10-Minute Digital Declutter

Digital clutter is one of the sneakiest forms of clutter because we often don’t notice as it’s piling up until it’s too overwhelming to deal with. I’ve found that doing these quick minimizing sessions with my phone helps prevent this!

Before we begin, I want to do a quick definition of a term I use throughout this blog. A guaranteed-goodbye refers to something you confidently know needs to go. These are the quick, easy decisions that aren’t overwhelming, don’t require overthinking, and don’t create any mental fatigue as you deal with them. Getting rid of the guaranteed-goodbyes allows you more mental space to deal with difficult decluttering decisions down the road.

So, pick up your phone, and follow along step by step as we declutter together!

1. Apps

This is the easiest place to start! Since we’re doing a speed-declutter today, we’re only going to think about the things we know are guaranteed-goodbyes—apps that are no longer useful or that we haven’t used in at least 6 months.

Open up your phone and scan for any unused apps—typically I find the easiest ones to get rid of are games, entertainment-based apps, or tools I thought I would use!

I deleted my Hoopla app, because I recently discovered the Libby app, and have been using that one instead now. I also got rid of my Google app and Google Sheets app because I haven’t used those for a few months.

2. Contacts

Next, let’s take a quick look through our contact! Again, since this is a speed declutter, we’re not going to spend a lot of time combing through our whole list. Instead, I challenge you to scroll through and find 5 contacts that you don’t need saved in your phone and delete them! These can be numbers you no longer need, businesses whose numbers you’ve saved, or anything else you don’t need this season.

Tip: It’s easy to start overthinking this section! Remember, stick to the guaranteed-goodbyes and delete ones you obviously don’t need.

Bonus Decluttering Challenge: If you found it very easy to delete 5 contacts, try deleting 15!

3. Call Log

Go into your phone, hit “edit” and “clear” to declutter all of your recent calls! This takes about 5 seconds, and feels like an easy win!

4. Notes

I use my Notes app for everything—grocery lists, to-do lists, random thoughts and ideas…but I often forget to delete these once I’ve completed them. Take 2 minutes and skim the first 15 notes and see if there are any that you can delete!

Bonus Decluttering Challenge: Scroll to the bottom of your Notes list, and delete anything that obviously can go.

5. Photos

Okay, I know this might be a controversial one, but I am confident that many of our camera rolls probably have photos that we don’t need to keep! In order to not get overwhelmed with this section of decluttering, just look through your last week of photos and delete any that are duplicates (anyone else here take 6 photos when only one is necessary?), screenshots you no longer need, or a photo you took specifically to send to someone, but no longer need.

When it comes to photo duplicates, I always think—would I sit with an acquaintance and show them all 23 versions of this same photo? Probably not. Choose your favourite one, and delete the rest.

Bonus Decluttering Challenge: Was that too easy? Set your timer for 3 minutes, and see how many photos you can get rid of!

6. Messages

This is probably another controversial one, but I don’t like to keep text messages for every single person I text. Take 1 minute and scroll through your recent messages. Aim to delete just 3 threads!

I got rid of an automatic response thread for an appointment reminder, a two-factor authentication code thread, and a random group chat for a specific event a couple of friends and I were planning.

✅ Decluttering Challenge Complete! ✅

Thanks for joining me in this speed-decluttering challenge today! I hope you feel accomplished, a little lighter, and ready to take on the rest of your week!