Declutter Your Virtual Life

I am not a fan of clutter at all.
Having clutter can create a stressful environment not only in your physical life, but also in your virtual life.

These three tips can help to clear your virtual clutter:

1. HAVE SEPARATE E-MAIL ACCOUNTS
I have two different email accounts: one I use for personal things like banking and communicating with family and one I use for newsletter subscriptions. It seems as if every time I go to a website, I am asked for my e-mail address. Retail stores have even started asking for e-mail addresses. If you are quick to hand out this information, pretty soon your e-mail inbox is overflowing with daily Groupon deals, Lottery winning notifications and sales pitches. It can be hard for you to find the important e-mails and sometimes the spam filter does not catch all of the things you would consider spam. Every time I sign up for a newsletter or register to gain access to a website (mainly for coupons), I give the e-mail address I solely use for couponing and things of that nature. This ensures that I do not miss important messages and I am not overwhelmed with 450 new messages when I open my inbox.

2. UNSUBSCRIBE
If you have not created a separate e-mail account you may receive many spam messages a day. Maybe you signed up to receive a newsletter that you truly care about but they have started coming too frequently. Unsubscribe! It usually only takes a second to do. If I come across a newsletter in my personal inbox that I am not interested in anymore, I simply scroll to the bottom and find the unsubscribe link. If you handle the offenders as they arrive, keeping your inbox clean will be easier to handle. If you do not want to completely unsubscribe to receive newsletters you can change the frequency of their arrival. You can also change when other networks and sites such as Facebook e-mail you. Do you really need to know every time someone likes a post that you also liked? I don't think so!

3. DELETE OLD ACCOUNTS
Myspace ring a bell? There is no need to hang on to old accounts that you do not use. If you have not logged into a site in the last year or so, you probably do not need to be a member. Taking time to delete your account may seem like a waste of time but it helps to keep your virtual world clean and helps reign in on your virtual presence. Old accounts are also more likely to be hacked because the passwords are not changed frequently, which can be dangerous, especially if you use the same password to access multiple sites. Take a few moments to remove yourself from sites you do not use.

I don't think the internet will ever run out of space, but having my virtual corner clean just makes me feel good :)