Now that most classes are online, it is super important to make sure that your computer is not cluttered with things that you don’t need. Not only does this take-up unnecessary space, but it makes the things that you need hard to find. You may end up deleting something that you need in the rush of finding some important documents that your professor is asking for. You may misplace your notes right before your big test. Don’t suffer through these things like I did. Follow these tips to maintain a clean and organized online presence:
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Delete EVERYTHING that you don’t need! Think about it, do you really need that PDF of a reading that you did for your Psych class last semester? I don’t think so. If it is easily identifiable as something that you will never open again, trash it.
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Organize your documents into folders or tags! On my MacBook, I really like the tag feature. I have all of my notes organized by class, that way when I am looking for a specific document, I know where to look.
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Make copies of everything on Google Drive! I have separate folders on Google Drive for each semester of college. These folders then have subfolders for each class. If I ever need to access a document but don’t have my normal laptop on me, it makes it way easier and less stressful having everything in one place that I can access from anywhere in the world.
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Delete old emails and separate them! If your inbox has over 500 emails, there is something wrong. Once again, use a tag system. Use master tags like “Class”, “Internship”, “Grad School Applications”, “Job Applications”, etc. Then go in with subtags for specific classes or other categories that fit into the master tags. I like to color-code these tags so that the side of my inbox looks nice and neat.
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Unsubscribe from email chains that you don’t need! I know we all sometimes sign up for promotional emails from brands to get that 10% off coupon that they offer, but be honest with yourself, is it worth getting 50 emails a day that are just backing up your inbox. Usually, these emails will have a link to unsubscribe at the bottom. I try to unsubscribe from these emails each time I do a big purge of old emails from my inbox.
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Utilize your bookmark bar! One of my saving graces has been having important links saved on my bookmark bar. Once again, use master tags! Right now the tags I use are “Homework”, “Internship”, “LSAT Prep”, and “Other”. Each week I go through and delete the links that I don’t need anymore and it makes it so much easier having the links that I do need to keep only one click away.
Living and learning online does not have to be overwhelming and cluttered. Working with a clean desktop will help you avoid some of the stress and frustration that is involved with our new normal. Stay strong and learn lots xox