“New Year, New You,” as most would say. A lot of people welcome the new year by clearing the old for space for the new.
For remote workers, some spring clean their routine for a more productive year. But most forget to do the same for their cyber clutter.
Based on research, your digital clutter can overwhelm your brain, leading to mental exhaustion. When done right, you get more headspace after spring cleaning your cyber clutter.
Don’t know where to start? We got you! Here are 7 ways to spring-clean your cyber clutter.
Organize Your Digital Files
Over the years, you can accumulate a lot of files from work. And these can look really messy when left unattended.
Start by organizing your digital files — documents, images, and videos. You can also organize your emails.
Delete the ones that you don’t need anymore. As for the rest, you can transfer them to a flash drive or cloud storage.
Delete Apps You Don’t Use Anymore
Do you have apps you don’t use? It’s time to delete some of them.
With fewer apps, you can easily navigate your phone. You will also have more storage space, leading to better performance for your device.
If you’re worried that you might need some of them soon, you can always download them again in the future.
Cancel Subscriptions You Don’t Use
How many times have you subscribed to anything and ended up not using it? Just like gym memberships, you might have a couple in your cyberspace.
Check your subscriptions. Software, streaming services, dating apps (!).
You might want to cancel some that you are not using anymore. You don’t only save device memory, but you also free up some money in the process.
Purge Social Media Accounts You Follow
Social media is part of our life. But have you experienced scrolling through your feed and feeling bad about it? Or maybe you don’t enjoy some content anymore.
It’s time to purge the social media accounts you follow.
Yes, you can unfollow people. You have the power to choose what you see.
But if you think unfollowing someone might offend them, you can always snooze their posts instead.
Update Your Devices
Are your devices up-to-date? Some computers and devices are exposed to different threats and errors after some time.
With this, companies roll out software updates to address some issues. It makes your devices faster. Some updates can even free up storage space after installation.
So it’s a must to update your devices this year.
Secure Your Devices and Files
There are countless cyber threats programmed every year. But sometimes, device updates aren’t enough for your protection.
You might need to ramp up a layer of security, so don’t forget to install an antivirus for your devices.
If you haven’t already, you can also strengthen your passwords by combining upper case, lower case, numbers, and symbols. Enabling two-factor authentication can also help.
For some sensitive documents, some programs can use encryption algorithms to make them unreadable without the cipher.
You can never be too careful. And it doesn’t take too much time to activate these safeguards.
Backup Your Files
What if your devices get infected? Sometimes, cyber threats just slip past all your safeguards regardless.
And it’s quite hard to retrieve lost and stolen files. Or worse, some attacks can render your device entirely unusable.
For this spring cleaning, you should also back up your files.
You can buy a hard drive and back-up your computer once every week. With this, you can easily revert to a working backup just in case.
Looking for an online job? Sign up through Remote Staff for the best remote working jobs for Filipinos.
Remote Staff offers long-term remote working opportunities, depending on your expertise. And by using the tips above, you can definitely improve your productivity in your remote working job.
Cheers to building your remote working career!
