Decluttering the Virtual Desktop

Well, thanks to TMI Tuesday, I know that today is “De-Clutter Your Virtual Desktop Day.” There really is a day for everything.

Back in the corporate working life I used to have, I organized my desktop at the office every couple of months – moving files, deleting icons, reconfiguring everything for the cleanest possible look. I had so much to do in any given day and the only way to make it happen was to stay as organized as possible. So while co-workers were leaving early on Friday afternoons, I was keeping the virtual and very real desktop neat and organized.

As a freelancer? Yeah, not so much. Once in the past 18 months have I done anything that seems vaguely organize-y. I backed up my files to my Google Drive. Aaaaaand, that was it.

And for my phone? Well, I can’t stand to have a million home pages to scroll through, so I definitely use folders, but I only clean up apps when I get a new phone – so every two years or so.

This de-cluttering thing probably isn’t a bad thing. So let’s look at the TMI Tuesday questions and (even better) let’s get organized! (Gawd, I’m such a nerd, lol.)

1. Desktop Screen

Question: How many icons do you see?

Answer: 30 icons

Question: What 5 icons can you remove immediately?

Answer: 3 random PDF files that I saved to the desktop before emailing (I’m not even sure what they are anymore) an eBay icon (where the fuck did that come from?), and some random folders that were created as shortcuts that I never use.

Question: Any sexy pic folders or porn clipping folders on that desktop?

Answer: You would think the answer would be yes considering that I talk about sex every day. But in reality, no. I keep that on lockdown. It’s an old, leftover habit from the days when I used my company laptop for all my erotic writing and sex blogging stuff. Nothing was kept where it could be easily found. Now, I keep everything on the hard drive, but it’s not easily accessible from the desktop.

2. Smartphone Screen

Question: Do you have one home page or more?

Answer: I have one main home page screen and a second page of newly downloaded apps that I haven’t organized into existing folders…yet.

Question: How many barely used widgets/apps/icons could you remove from your home screen right now?

Answer: Three, and they all came with the latest iOS update.

Question: What are the apps you’re removing?

Answer: News, Find Friends, and Find iPhone (yes, I should probably keep it but if I don’t have my iPhone near me, I’m probably dead and won’t need that app).

3. Are your sexy videos and pictures organized on your computer?

No sexy videos on my computer. They’re all on John Brownstone’s computer or on one of his special hard drives.

Pictures are scattered throughout. Some are on DropBox. Some are on Google Drive. Some are in the special Kayla Lords “Pictures” folder on my computer. Clearly, I’m not as organized as I’d like to be, and I (might) have way too many pictures.

4. If you were to get really organized with your icons, what method would you use? 

On my phone, it’s all organized by what they do for me: social media, life, productivity (Google Drive, DropBox, EverNote go here), Games, Health, Pics and Videos.

On my computer, it’s all done by folders: Documents, Pictures, Videos, etc. – none of which are on my desktop. Within each folder, I have subfolders and some of the subfolders have subfolders. In my “Kayla Lords” folder, there are other folders for each company I work with or each book I’m writing or whatever. Under Pictures, there’s a “Kayla Lords” folder that’s filled with different folders for the blog, memes, boobs, you name it. The desktop might not have a lot going on, but damn it, I have a million and one folders, all to keep things organized.

Bonus question! Five apps I can’t live without:

Fuck. Only five??

Hmmmm, they’re all on my phone: Facebook (vanilla only), Twitter, Tweetcaster (for my Kayla Lords Twitter account), Diamond Dash (game), and Tumblr.

My laptop is for work. My phone keeps me connected at all times.

Okay, now that was a big ole TMI Tuesday!