In fact, just take a look at my phone's home screen. Look at the chaos I walk around with.
As much as I’d love to say I’m one of those people with a clean, minimalist phone setup, for where? I can only wish for real. Because in reality, my phone is a chaotic digital jungle. I have apps I don’t even remember downloading, notifications I’ve ignored for years, and pictures from 2018 just sitting there, collecting virtual dust.
So, if I had to embrace digital minimalism and actually declutter my phone, where would I actually start from? Merely the thought of it is overwhelming, but let's see...
First, I’d take a deep breath and finally do something about the dozens of unused apps squatting like permanent tenants that don't pay rent. You know those kind of friends that'll be like, "let me just squat with you for two days", then two days turns two weeks, two weeks turns two years.
Because, why do I still have that language-learning app I never even opened pass the first time. Or the random shopping apps I downloaded for one discount code?
If I haven't opened an app in the past six months, chances are, I don’t need it. Delete.
I’m ashamed of the number of unread emails sitting in my inbox. Newsletters I don’t remember subscribing to, promotional emails I kept with hopes of checking later and a hundreds unread messages, especially the Facebook emails. Why does Facebook have to notify me of every comment, Mr. A commented on Mr. B's post, helloooo, how is that my business? It’s time to unsubscribe aggressively, I'm cutting them all off, like a toxic ex.
And now to my biggest weakness; social media. The mindless scrolling, the feeling of “just five minutes” turning into two hours. Sometimes, I go online just to check a specific thing, then I get lost in the field of feeds and suddenly, I can't remember why I opened Instagram two hours ago. Real pandemic situation if you ask me.
I’d set limits. Although, let’s be real, I love the internet, but at least using app timers to stop me from falling into a social media black hole at 2 AM would save me a morning of sunken eyes and dark circles.
I believe we're on step four of my decluttering now. (Easier said than done oh, I feel so motivated breaking this down and writing it step by step, I might as well take this as a practical guide and do the de-cluttering after writing, fingers crossed.)
I have pictures on my phone that I know I’ll never use again. Random screenshots from a page that probably no longer even exist on social media, wigs whose prices have long skyrocketed. I couldn't even afford it when it was 30k, is it now that its 150k I'll buy it? lol, sorry for the laugh but nope, DELETE!
Blurry selfies, old memes, and 57 versions of the same photo. Time to delete the excess. In fact, my gallery will go into shock.
Honestly? The idea of a clutter-free, simple digital life sounds beautiful, so beautiful… in theory. But in reality, it can be overwhelming and let's not even talk about the weird sentimental attachment I have to my 5-year-old screenshots.
However, I think I can make it an habit after the max de-cluttering, probably an every Sunday thing, spend a little time clearing out unneeded screenshots or screen-records, checking my emails and even de0cluttering my WhatsApp, chats from over 1 year ago. At least, this will keep things from piling up again.
I don't think I can ever fully embrace digital minimalism but a little detox here and there, that I can do.