There are few household jobs as satisfying as a thorough spring clean. Once a year, we embrace our inner Stacey Solomon and all the hours spent watching Sort Your Life Out seem worthwhile when our cupboards are clutter-free, and our kitchen surfaces are sparkling.
But while a tidy house promises a tidy mind, it can be hard for our brains to feel clear if we don't also spring clean our devices, too.
We don't mean wiping our phones with an antibacterial wipe (but please, do that as well), but instead unsubscribing from newsletters we don't read, deleting apps we never use and unfollowing social media accounts that make us feel bad about ourselves.
© Getty ImagesIntroducing the digital spring clean
"A digital spring clean follows the same logic as a wardrobe clear-out," confirms co-founder of digital detox cabins Unplugged, Hector Hughes. "It invites you to tidy up what's on your phone and make it less distracting, which means you naturally spend less time on it."
He notes that when you've quietened down your phone, there is less pulling you back in, and the content on your phone feels more aligned to what you actually want to consume.
"A digital spring clean is about being more intentional with what you're letting in," Hector continues. "Your inbox can quickly become cluttered with brands trying to grab your attention, while each social media notification or email ping pulls you away from real life. Deleting the apps you haven't opened in months, unsubscribing from newsletters you don’t read and unfollowing the accounts you scroll past without ever actually enjoying them makes a real difference to how your phone feels to use."
Finding mental clarity
Mental clarity is a huge benefit of a digital spring clean, Hector explains: "Your brain processes every notification that comes through to your phone, even if you half-ignore it. It's a constant background distraction that most people don't notice until it's gone.
"Doing a digital spring clean reduces unnecessary distraction. Less coming in means less to react to. It can reduce overwhelm and help you use your phone with more intention."
© Getty ImagesImagine how much you could get done if every time you mindlessly picked up your phone, there wasn't an email you have no need to read, or a social media update from someone you've haven't seen in years – but feel compelled to acknowledge and maybe even screenshot and send to a friend… which then creates a whole conversation via WhatsApp or voice note, meaning you take ages to get back to what you were actually doing before the distraction pinged in.
How to do a digital spring clean
Follow Hector's advice for a digital spring clean – and prepare to feel serious brain space.
1. Clean up your home screen
"Delete the apps that you don’t use and hide the apps you use a little too much in a folder," suggests Hector. "If you can’t see the app when you open your phone, you’re less likely to open it by habit."
2. Change your notification settings
"Turn off notifications for distracting apps, such as social media, entirely," Hector advises. "By limiting your notifications on certain apps, you’re less likely to be distracted by your phone."
© Getty3. Unsubscribe from emails you don’t read
"Every time an email lands in your inbox, it’s a distraction," Hector cautions. "Unsubscribe from ones you don’t read or create folders for different emails to land in automatically."
4. Unfollow accounts
"If you don’t want to delete social media apps, unfollow accounts that don’t serve you anymore or don’t feel positive," Hector suggests. Without celebs you don't relate to or people you met on holiday once popping up on your feed, you'll find yourself scrolling far less – and enjoying the posts that do appear.
© Getty Images5. Sort your subscriptions
Losing track of the streaming services, fitness apps and health trackers you subscribe to (and pay for!) feels frustrating, but tracking them all down is forever falling down to the bottom of your to-do list. The Emma app shows all of your bills and subscriptions in one platform, helping you to cancel unwanted services, get price-hike alerts, and avoid unnecessary expenses - clearing your digital space and helping you save money.
Going cold turkey
If you want to do a total reset as opposed to a quick digital spring clean, a digital detox, which sees you lock your phone away for up to three days, could be the kickstart you need.
"Physically locking your phone away for three days can rewire your brain and reset your relationship with your phone," says Hector. "Phones are designed to keep your attention, and even people with the best intentions can get pulled back in. When your phone isn't there at all, you're not spending energy trying to ignore it and you get used to not picking up your phone out of habit."
Benefits of being away from our phones include better sleep, productivity and increased brain creativity. I tried a digital detox a couple of years ago, and even when my phone was locked in a little wooden box, I found myself looking for it during quiet moments for the first day.
© @wheresmollie / weareglobaltravellers.comBy the end of my stay, however, I didn't immediately turn my phone back on, wary of the barrage of texts, Slack messages, and emails awaiting me. The thought of all the correspondence felt overwhelming, and I realised my constant chatting with friends, 'just checking' Slack after work, and trying to get ahead of myself when it comes to emails, reading them during my commute, were likely causing overwhelm.
Since then, I've cleaned up my home screen (Instagram's ever-tempting icon has no place on my screen, I force myself to look for it, so I no longer mindlessly open the app), and I do daily email audits. If a marketing email is in my inbox, I unsubscribe immediately – and this way I know if the little red dot appears on my email app, it's likely something I actually need to see.
For a detox-lite, invest in the Brick device, £54. It's a physical item (a mini brick, hence the name, that fits in the palm of your hand) that blocks distracting apps on your phone, activated by tapping your phone on the device. Brick connects to a free app, where you choose exactly which apps you want to block when it’s activated. I tried blocking Instagram during work hours and WhatsApp while I'm out for dinner
Best of luck with your own digital spring clean, may your inbox be empty and your screen time be down.
