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As a stay at home mom, believe me, I’ve got A LOT of spring cleaning to do. And on top of that, as a content creator, I have even MORE spring cleaning to do – digital spring cleaning, that is.
See, at the moment, I run my blog, an Instagram account, and a YouTube channel. And as fun as that all sounds, it’s also a lot of work.
So today I’m sharing a few different ways that us influencers and content creators can do a little spring cleaning to set ourselves up for success this season. Let me know what you guys think!
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Get Rid Of Digital Clutter
You know that show hoarders where people live in houses that are basically falling apart and they have stuff piled all over the floors and their entire homes are filled top to bottom with a bunch of clutter? That’s me in terms of my digital life. OMG you guys, I’m the worst. LOL ask anyone who knows me. I actually used to get made fun of so much at work because here I was working at an advertising agency managing other businesses’ social media accounts and my desktop looks like this:
This is my life guys. It’s bad. Like, real bad. But I promise you, I’m working hard to organize my life and get rid of the clutter.
As a content creator, it’s so easy to fall into the trap of digital clutter because almost everything we do resides in some form or another on our computers. Spring cleaning’s the perfect opportunity to change that, though.
Go through your files and figure out what you really need. Send everything else to the trash bin. Chances are, if you forgot you even had a file, you won’t ever need it again, so toss it and move on.
Once you determine what you actually need to keep, develop a system for it all. Create folders. Create subfolders. Create labels. And then do your best to stick with that system from here on out.
(BTW, here’s what my desktop looked like AFTER my digital spring cleaning. I deserve a round of applause, please!)
Make Space On Your Computer
There’s a special place in hell for this one annoying pop up box that I see on my computer at least once a week. “Your disk space is full…etc. etc. etc.” AKA, I get told on a very consistent basis that I don’t have enough room on my computer and that I can’t import the files that I need to work on.
I can’t explain to you the frustration.
When I’m in a rush, got stuff to do, and have deadlines to meet, the very last thing I need to be told is that I don’t have space to do my work. But I mean, with a desktop like the one I showed you before, how could I really expect anything different? It’s totally my fault.
So during this year’s digital spring cleaning, I decided to take matters into my own hands.
I downloaded a program called CleanMyMacX, hoping it would help me with my space issue.
Now I’ll be honest – I’m usually a little hesitant about downloading apps, but CleanMyMacX is a legit Mac cleaning app that does exactly what it says.
It’s goal is to make your Mac as good as new, and I absolutely loved how easy it was to use. It literally took me 5 minutes to run the whole program which is perfect for me because that’s pretty much all the time I’ve got with a toddler around.
(You can learn more about the program and the benefits of cleaning your computer from time to time here.)
Once you get started, the program will scan your computer for possible improvements. Here’s what my assessment looked like:
Again, I really appreciate the fact that this is ONE tool that helps clean up, speed up, AND protect your Mac. All the things you really need in order to make sure your computer runs properly, and as a content creator (and a mom), I really don’t have time for computer issues, ya feel me?
So once the program’s identified your possible improvements, you hit that “RUN” button at the bottom and within just a few minutes, it’s all taken care of! I had a bunch of cache stuff that CleanMyMacX helped me get rid of – I guess it was taking up space even though I still have no idea what cache actually is LOL!
And that’s it! All set from here. I was able to clear up 6+GB of space and that made me a happy camper. Now I just have to maintain it!
Go Through Your Memory Cards
I literally have like 5 or 6 different memory cards scattered throughout my home, so I did my best to find as many as I can. As a content creator, I’m sure you’re in the same boat – we’re always always always taking photos or shooting video and with that comes the many different memory cards we use, fill up, and then forget to wipe clean.
My problem is that I tend to leave like one or two photos that I want to eventually edit or one video on a memory card and since there’s still stuff on them that I need, I don’t delete all the files. I just toss them on my nightstand and then eventually, I have no idea where any of my files are or what footage is in which card.
OMG just typing that gave me anxiety.
So if you’re anything like me, take a few minutes while spring cleaning your digital life and go through ALL of your memory cards. Delete what you don’t need anymore, and what you DO keep, make some kind of record of it all so you know where to find it.
Update/Optimize Your Social Media Bios
This one’s fairly simple, thank goodness, but it’s something I recommend doing at least once a quarter and spring cleaning time is the perfect time to check this off your list.
Us content creators often get so busy creating actual content that we push some of this basic housekeeping stuff to the back burner and honestly, some of this housekeeping stuff is pretty important – like our bios and contact information on all of our platforms.
So if it’s been a while since you’ve checked out your accounts, open them up and look at your social media bios. I’m talking Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and even your blog about page if you have one. Anywhere where people can find you, make sure that your bio and contact info is up to date and optimized.
This is super important real estate, people, so we should be taking full advantage of that space to make sure we’re sharing a very clear message about who we are and why others should listen to us.
Delete or Refresh Old Posts
This is something that I always forget to do and it’s just the kind of thing that a little digital spring cleaning can help with.
I started my blog 7 years ago, guys, and I promise you, when I look back at some of those old blog posts, I want to cry. Like, they’re so bad LOL.
They’re either just straight up awful because I had no idea what I was doing back then, or the photos are terrible quality, or sometimes the blog posts themselves are just irrelevant.
Those are the posts you should look for every so often and when you find them, either get rid of them entirely or update them so they’re nice and fresh.
I mean, think about it? Why on earth do you want someone to randomly stumble upon a piece of content that doesn’t display your best work? Would you want a prospective client or a brand you’re trying to work with to find that subpar content? I don’t think so.
I used to hold onto blog posts for the longest time because I felt that I had spent time writing them and that deleting them would be like throwing away the hours of my life that I put into them. So if you’re hesitant to hit that delete button, I feel ya. But the reality is that you don’t have to display work that doesn’t serve you anymore. It’s okay. Like Marie Kondo says, if it doesn’t bring you joy (or in this case, if it doesn’t make you proud to look at), get rid of it! And then go on to create a much much better piece of content! Nothing wrong with that.
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So that’s it guys! Hope this helps you with your digital spring cleaning!
And if you’d like to try CleanMyMac yourself, click here to automatically download a free trial. I really think you’ll love it!
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