Last week I posted my list of default apps. One of the prompts was where you keep your contacts. I simply use the contacts app built into iOS and MacOS. However, I noted that I needed to clean it up. I’ve spent some time over in Android-Land and switched phones a handful of times and noticed that for some contacts, I had like 6 records for that person.
So I spent some time going through and deleting the duplicates. It actually didn’t take all that long using the Contacts app on Mac OS but still…I knew it needed to be done but it took forever to get to it.
It made me think about all the other digital clutter we gather over time. I think it’s a normal thing. However, like other clutter, we don’t want to spend time cleaning it up. I’m getting better about it but here are 3 places I think we gather the most digital…stuff.
Emails
We all know the feeling. You open your inbox and there are like 100 emails and none of them are important. I like email. I actually work in email professionally, but it can feel overwhelming. For some reason it’s easier to just hit delete and kick the can down the road rather than unsubscribe. I’m going to work on that.
As noted I work professionally in email. I personally hold the view that at the individual level if you want to unsubscribe, go for it. Being super locked in on unsubscribe rate at the individual level, for individual sends, is misleading to me and something that is better measured over time.
Social Media Contacts
Social Media has been mainstream for a long time but how many Facebook friends do you talk to on a daily, weekly, hell, yearly basis? Yeah me neither. Removing Social Media contacts feels like…letting a weird friendship go, but do you really care? Really?
Photos
Since we the dogs joined our family, I’m like a pageant mom when it comes to taking photos. If they do anything, I want a photo of it. Now…I don’t really count these as clutter since I like looking through these photos but something like screenshots…used once and then probably never again. Delete ’em.
Cleaning up isn’t a fun task but when it’s done, it definitely feels good.