I don’t know about you, but few things drive me crazier than a cluttered desktop. It completely ruins my productivity and leaves me feeling super disorganized. Today I am sharing how to clean up and totally organize a super messy desktop in just a few steps (and also tips on helping keep it that way)!
- I like to start by deleting things I know I don’t need (screenshots, random notes to myself, photo duplicates).
- Next, I focus on the photos (since usually this is the most disorganized section of my computer!). I drag and drop all of the photos on my desktop into my pictures file of my computer. Later, when organizing these, if the photos aren’t from a specific event, I put them in folders called “Random Fall 2015” or “Random Winter 2016”.
- Once all of the photos are in order, I work on documents/PDFs. I tend to like my desktop pretty clean so the less that is on there the better! I typically have a few folders that sit on my desktop for easy access. On my (clean!) desktop right now, I have my blogging folder, two class folders for next semester, and a folder for Jobs/Events/Resumes (I have been applying for various scholarships and internships this semester so it is nice to have them right there and easy to find!)
- My next step (which isn’t technically considered the desktop!) is clearing out my downloads folder. It amazes me how many things that I don’t need just sit in there! If there is something in there I want to keep, I move it to an appropriate documents or photo folder.
Messy and Cluttered Desktop 🙁
Clean and Happy Desktop 🙂
Now that you have spent a good chunk of time organizing your desktop, the trick is actually keeping it clean. I have a few tricks and tips that will help.
- Create identifiable names for your files. This is especially helpful for photos!
- Immediately delete files that you know you do not need
- When creating documents, save them right away in appropriate files
- Rather than waiting long enough for your desktop to look like mine did before I wrote this post (oops..), try and clean it up once a week! This will make the task seem a lot less daunting and will make it quicker too.
- Use a sectioned wallpaper like the one below. You can download it here.
