Organise your desktop - Tips to de-clutter your computer

Organise your desktop - How to de-clutter - Free Wallpaper Download + Gadget Freebies

Being consistently active on my computer, I tend to fill up storage fast . I found that throwing files on my desktop  and saying “  AH WHATEVS, i'll just sort it out later” Became a terrible habit. It got so bad, to the point that you couldn’t even see what was on my desktop, because all of the files were overlapping each other! I knew I had to make a change and told myself “Abbi  just organise your desktop” So I did .

You would think as a design i’d have a much more organised desktop but honestly , my brain is jam packed full of ideas and fun things  I want to get out . So basically my CLUTTERED desktop was a representation of my cluttered brain!

Things are different now obviously, as i'm much more focused and I know exactly what my goals are. I have an action plan in place and that has allowed me to focus on what’s important.

Alright so let’s break it down and discuss how I can help you organise your desktop, make it brain boosting and appear appealing.

GET RID OF THE VISUAL JUNK!

The first thing I did to De-clutter was write a list of everything I knew I would need on my desktop.

• Microsoft office | Word ,Excel , Outlook and Powerpoint
• Music/ Video | Itunes , Spotify , Quicktime and VLC
• Design | Adobe Creative Cloud, Ps , Ai , Dw
• Notes

I then head to my desktop, made a new folder called FILES and literally dragged everything from my desktop into it. I wanted my desktop to feel fresh, and by doing this it seemed less overwhelming (although I know it's purely psychological, lol all I did was move it from one place to another)

Alternatively you can get an external hard drive and drag everything to that! . (hey why not start fresh!?)

FOLDER THEM ALL

I feel that if I have saved anything to my computer at some point, then It must be important . I wouldn't go through the trouble of saving it if i didn't feel like I might need it . So the next step , As tedious as it may be , Is to put everything into folders and into more folders inside that folder. (sub-folder) Keep narrowing them down to create an archive . I find it much easier to organize my files by Date rather than by name . This way I know that if was was working on something in illustrator last Tuesday called “BRANDING WORK” and then went over to photoshop and created something called “DIGITAL WORK” but they are for the same project; they won’t appear next to each other If I organize the files by name.

Take a bit of time to decide how you want to organise your files, There are many ways to do it  so pick a way that you can consistently keep up with and what works for you .

Here are a few suggestions

• By file type ( example , all word documents in one folder)
• By Project
• By Name (ALPHABETISED, but honestly this I steer clear from . The last thing I remember is the names of all my files)

GET VISUALLY MOTIVATED

It’s completely clear that i’m motivated by bright action packed colours, as they inspire my creative thinking, and boost my brain activity. There are so many ways you can spruce up your desktop, and I personally love to create custom folder icons and custom backgrounds.  So that's what I did first!

Starting with that FILES folder, I gave it a cute and colourful  icon, then I was inspired to create a few more custom icons for my desktop too!

How to create a custom icon on a mac desktop

1. Create the image you want to use an icon
2. Open the image with preview
3. Hit ctrl+A to select all, then Copy
4. Head to file/folder you want to customise and right click
5. Select “get info”
6. Click the current icon in the top left of the “get info file”
7. Paste your new icon .

Next step is your desktop picture . You can create something sleek and simple , or just use a simple image and place your icons around the image . I personally respond well to my desktop being split into sections.  That way I can put different icons in different parts of the desktop while Keeping organisation.

Once you have your folders organised , Your desktop background and your (optional) custom icons  you have officially DE-CLUTTERED and organised your desktop!

Want to de-clutter your desktop with my wallpaper? You can download it now !

BUT Why only organise your desktop when you can organise your phone and tablet too!?

I have created a Wallpaper pack freebie just for you . *All Designs are hand drawn .

DOWNLOAD THE ORGANISED DESKTOP PACK

Disclaimer . Please do not reupload my wallpapers , sell or redistribute my work . This is a FREE digital download provided by Abbigayle Warner for stealstylist.com, and is protected under copyright laws

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FURTHER READING - FIVE TIPS TO HELP STREAMLINE YOUR NETWORKING

What steps are you taking to de-clutter your desktop?
Leave a comment below and let's chat