At Home with Tech

I am embarrassed to reveal what is supposed to be a box of ‘organization’ for my tech. And believe me, this is not the end of it. The good news is there are ways to beat back your digital mess. I’ve got some tips to keep your zeroes and ones in order…

Don’t let the cold spring rain dampen your intentions to get your tech better organized. It’s a perfect time to tidy up. Just because your digital files don’t take up a lot of physical space doesn’t mean they’re not cluttering up your life!

Here are my five tips to help you fight the battle…

1.
Delete Half of Your Email
Have you lost an important email recently? If so, I bet you’ve got too much hanging around.

Let’s face it… you don’t need to hold onto most of your personal email. Much of it is probably unwanted marketing messages anyway.
(Usually from companies you naively gave your email address to in the first place)

And if you’ve got thousands of unread emails stacked up, that’s also a sign it’s time to thin out your in-box.

My favorite way to keep the job manageable is to simply sort by sender, select huge email chunks, and then delete away.
Don’t be shy…
(And it feels so good!)

2.
Organize Your New Family Photo Files at Least Once a Week
There’s really only one way manage the hundreds of photos you’re likely snapping a month:

• You’ve got to regularly go through them on your computer and organize them into content buckets.
• And to be really effective, you’ve got to delete the mediocre pics.
  (They’re never going to get any better!)

I think rolling up your sleeves once a week should do it.
Here are a few tips on getting the task done.

3.
Buy a New Memory Card for Your Camera
Have you realized that SD cards have become so inexpensive?

Case in point:
On Amazon, I found this
SanDisk 32GB Ultra Class 10 SDHC UHS-1 memory card for $6.79.

Originally, the magic of digital photography was the mind-blowing concept that it didn’t cost you anything to snap a photo. You’d just delete the older photos on the card and your camera could keep on going… forever.

But no matter how much memory your card’s got, it does eventually run out of space.
(Especially if you like recording videos)
Because who’s really got the time to pay attention to how many MBs are left?

It takes some ongoing effort to delete the hundreds and sometimes thousands of photo and video files… unless you want to simply clear the whole card and start over.

I don’t know about you, but time is always something I need more of…

Have you ever found yourself struggling to quickly delete the old photos off your camera’s SD card right before you want to capture a priceless moment?
(It’s maddening.)

So here’s a radical concept…

• Don’t try to keep up with your nearly filled memory card. When it’s time, just replace it.

It’s okay to buy new SD cards every so often to make sure your camera is ready for action. Sure, that’s a bit wasteful, but it’s not like having a tiny stack of old SD cards lying around is going to mess up the house.

Plus, SD cards don’t last forever. So it’s probably a good idea to recycle out the older ones every couple of years.
(You really don’t want to wait until a card with priceless photos turns into an unreadable plastic square.)

4.
Update the Software on Your Computer
Pop Quiz:
How often have you dropped what you’re doing to comply with this message on your screen: “Updates Ready to Install.”

Exactly.

Nobody wants to take the time to update your software. But you’ve got to do it!

I’m not saying you should be the first to install an update.
(That can also lead to problems…)

But if you wish to keep your computer healthy, updated software should be part of your plan…

5.
Get Rid of Your Old VHS Tapes
If you haven’t yet converted all that old content off your dusty tapes into digital files, it can’t be that important.
VHS is dead tech. Let it all go…

Enough said.

Bonus Tip!
Remember that new piece of tech you recently bought?
Register it online now, while you still know where the receipt is!
You don’t want to lose out on the manufacturer’s warrantee…

The Endless List
If you’ve got all of these digital projects already handled, congratulations.
(You must not be the parent of young children.)

So let me throw one more task onto your ‘to do’ list.
Are you caught up on making all those photo albums you’ve been meaning to create online?

Uh huh.

Get to work…!