It’s almost the end of the year, and have you taken care of your digital space and environment enough?
In today’s age, our digital life and footprint are part of our lives. Almost everything we do is online, and we carry an “asset” that can contain much information about ourselves. This particular asset is called “data” or “information”. It can be in pictures, text, video, or even sounds. Then, we also have our physical assets, the tools we use to connect online. Over time, our data can pile up and clutter our devices, and at the same time, our device needs good repair or maintenance. In our day-to-day lives, these things can be overlooked, and one day, when a problem persists, all you can do is panic. All these can be mitigated by having monthly, annual, or even seasonal audits to check the health of your data and devices.
I like to do it at the end of the year, just a few months before tax season starts where I am from. It helps with digitizing everything and makes it easier to access whenever I need to file for taxes the next year. After all, some of our digital assets can be taxed, too. That's why, I am doing my best to keep track of everything. Here are some of the things that I tend to check and audit during my annual digital detox and decluttering.
📌 Online presence declutter
This time of the year is perfect for finding out where you still want to have your online presence. Think about the social media platforms, games, or even apps you haven’t used for a while. If you don’t have needs there, it’s time to uninstall and let it go. However, before that, revoke connections, download your data, and delete it. That way, you know you’re removing your data for good and had no connection to it.
📌 Clean up your folders, pictures included.
For those who take dozens of pictures, it’s the best time to let go of some of the blurry ones. It’s best to keep the good ones so that we can make room for new pictures and memories for the following year. There are also documents that you might not need and need to let go of. You can decide to keep only the important documents around.
📌 Checkup on your privacy and authentication factors
Multiple data breaches occur throughout the year. You could be one of their victims, and that’s when you should change your passwords immediately. Throughout the year, you might also sign up for a new service or install new software. Make sure that you manage those well and know where you are signing up for. While changing your password often is unnecessary, it’s time to reconsider if you need to change your credentials across your devices.
📌 Whether it’s your phone or laptop, make sure to check it.
Usually, this is a great time to upgrade your gadget with the sweet deals. This is why I like to check my devices and see if they are up for upgrading. While sometimes it’s not about upgrading, a security checkup or just checking if they are up for repairs is a great time to do so.
📌 Unsubscribe
It’s best to unsubscribe from things that we don’t use anymore. Since many of them are automatic, too, make sure that they’re still something you use and don’t just drain your wallet. It’s best to evaluate them so that next year, you know that you might not need a particular subscription or even need a new subscriptions.
Those are the things that I do when decluttering my digital space. I often do that at the end of the year to ensure that I enter the next year with a clear space and more space to store memories I am going to make next year. Through this system, I also managed to mitigate a lot of unnecessary problems that could arise just because I forgot to check the condition of my phone and my other devices.
Now, I'd like to hear from you, what are the steps you do to declutter your digital space? Share it in the comment section.
 | 𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. |
Google themselves told me that my password was no longer safe, as 100+ sites kind of had it. I guessed it just have been this seamless "Sign in with Google". Changed my password , but I now use a different account for those random sign ups. Is that code for some kind of To-do app?
could be haha it's just the wallpaper I had for a while until I changed it. I never like those seamless sign in, somehow that could posses certain risks.
I just came back after unsubscribing from a lot of channels on YouTube and I was surprised to the kind of things I even subscribed to. I’m glad I did it anyway. My youtube looks way better. I’ll definitely try it on other platforms.
That's what I did too, sometimes we subscribe to things that don't matter anymore and it's time to change it. I mean try it on Hive as well, I am currently trying to cut down the communities I followed as well😆
Mac I accept it, I'm too lazy to do this, I don't do it until all my equipment is about to collapse 🥹, but it's something strictly necessary, it's like having a messy room, but if you saw my room at the moment you would be scared 🫠, I think I should start in parts, first feel better, since I'm super sick right now, then clean my room and then do this you recommend, I hope to do everything before 2025 🥹🥹🥹
😅 We all been there. It happened to me as well which is why,now I am taking good care of it and know when I need to replace my gadget. I typically change phone once every 3 years and laptop once every 4-5 years. So, I tend to save up throughout the year so I can get the gadget I wanted hehe 😄 I hope you had a lovely weekend.
@macchiata, you're rewarding 1 replies from this discussion thread.