We at Nine to Kind know that self-care is a multifaceted concept. Where we love ourselves a “treat-yo-self day,” in order for us to be fully present in our not-boring-self-care we must tackle some of our boring self care! Some boring self care tasks are obvious, like taking out the trash or folding laundry. Other tasks sneak up on us and create microstress in our daily lives. A big source of these boring self care microstressors is our digital life.

Managing our digital life can get overwhelming, because it shows up in a lot of small ways. Whether its the email list you subscribed to 10 years ago or managing notifications, developing a habit of digital cleaning can be helpful for us both in the moment or long term. We put together a list of 10 areas where you can begin organizing your digital life.

PS: Need more Boring Self Care ideas? Download our Boring Self Care List!

1. Create a Photo Organization System

First of all, if you do not backup your photos or have them automatically go to the cloud…do that now. Options include Google Photos, iDrive, iCloud, BackBlaze, or an external hard drive. Services like Google Photos are helpful because photos are organized by date and can be searched.

Now that your photos are backed up, let’s talk organization. We are going to breakdown digital and physical ways to better manage your photos.

Here are some category ideas for photo/video folders:

• Chronological Order
• Phase of Life (ex: dating, toddler, college)
• Person Specific (Family, Friends, Grandparents)
• “Type” of Photo (Professional, Selfie, Screenshots)
• Activity Specific (Travel, Sports, Annual Events, School)

From the broad categories you can then break down into subcategories similar to the above list. What is important is that your folder titles are consistent. For example, “Spring 2023” can be helpful for chronological order, but then that group should be followed with more specificity like “Smith Wedding 2023” or “Spring Travel 2023,” then you can go even more specific like “New York Spring 2023.” To prevent overwhelm, focus on the broad categories and then you can work on one broad category at a time.

Another fun way to preserve your photos is through photo books. You choose how they are organized, and you can have a specific folder for photos you want printed or in a book. For a quicker in-the-moment option, favorite photos weekly to then be considered for printing. Popular photo printing brands include: ShutterFly, Google Photos, Social Print Studio, and MixBook.

The Digital Nine to Kind Possibility Planner comes with note taking pages that can be duplicated. Photos can be uploaded into the notes pages or the weekly layouts. Learn more here!

2. Password Managers

There could be a support group solely for processing the emotions related to password management. Like who actually remembers all these things?? Password Managers are not only helpful for the storage of your passwords, they can also assist in creating secure passwords.

Your browser often has the option of keeping those, but if you want more options and security there are apps too. Wired Magazine has a roundup of options at various pricepoints. Also heads up, if you are a LastPass user, there was a security breach so you might want to consider switching programs.

3. Review Promo Email & Newsletter Subscriptions

Emails from our favorite creators and brands can be great for saving money or getting tips in our inbox. Just like our social media feeds, going through a cleanup of promotional emails can reduce notifications and content overwhelm. The best thing about this is that you can always resubscribe! Managing your emails can be done manually or with a service like Unroll.Me. Unroll.Me also has an option to where you can have a daily digest of emails in one single email.

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4. Clear Tabs on Your Browser

We all have a collection of emotional support browser tabs that we just can’t seem to bookmark or exit out of. You can create categories for tabs that you bookmark or you can keep it one long list. If it is items for shopping, put them in a phone note or in a doc for future reference (this might also keep the impulse spending down). We know this can be overwhelming, so start with a 10-15 minute time block instead of trying to review them all.

5. Modify Notifications

Phone notifications are a slippery slope because “just checking” can lead to hours of doom scrolling. Review the apps that have direct notifications and consider turning them off or at least removing notifications when the screen is locked. If you have multiple devices, consider modifying all of them so you aren’t getting duplicate notifications to review.

A few motivators for notification modification:

• Phone notifications are designed with your attention in mind…take back control with removing notifications.
• Even the smallest distraction can deter from the present…help yourself stay in the present moment with less notifications.
• If you are already a worrier, the last thing you need is an anxiety trigger…reduce your triggers with removing notifications.

6. Back Up Your Computer

We already discussed backing up our photos, but even more importantly we need to make sure we have a routine for backing up our devices. Have a goal of backing up your devices monthly or quarterly to reduce losing important documents, photos, etc. It is recommended to have both a cloud based backup and a hard drive based backup.

If you are part of a work team, consider having a reminder in your work calendars for a consistent backup. For solo workers, schedule an email to yourself monthly or quarterly with the reminder.

7. Organize Your Desktop or Home Screen

This is more about reducing the amount of apps or random documents on your homescreen. If you want a creative twist, consider creating a custom homescreen on your phone using widgets. For your desktop, we have seen people create desktop backgrounds on canva with little “hubs” or spaces to place specific applications or folders.

This is also an ideal time to remove apps that are no longer useful or unhelpful. The goal of organizing your device home screens is to create a space that is more streamlined and almost soothing. Our phones and computers can be a source of stress, so having the spaces organized can reduce accumulating stress.

8. Organize Your Computer Files

Alright, this one is a doozy. Organizing your home screen and desktop screen were phase 1 of the bigger picture. In fact, organizing your computer files can be such a large task that there are now companies (like this Nashville based company) that will organize it for you! If you want to DIY it, consider making an outline of the specific steps you will take to complete the project. This can help reduce fatigue and overwhelm.

Similar to the photo approach, you will want to start with broad categories and then gradually get more specific. Here are some category ideas:

• Personal: Photos, Keepsakes (subfolders can be by the person, event, etc)
• Health: Medical Records, Insurance Information, Downloaded Articles
• Media: Music, Movies, TV Shows
• Financial: EIN paper (if a biz owner), Past Returns, Receipts, Loan Paperwork, Retirement, Statements
• Work: Contracts, Agreements, PDFs of positive emails, Copies of Previous Work
• Learn: E-Books, PDFs, Course Content (break subfolders down by content topic)

It is best to arrange first before decluttering. Unless you 100% don’t need or want to keep specific documents, keep everything. Consider a “To Be Trashed” folder that you can review first.

Habit Building Suggestions

It is clear that managing your digital life is not a one-time or easy-breezy task. At first, you will be sifting through the old while building systems for the new. To prevent overwhelm consider these tips:

• Break down the tasks into smaller steps
• Focus on spending time (scheduling time blocks) instead of completing a specific task
• Plan around what is naturally happening in the year (ex: work on financial documents around tax time)
• Body double with a friend, then do something fun afterward!

However you choose to organize your digital life, it is better to get ahead than to do it in a panic. Celebrate your efforts and know that your digital life will be an ongoing project!

Into digital planning? The Digital Nine to Kind Possibility Planner is a one-time purchase for you to use and reuse as needed. Take a tour and get instant access here.