Here’s a sneaky kind of clutter: the kind no one can see. Not even you, until you open the file manager on your computer. Suddenly, a huge list appears. Pictures. Video. Documents.
This gets tidied much less frequently than the rest of the house, because it’s so hidden. But it is slowing down the computer. It may be causing you trouble when you are searching for a picture or document carefully filed away. And yes, it can be a location for hoarding. How bad can it get? I found this article fascinating:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303404704577305520318265602.html?mod=wsj_share_tweet_bot
A great place to start reducing is the email inbox. Ideally, it gets cleared out as frequently as the mailbox at your front door. Few people manage it in such a tidy manner, though. If you’re staring at an inbox with hundreds of emails, here’s a fabulous tip I learned at the last Professional Organizers in Canada conference:
When you are ready to file and delete email, sort them by sender. Suddenly, the mail from your boss, from your mother, newsletters, and advertisements will show up in batches. This will make it very easy to delete batches of mail you don’t need to read, and file the rest!
