just like piles of clutter on a physical desk?
How does hiding my desktop icons help? So I can “enjoy an unobstructed view of [my] wallpaper”? Seriously? People sit and stare at their computer wallpaper? if so, that’s kind of sad, not exactly an attractive aspect of a minimalist lifestyle.
“The majority of content you’ll interact with on the Internet, however, never needs to leave the “cloud” and start cluttering up your hard drive.” Sites shutdown. Free content goes behind paywalls. If it’s something you are likely to need, it’s best to put it in Evernote or a similar program. What makes a search of evernote so much less “minimalist” than a google seach of the internet (especially now that one google search on chrome will give results from both?) The important part is being able to discern that which is ephemeral and that which is important, which is (I think) what minimalism is all about.
Matt says
Hi, Russ!
I agree with your definition of minimalism, but for the sake of this article I opted to focus on the latter part: what’s important. For many people, a clean, well-organized computer can be important to their workflow, so taking steps to reduce digital clutter doesn’t seem “un-minimalist” in that sense.
The desktop icon dilemma is a great example. No one (that I know!) stares at their wallpaper for hours on end, sure, but that doesn’t mean there’s no value in being able to see it in the first place. Some people – myself included – just enjoy having their wallpaper visible at all times, and usually associate a huge screen of icons with clutter or disorganization. If minimalism, to me, is focusing on what’s important in life, than a well-organized machine can fit right within that. Clearing desktop clutter might not seem like a great big change, but if it helps a normal user feel like they’ve taken positive step toward cleaning their computer, then I’m not sure I see the issue.
Evernote, likewise, is a great program. I use SimpleNote for the same purpose. But a lot of the content that the average user encounters isn’t always worth saving, and the whole idea of keeping it within the cloud is to encourage users to take advantage of the Internet. Sure, sites go down, but there are usually alternatives that host the same data. Free content might go behind a paywall, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that same information was available somewhere else. There’s nothing more “minimalist” about a Google search than an Evernote search, which is why you didn’t find that in the article. If Evernote is a program you can’t live without, then great! It’s important to you, so all the better. But the main idea of the article is to downsize digital clutter wherever possible, and I think taking steps to reduce what you download is one way to do that.
Thanks for your honesty, Russ. If Joshua is kind enough to ever bring me back in for another post, hopefully that one will be more to your liking. :)
Jenny says
Great advice. I know that I’m not the most organized person in the world so my computer is one hot mess right now. I have definitely changed my habits for the better, but I’ve got plenty of hours of computer decluttering to do. The task just seems so monumental and I’d hate to accidentally delete some sentimental photos (which I’ve done before).
Ramblings of a Woman says
This is very good advice. I like to keep a nice nature scene as my desktop, and if it has icons halfway across the page, I don’t get the full effect.
I use alot of pictures for my blog, and I have been bad to save all into one overflowing pics folder. I need to sort them by category and also consider just putting them onto photobucket.
Thanks for the tips, I am going to clear some icons right now!
Bernice
http://bernicewood.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/a-season-of-change-for-me-and-for-my-blog/
Cynthia says
For password managers, I recommend Password Gorilla. It works on both Mac and Windows. I keep my password file on a jump drive, and I can access my file both at work (WIndows) and home (Mac OS X).
Marc Morgan says
I typically format and reinstall the OS on my home computer every six months. This keeps it running quick and also forces me to organize my important data in a way that allows these frequent formats.
In addition I have started using Portable Apps (http://portableapps.com/). These are small applications that handle 90% of what you do on your computer, but leave zero footprint on your C:\ drive. Everything can be stored on a small USB drive and allow you to take them with you everywhere. Hmmm sounds like a good topic for my Blog.
Thank you so much for your wonderful blog.
The Everyday Minimalist says
I need to clean up my data, but it’s hard to delete things that I do use on occasion in the future, seeing as I don’t have the hardcopies any longer…
That being said, I do tend to keep my desktop and digital clutter organized and clean, it’s just a question of space and priorities now for deletion and not buying more hard drives
David says
Downsizing your digital life would mean having a less cluttered life, but the most important thing in order to simplify your life is to create/upgrade your own filing system, so that you manage every part of the information you download into your computer! an efficient digital filing system can be a bliss for your computing and for your day in general :) really nice article by the way, lovely
David
Hessiess says
Minimizing the digital world is very important and I agree with everything here. However I would recommend LastPass over 1password/roboform as it is completely platform and browser independent. Also, while only remembering one password is continent, it is a single point of failure. Make sure the password is extremely strong, ideally remember the output of a random password generator.
jDeppen says
+1 for LastPass
Ari Herzog says
Single password systems are also bad because they are computer-centric. Good luck if you use multiple computers.
Me, I use a different password FOR EVERY SINGLE WEBSITE that requires one. Dozens, at least. I use a mnemonic system where every password is different; and I use different base sets depending on the type of site, e.g. financial, social, etc.
joshua becker says
Hey Gentlemen, Thanks for the tips on this one.
Matt says
Hey, guys!
Thanks for bringing up LastPass. I’ve grown fond of 1Password myself (especially now that it’s multi-platform), but LastPass does seem like an easier solution when you’re attempting to access your information from your non-home computer. 1Password has that functionality too, but I’m not sure it’s as easy (nor out-of-the-box) as it is for LastPass.
A single password can completely backfire if someone were to figure it out, but I’m assuming most people would make it as strong as possible to compensate. And, for the average user, I’d argue that it’s still a good alternative to using one (weak) password across multiple sites or trying to keep them all in memory (though that’s a pretty impressive system, Ari!).