Over the years, I’ve talked to many of my friends about my personal goals. Usually, people try to set goals for the new year to create a fresh start. However, for many people, this time of year is very difficult to make new commitments or big changes in their lives.
Others have made suggestions to begin their new resolutions in Spring instead, when life is once again blooming and the weather is more manageable. Everything seems bright and new! In Japan, the new school year, as well as the fiscal year, begin in April. Many people also go through job transfers at this time, so it’s common for people to start many new traditions and habits.
Spring in Japan!
While scrolling through endless videos online may seem like a huge waste of time and not very productive at all, I’ve actually found a lot of inspiration from other goal-oriented people like myself. Aside from the usual helpful workouts and cleaning hacks, I’ve also seen a lot of interesting videos about digital organization. This is something I’ve been able to latch onto and consistently keep up with this year, so I’ll share some of the key points and habits that I’ve been able to really stick with.
Here are the main features of my digital deep-clean journey:
drive/cloud/etc organization
photos on my phone
social media limits (and posts)
email inbox cleansing
DRIVE/CLOUD/ETC ORGANIZATION
This part of my journey became a habit more out of necessity rather than motivation. It was something that I had put off for a long time. For me, it was easy to have one Google Drive for all of my files. This primarily included files for work, hobbies, writing, and travel itineraries. A lot of time and work went into these files and the data usage of my Google Drive was definite proof of that.
The first step I took was utilizing another email account to create a Drive dedicated to my writing, hobbies, and anything for this website really. There’s a lot of story-building going on in those files and taking them out of my main email Drive was extremely helpful.
The second step was a bit more daunting: tackling my work files. I wasn’t utilizing the Drive connected to my work email, so there was a large portion of files I could transfer over without worrying about using up a lot of storage space.
After I moved the files around, I was able to save plenty of space in my main Drive and simply shared the files that would be important for future reference. This way I can access the files but I don’t need to necessarily store the files all in one Drive.
PHOTOS ON MY PHONE
The main inspiration for this project is actually from a clever video I came across online. I wish I could give the creator credit, but I haven’t been able to find it again. Essentially, instead of going on a deleting binge and scrolling through old photos for hours (because who has time for that?) this woman made it a daily habit instead.
Every night before bed, she opens her photos and searches for the photos on that day in her phone. For example, any photo taken on March 4th in her phone would show up. She simply had to look at a small batch of photos and videos and delete the duplicates, the random screenshots, the blurry pictures, the accidental floor shots, etc. It’s a good way to get rid of junk photos in your phone.
I have a habit of taking pictures of things I want in stores and also the price tag instead of buying things. Later, I may go back again and see if I’m still interested. For pricier purchases like furniture, it’s a good method for me to check prices of things in other stores while I’m out shopping. But then… I never delete them. I also have a lot of food pictures (where my foodies at?) from years ago that I’m obviously not going to share with anyone or post online anymore.
While I might not do this every day like the creator of the video does, I usually keep up with this about 2-3 times every month. It’s good to do it when waiting for buses or trains, or even on lunch or study breaks.
In this way, I’ve been able to stay on top of my photos.
SOCIAL MEDIA LIMITS (AND POSTS)
I am not immune to the sweet, sweet instant dopamine fix that social media provides millions of people every day. I enjoy reading about other people’s lives and experiences, but I also enjoy learning new things or simply watching something funny or cute. The instant gratification that social media provides for many people has become a huge problem. I have some personal boundaries with social media that allow me to safely enjoy its benefits while protecting myself from its hazards. However, one hazard that I still struggle with is time. More specifically, how much time I spend on social media apps.
Thankfully, there are plenty of methods that people can use to help with this problem. Some methods that I use are already built-in features of my phone.
1) I limit my screen time by creating a setting designed to limit that screen time to 1 hour per day. There’s a 5 minute warning when the screen time is almost at its limit, then the feature locks out the apps included in the screen limit rule. Of course, it’s not permanent and you can choose to continue for 1 minute, 15 minutes, or dismiss the screen limit for the day. I find that I hardly choose to ignore the limit for the day, but I often ignore the limit for 15 minutes. Even if it doesn’t limit my screen time to one hour ONLY, it helps me keep track of the time in a better way.
Since I have an iPhone, I can only share my experiences with this device. Here’s a quick step-by-step on how to create a time-limit for any app on your phone.
Simply open Settings > Screen Time > App Limits > Add Limits
Then, choose the apps and the time. You can adjust later if you need to or delete if it doesn’t work for you at all.
Scrolling through videos for a long time is a sure way to lose track of time. I find that the time-limit expiring simply reminds me HOW MUCH time it’s actually been. I created this time-limit a few years ago, but wanted to share this tip with others in case they want to try it as well.
The apps become dark and a small hourglass appears to show the time limit has been reached. (Don't mind the old Twitter logo there - I never use X so I haven't updated it on my phone in ages.)
If you select the app, it gives you the option to accept the limit or ignore the limit.
If you choose to ignore the limit, you have a few options. I usually only use the 15 minute reminder.
2) I also have a lot of settings enabled that help me be less distracted throughout the day. Some examples of this are always having my phone on silent or vibrate. My ringer is always off. I don’t even remember what my ringtone sounds like.
Additionally, I have disabled notification “bubbles” on some of my apps (like Facebook) in order to limit checking for every notification. This is something I also did a few years ago when Facebook started making nonsense notifications about every little thing. I don’t know why the app thought I wanted to know about a post my friend made on a mutual friend’s photo. Other notifications about groups or pages I followed were also unnecessary in my opinion.
3) Other people have set up do not disturb settings, which has been really helpful for them. I personally don’t find it useful but thought I would add it since very many people think it’s beneficial.
4) In terms of actually digitally cleansing, I finally went through my Instagram account and deleted some old posts that don’t hold any meaning for me. I’m not the type of person to delete old pictures of friends or exes on social media, so I’m also not usually going through really old pictures to clear things out either. I decided it was finally time to remove some of the cringe from my profile.
It wasn’t planned, but more of a spur of the moment project. I had the motivation and the time, so I just did it. It was also a nice trip down memory lane.
For Facebook I’m using a different approach. I started my Facebook profile when I was in high school. I don’t have access to a lot of pictures from that time as that was before I had any smart phones, so I generally leave those pictures alone. The posts, though. YIKES. I have to thank the Facebook memories feature for broadcasting some of those cringe posts to the forefront of my feed from time to time, as it reminds me to delete them.
I haven’t made it a project to go through and review a lot of the posts from my past yet, so there’s bound to be mounds of embarrassing gold there. HURRY! FIND THE DIRT NOW! It’ll probably be gone by the end of this year at the rate I’m going!
EMAIL INBOX CLEANSING
Now onto the last part, where I talk about the most boring and insufferable part of digital cleansing: cleaning out my email inbox.
I have multiple emails, so I’m only referring to the one I use the most here. The others are still complete messes.
The best method for me was to use the search feature and look for specific senders. I found the relevant emails and deleted the rest. Gmail does a good job of separating different types (socials, promotions, etc) so it makes it easier to handle the bulk of it all in different sections. I usually would just search one sender (ie: Spotify) and then just delete all the emails if I could. It can take a long time, so it’s not something you can easily do in one sitting. Creating folders or categories helped, as I was able to slowly go through each one.
I’m curious to try the photo method from that creator’s video I mentioned before. Just search for the emails received on that day only, then sift through them day by day. Maybe that’s a more manageable approach.
In any case, consider this my mid-year review on the progress of this year’s goal. Did I intentionally make this my goal for the year? Absolutely not. Was it something that was nagging me constantly? Of course.
While it’s not a very idealized or lofty goal like some of my goals in the past (looking at you, splits challenge!) I feel it’s one of those necessary goals that just makes my life easier and less stressful in the long run. I’d very much like to choose an amazing and difficult goal, but sometimes the goals choose us through our habits and accomplishments over the year.