Getting Yourself Completely Organized To Start The New Year Off Right!
The 10 Days of Organization is an easy way to get yourself organized for the new year! For the next 10 days, each post will feature different tips, tricks and how to’s for organizing yourself, your home, your accessories and so on. Enjoy and Happy 2013!
Day 1: Starting Small; Organizing Your Devices.
Starting a huge project such as this one can sometimes become over whelming, so we are going to start slow. These tips for getting yourself organized don’t take much effort on your part. Just clicks. Today, we start with your electronics.
Decluttering your cell phone and/or tablet.
Start with your cell phone. Remove any contacts that you feel you definitely do not need anymore. If you think you may need a contact in the future, but not anytime soon, create a fold somewhere in your phone and store the name and numbers there.
Move on to your tablet. Being that your tablet is most likely synced with your phone, you will have less clutter to deal with. Delete all unwanted photos, files and miscellaneous items you no longer need or want to add extra storage space.
Delete apps you no longer need or use. Deleting unused or unwanted applications from your phone and tablet is a good way to add rid your devices of clutter while re-adding storage space.
Look into apps that will help you keep organized. Applications like Evernote (Android), Clear and reQall (both for iPhone) are great apps for tasks, reminders and to do’s.
*Optional: Have the same wallpaper background for each device. This is something fun I like to do… okay, well not fun, but I like to do it, lol. Change your tablet background to match your phone background. This might help you feel a little more organized and synced up to each device although, I am starting to think that this could be “fun” just for me!
Decluttering your email inbox. Let the unsubscribe button at the bottom of those annoying emails be your friend! How many times have you opened your inbox to find junk emails from stores you might have only shopped at once or tons of spam? Take the time to unsubscribe to any unwanted newsletters and emails you might be receiving. Please be careful while doing this though. If you feel the email is spam, do NOT open it, just refer to it as spam and delete.
Categorize folders in your email. Sort emails you’d like to save by adding folders within your inbox.
Decluttering your computer. Let today be the day you move all your documents, photos and miscellaneous items into correctly labeled folders , deleting items.
Once your computers organized, keep on top of it. With all the work you do to keep your computer organized, don’t let your files get a mind of their own. Staying on top of your files and pictures as you save them is the best way to keep organized on your computer.
Look into Dropbox to help you save the same items to all of your devices. Dropbox is an application that makes sharing files fast and easy. For more info, check out Dropbox.com.
Decluttering your iPod. Move all of your music into the correct folders, deleting the ones you no longer want. Being, that you paid for this music (I am assuming, lol, jk.) it might be a better idea just to create a folder for all unwanted songs at this time, so your money does not go to waste. You never know when you will want to hear a specific song and might regret deleting it down the road.
Decluttering your digital camera. To me, this is the easiest thing to do. Delete all unwanted photos from your camera, then upload them to your computer or a disc for safe keeping.
Items worth investing in for your devices:
A can of air and monitor wipes. You can blow out there dirt and dust from your gadgets by using a can of air. Look for ones that are strictly air and do not add chemicals to the bottle. Another great purchase is monitor wipes. You can purchase these items from stores like Staples, Office Depot, Target, or where computers, tablets and phones are sold.
Velcro wrap straps. These are great for anything that requires a cord like desktop phones and computers. (If you do not want to spend the money, a great way to strap a cord with an item most likely already in your home, a rubber band. I cut the rubber band, wrap it around the cord and tie the ends together. Remember, not too tight!)
One of my all time favorite places to shop for all things organization Special Savings clearance and sale items. You’re sure to find a great deal there!)
• Stayed tuned for Day 2 of A Lot on Your Plate’s 10 Days To Organization! •
How do you keep your devices organized? Feel free to comment below, I would love to hear from you!
Great tips – thank you. This is something I absolutely need to do. Glad to know I am not the only one.
LOL, you are definitely not the only one!!! You are so welcome and thank you for stopping by
Great tips!
I am a typical Google maniac. I heavily rely on Google Calendar myself mainly because I can colour code it so it is very contrasting for each event. It sends reminders to you phone etc.
But If you prefer much more traditional ways, you might find the classic Filofax the answer. I certainly did.
That is a great tip! Don’t judge me because I just recently started using Google +, lol , is that where you would find the Google calendar? I have to get the hang of it!
Hi! Thank you for posting this.. A very helpful read.. Speaking about calendars and iPhones and iPads.. I found that deleting all your other calendars and just having calendars synced to iCloud seems the most efficient way to ensure you don’t miss out on anything on any of your devices
Happy Organizing!
That is a wonderful tip as well! Too many calendars causes too much confusion and at some point, you’ll just give up using them all together! Thanks so much for reading and for your great comment
Great Work Jess!
This is helpful. It makes us aware that we are carrying so much unwanted stuff with ourselves in our lives. Looking forward for your next post.
P.S. Love this font, which one is it?
Regards,
Premanand.
Thanks so much for the awesome comment! I am actually not sure which font this is. It came with the theme I had purchased. I got the theme from Studiopress.com if that helps you at all. I was actually wondering the same thing myself, lol! Thanks for stopping by!!!
Great idea! I’m on this…starting with my laptop.
Awesome! Let me know how it goes
Thanks for the good ideas on how to organize.
You inspired me to clean up my phone contacts! Thanks!!
Excellent advice! You inspired me to finally upload pictures of the 1st birthday party we held for our neice in SEPTEMBER. I got on a roll and decluttered my phone, camera, and even started to declutter the linen closet (lol). Thanks for the tips!
Great stuff Jess. I love easy stuff to help get things Done! This is definitely focuses in on exactly that. I’d love to link to this series from my blog (if you wouldn’t mind …) Bob http://team1million.wordpress.com
These tips hide in the back of our minds, it’s time to clean house but we put it off. Thanks for the gentle but needed push.
Blessings ~ Maxi
I’ve been working on cleaning up my contact list on my phone — quite a project but it will be worth it!
Thanks for following my blog! I love what you’ve done with yours and am loving your “Organization” series! Can’t wait to read more!
|