User Post: 8 Ways to Clean Up Your Digital World

When most people hear the words spring cleaning, it means cleaning out their house. Having always hated cleaning (and cooking too), my household spring cleaning involves only switching winter clothes to summer. However, being a technology and gadget lover, I use this time to give my digital world a spring cleaning.

What does that mean exactly? Here are 8 steps I am taking to clean up my digital world:

1. Bookmarks (Favorites for IE users) - I tend to bookmark every website I like. It doesn't take long for me to have so many that I forget about most of them. I go through each folder, look at each bookmark and see if I still want to keep it. I also check my folders and decide if I need to re-categorize anything.

2. Desktop - Do I have too many icons? If I don't need them there, I delete them.

3. Files - Do I have any downloads, documents, videos, pictures that I are taking up a lot of room that either I don't need anymore or that I can store elsewhere?

4. Email - I try to keep up with my email on a regular basis. I always read everything important and delete whatever I know I don't want to read. The problem lies with the email that I think I want to read but isn't very important. I don't delete them but never get around to them. Eventually they become so old they aren't relevant anymore so I try to go back and delete them from my inbox.

5. Add-ons - There are so many browser add-ons that can make everything you do on your computer easier or faster. I use many, but I know I am missing so many more because I don't take the time to look through them. I'm going to either go through them on my own, or search through all the great recommendations that many bloggers have made. Two of my favorites are Fastest Fox and Cool Previews, both for Firefox. I also just deleted a few that I did not find useful.

6. My blog - I could spend a month just cleaning up my blog, Connect with your Teens through Pop Culture and Technology. After three years of writing, I look back and the older posts look very different than the newer ones. They need to conform more. I also have to check for broken links and work on loading time

7. Gadgets - My iPad and iPhone are filled with way more apps than I use. There are so many free apps available that I figure, whats the harm of trying them out, but then never bother to delete them. This is when I clear out the apps I never use, so that I can find the ones I love.

8. Actual Cleaning - Computers and other tech gadgets are difficult to clean because you can't just use soap and water. I found a few cleaning solutions that work very well, Cyber Clean and Speck: CrispView.

Do you have any other ideas on how to clean your digital world? Please share.

Jennifer Wagner blogs at Connect with your Teens through Pop Culture and Technology and My Recommended Websites.