NAPA Wine Country Castello di Amorosa in CalistogaAvadian photo 2021 NAPA Wine Country Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga

Declutter Your Smartphone

/in /by

When is the last time you looked at the condition of your smartphone?

Did you run the Device Care feature (in Settings for Android) to clear the clutter and help it work more efficiently? Screenshot of Device Care status on Android Smartphone

Digital Memories Grow Rapidly

Wherever I go, I take pictures. I also shoot videos. I am pleasantly surprised by people’s reactions to the people-and-nature photos and videos I post to social media. While I use my own smartphone and then spent (too much) time trying to get them high-resolution videos, I’m clearing the temporal clutter in my life. I use their cameras to shoot most of the pictures and videos. Meanwhile, I use my phone only for the must-have (a subjective call) images and video, saving gigabytes of space and time.

Years ago, in the days of pre-digital photography, we dropped off our rolls of film to be developed at a Fotomat booth or mailed them. We were careful about capturing the ideal shot as our hobby could grow quite expensive. Back then, I read that a National Geographic photographer could take as many as 10,000 photos for every one featured in the magazine. WOW!

Gigabytes of Too-Much Data

Today, the ease of digital photography and immediate feedback, makes it easier to quickly delete poor images as we continually improve our photography skills.

Friend, Manish Mamtani, an IT/Finance professional, parlayed his photography hobby into an internationally recognized following with photos featured around the world including at the White House and in NatGeo.

Those of us who enjoy taking pictures or shooting videos have likely accumulated tens of thousands if not 100,000 or more photos on our hard drives not to mention the seemingly endless gigabytes of photos and videos on our cards inserted in our smartphones.

Before I travel, I try to leave with at least half of my phone and card space available for new-photo and video opportunities. I am always surprised by the person who hands me a smartphone that doesn’t save the images or videos I shoot because there’s no more space left on their memory card or phone. They quickly delete and ask me to retake the images but by then the magic has passed.

Keep Control of Your Data

Take control of your smartphone files. Beyond your photos and videos, look also at your text messages, especially, those with images or videos. Also, review your emails and delete as many as you can.

Declutter.

When you’re finished, be sure to run the Device Care feature, again.

Organization Options for Your Closet

/in /by

What do you do after you have cleared the physical clutter from your living space? Maybe now is a good time to better organize some frequently used spaces like your closet. Since I am frequently at Lowe’s for various household projects, I’ll share what I discovered yesterday.

Lowe’s carries a wide variety of closet organization items both in store and online.

I am a fan of wood and Lowe’s carries wooden closet organizers, perfect for when I am ready to reorganize my closet space. If you don’t want to go full project changeover, then they have cost effective options available as well. For example, neatfreak! offers items ranging from hangers to shelf organizers.

Closet organization can be fun. Make some time to tackle that project today!

For smaller random organizing challenges in your living space, consider plastic storage bins for a quick fix. ICYMI, here are some suggestions from January 2021, “What’s in Stor(age) for You This Year?”

 

Clutter in the garage

Declutter to Avoid being Frozen in Time and Place

/in /by

Decluttering will be the easiest for you to tackle, today. Tomorrow, and with each passing day, the process will be more challenging.

The longer we postpone accomplishing a task, the more difficult it becomes. Our thoughts about getting it done—mental clutter—raises our stress level. The older we grow, the busier we get and the more quickly we tire.

Making time now to declutter gives us control over what we keep, sell, gift to others, or toss. We don’t want a flood, fire, earthquake, or other calamity to dictate the destruction of our sentimental family mementos.

Decluttering now also means we reduce our consumption of want-to-have but do-not-need items. These items that bring short-term joy, not only clutter our space, they deplete our finances, and ultimately make our lives more stressful. You’d be surprised how great the burden when we carry more stuff than we need.

I found this quote (source unknown) particularly impactful: move away from attachment to the stuff of life and toward a way of life.

And yet, I see so many, frozen in time and place—trapped by their possessions. I grew up in a household of too much stuff. My parents could not say no. The lessons of unburdening their home of 45 years of possessions have contributed to my ongoing process of letting go and acquiring only what I need.

Whether it’s the physical stuff that occupies our space or the mental clutter that clouds our thoughts, we are weighed down—anchored. Until we declutter, we will be unable to move toward a freer way of life.

Cluttered paperwork on work table

While progress is slow, such as when my (now ex-) husband I were going through my late father’s paperwork as his brain became increasingly riddled by dementia and later, Alzheimer’s, the pace will pick up. While unexpected gifts such as The U.S. Savings Bonds Windfall, are rare, the gift we receive with each step we take, will make the process go quicker. It’s uncanny, how that works, but we need to start, now.

Only then will we melt the icy grip of our possessions (mental and physical) and clear space in order to may enjoy more of what life has to offer.

Declare Your Independence from Clutter

/in /by

July 4th is Independence Day in the United States. Using that as a theme, I challenge you to declare your independence from clutter.

What does that mean? It means putting yourself on the path to clutter freedom! What that looks like is unique to you. But here are some suggestions for where to start.

Physical clutter

A problem for many of us. Paper clutter, such as mail for example.

For recurring bills such as utilities, or credit cards, sign up for electronic statements and automatic payments. This will not only eliminate the paper clutter, but it also helps ensure your bills are paid on time. You can even set up email or text reminders for payment as needed. When doing so be cautious about creating digital clutter in lieu of the paper clutter you eliminated.

Junk mail is a different matter. We often end up on mailing lists with no rhyme or reason. Contact the sender and ask to be removed from future solicitations. This will at least reduce, if not eliminate, the volume of junk mail. I also recommend shredding anything in said mail that contains your personal information, such as your address or account number. These are some simple steps towards freedom from physical clutter.

Digital clutter

Another issue many of us must deal with. Smart phones being a convenient example.

Take a hard look at your device and delete apps that you have not used in some time. Run the battery and device care feature in your settings to free up space. Restart your device on some type of schedule and run updates as needed. These are simple things you can do on your path to freedom from digital clutter.

Decluttering the various aspects of our lives can be simple. Again, I challenge you to declare your independence from clutter.