Technology, whether you like it or not, is here to stay. Unfortunately, technology can be tough. It takes time and effort to understand. It can get expensive. We can spend as much time investing into technology as we actually save from using it. And without intentionality, the endless pursuit of the latest and greatest gadgets can be a fruitless endeavor.
On the other hand, technology offers countless benefits: the ability to stay connected, the ability to communicate to a far broader audience, the ability to solve complex problems, the ability to save time, and the ability to clear some physical clutter from our lives.
For those of us who hate physical clutter, consider these 15 ways that technology can help clear clutter from our homes:
1. Photos.
While many of us enjoy our physical photographs arranged in photo albums and scrapbooks, few people have good systems for storing physical photos. Luckily, a simple software program such as Iphoto or Adobe Photoshop Elements not only store your photos digitally where they can never lose quality, but offer a wide range of options for sorting them. Without the right equipment, the process of converting physical photos to digital files can be time-consuming. But, for a fee, services such as ScanDigital will do it for you.
2. CDs.
Even the smallest of MP3 players (8GB) store approximately 1,500 songs in their memory, somewhere around 150 CDs – that’s a lot of shelf space that can be replaced by one device that fits easily in your pocket. And MP3 players can easily be played on any audio system that allows for an auxiliary input.
3. DVDs.
Less and less homes these days are showcasing DVDs. For starters, Blu-Ray players have replaced DVD players in both quality and functionality. But more importantly, companies such as Netflix stream such a large assortment of movies and television shows on demand that keeping all those DVDs on the shelf is no longer necessary. And what about all those movies that you’ve already purchased on DVD? DVD-Burning software (such as Handbrake) quickly eliminates any reason to keep the physical DVDs cluttering up your living room.
4. Contacts / Address Books.
The contact information of business associates, extended family, and old friends used to fill address books, rolodexes, and the margins of phone books. But this is no longer the case. Every computer today provides opportunity to digitally store the information of even your most-obscure acquaintance.
5. Yellow Pages / White Pages.
Depending on the community you live in, those Yellow Pages may be taking up far more space than you prefer. But yellowpages.com contains all the same information… providing an invaluable opportunity to clear up some space in your junk drawer.
6. Maps.
Maps come in a variety of forms: atlas, fold-up, handwritten directions. Today, GPS devices come standard on almost all smart-phones (Iphone, Blackberry, etc.) and even some vehicles. For those of you who don’t use a Smartphone, a simple GPS device can still replace all those maps taking up space in your glove compartment.
7. Cookbooks.
Cookbooks may be among the hardest hit by the recent explosion of free websites and ebooks. The number of photographs in physical cookbooks is severely limited by price, size, and opportunity. But online, recipes are not limited by the same restrictions. As a result, not only can countless photographs be used to guide the rookie chef through the cooking process, but limitless videos can also be used to answer any questions. An entire shelf of cookbooks in your kitchen can quickly be replaced by a few keystrokes on your computer.
8. Books.
Ebook readers (Kindle/Nook) have exploded in popularity and digital books now outsell physical books on Amazon. While reading books on a screen may never replace the actual experience of flipping pages in your world, it certainly provides a golden opportunity to lower your monthly book budget and conserve space on your bookshelf for only the books you desperately need to keep.
9. Newspapers/Magazines.
EBook readers offer newspaper and magazine subscriptions (Kindle subscriptions/iPad subscriptions) to some of the most popular industry journals. This means, of course, fewer periodicals cluttering up your home or office… and more trees standing in the forest.
10. Sticky-Notes.
Ever wish someone would create a product that could replace all those sticky-notes and scratch pieces of paper laying around your home and office? So did the creators of Evernote. And while it may take a bit of effort to figure out how to use, it’s certainly not more effort that sorting through a stack of yellow-sticky notes every time you need to find a note.
11. Cameras (Still/Video).
With the ever-increasing quality of cell-phone cameras, the need to carry a simple point-and-shoot camera is far less important today than it was even 1-2 years ago. Skilled photographers will still use their advanced equipment to capture photos far better than cell phone photographers. But for those of us who just want to be able to capture life’s unpredictable moments in the blink-of-an-eye, the camera lens on most cell phones does the trick.
12. Cable TV.
There are new products entering the marketplace nearly every month that make cutting the cable in your home that much easier. Products such as Netflix, Apple TV, and Google TV are offering more and more television programs than ever before. And while dropping Cable TV from your home may not clear much physical clutter, the savings of $50-60+/month will certainly clear up some space in your checkbook.
13. Landline Phone.
With more and more people choosing to rely exclusively on cell phones, only 49% of American households use a landline phone (that is down from 97% in 2001). People all over the world are making the switch from landline to cell-phone coverage only. After all, why send money to two different phone companies when you can only talk on one at a time?
14. Computer Data Storage.
Computer workstations and office drawers used to be home to floppy disks… 3.5in disks… CDs… and external hard drives – all for the purpose of storing more and more data. But now, office drawers are beginning to empty again as more and more people choose to store their data in the cloud using free services such as Dropbox. Not only does Dropbox keep data safe from fire and flood, it stores it in a place accessible from anywhere.
15. Calendars.
Oh sure, nothing may ever fully replace the family calendar posted on the inside of your pantry closet door, but the Calendar functions and the syncing abilities across platforms (desktop computers, cell phones, and online) of computer devices sure helps the digital storage of your appointments give that old calendar a good run for its money.
Now I know full-well that the use of technology is a personal decision. Some people will never replace their physical books, magazine subscriptions, or favorite cookbooks. People lived their lives free from clutter for thousands of years without the technology available to us today.
But with the recent advancements in both the functionality and intuitiveness of technology there are very real opportunities available to us to clear physical clutter by using it. And if that’s the case, I’m in!
Bethany @ Journey to Ithaca says
Technology is definitely a double-edged sword. It’s easy to waste time on “junk food” websites, such as social networking sites. However, it also has simplified our lives quite a bit.
Annie says
I agree with replacing most of these things with a digital version, but there are some things I won’t change:
My landline. I’ve been through numerous blackouts in my neighborhood and my cell was useless then, but my landline still worked.
My 1961 Betty Crocker Cookbook. My mother had one and the recipes were so good and reliable that I bought myself a copy off eBay. I would never give it up!
My Filofax. I refuse to pay extra for a smartphone and the services for it that I will never fully use. I have an old Handspring Visor and it recharges poorly now and it’s impossible to find similar similar nowadays. I will be transferring my data to my old Filofax, no worries about losing power or the data getting corrupted.
Jen says
Hi,
Great list- I’m curious as to what you do when you leave your kids home- do they have cell phones to use for emergencies? This is the only reason we are still holding onto our landline(!)
Karla McEvoy says
Love this list Joshua! I’m a big fan of using technology to get rid of physical stuff. I enjoy my Kindle. It fits in my purse and I like having a selection of books with me when I have some time to read. A Netflix subscription was helpful with letting go of the DVDs that my family and I had in the house that we rarely watched. To keep the digital clutter down, I really question whether I truly want or need an item before moving to the digital alternative. I’ve still got a few items to go on this list like scanning photos and getting rid of the landline. Thanks for the inspiration.
Bill Peck says
Thanks for sharing Joshua. I am always looking forward to your emails and new posts.
Joy @ Joyfully Green says
Funnily enough, I just wrote a post that’s sort of a counterpoint to this post, about setting up no-tech areas in your home: http://www.joyfullygreen.com/2013/04/instantly-greener-create-no-tech-zones-in-your-home.html. For me, no electronic book can ever match curling up with a good old-fashioned book–and it’s not even about the books that I “desperately need to keep.” I’m fine with electronic textbooks and their ilk, but for pleasure-reading, there’s no equal to the page for me. Also, while I agree with the overall premise that things have gotten more streamlined and clutter-free, I’m not giving up my paper calendar and address book. I’ve had way too many friends send me messages to the tune of “my computer crashed–can you send me all of your contact info again?” Or, “my phone was stolen and now I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing for the next six months.” I need the paper trail back-up for those things. But yes, I’m 100% on-board with digital photos, music, online magazines, newspapers, and cookbooks.
Janice says
Oh, yay for someone else who likes books!!! Of course, no one “desperately needs to keep” anything really, but do you want your kids to pick up your Kindle or a beautiful picture book, like “A Desert Scrapbook”, just to name one that my 6-year old picked up the other day and said dreamily, “oh, I LOVE this book.” What is it? Gorgeous watercolors of the Sonoran Desert and the life that coexists there. Dramatic only in the way that our world is dramatic. And far too far away from us here in SW Germany to appreciate in person.
I think for those of us with offspring, having a decent library for our kids is essential; households with books are more likely to have children who will grow up to be readers and I doubt anyone can deny the importance of reading and being well informed. Of course, you could take out books regularly from your local library, or, as you say, use Kindle as does my oldest (an avid sci fi reader, so no big surprises there). It will be interesting to see what my kids decide, but we will continue to hold onto our lovely collection of books and, once the kids are all out of the house, we’ll give them whichever books they want for their kids to enjoy.
Thanks for all of the interesting thoughts, Joshua and fellow commenters.
Stéphanie says
I can’t say I’m a fan of technology. My own experience with it is that, for each physical clutter it makes disapears, it creates more clutter in one’s mind. Someone talked about pics; It wasn’t such a trouble having a picture album twenty years ago. My parents only owned one, I have four, when my son was born 5 years ago, I took pics after pics with my digital camera. In only one year, I had more pics of him than of me and my parents. I guess now I could fill about 6 or 7 books. So I’d say, in many ways, technology creates more clutter. Why keep 1000 books in your Ipad ? You’ll never read them anyway.
Also, from a more pratical point of view, the newest the technology, the shortest its life expentancy. My CD player is 20 years old and can still read all my cds. In less than 5 years, I changed my MP3 player 3 times and lost 50% of the music stored. Programs have also changed. So now, I stick to my player, it’s less stressfull for me.
Jill Foley says
When I got my first iphone less than a year ago, I was amazed at what one little device could replace (my tuner, metronome, calendar, calculator, GPS, mp3 player….) I still have those things, but haven’t used them so it’s time to pass them on.
Margie Remmers says
These are great suggestions, and I’m glad you prefaced your article with the phrase “physical clutter,” because, unfortunately, if we are prone to collect and clutter, our devices soon become as messy as our house once was–or worse, since you can collect WAY more digitally than you can fill up a house.
Tony@WeOnlyDoThisOnce says
Great post with great tips! I’m still wary of e-books, to an extent, in that it’s just nice to have a hard copy of a book, but I’m totally with you on contact lists, etc.