How many files do you have cluttering up your computer’s desktop?  What about that app on your phone that was opened once two years ago and soon forgotten?  And just how many photos have you saved to the cloud?

It appears there is a tendency to ignore the clutter in our electronic spaces.  While a slew of books talk about the stress relief that comes from tidying up our physical belongings, should we also pay attention to our digital world too?  Some believe that with computer memory so cheap there is no downside to storing all our files and apps forever. What could possibly be wrong with this approach?

Writer Kelly Oakes argues in an article from earlier this year on the BBC’s web site that decluttering our digital world is just as important as cleaning up physical spaces.  Kelly writes:

“Emerging research on digital hoarding – a reluctance to get rid of the digital clutter we accumulate through our work and personal lives – suggests that it can make us feel just as stressed and overwhelmed as physical clutter. Not to mention the cybersecurity problems it can cause for individuals and businesses and the way it makes finding that one email you need sometimes seem impossible.”

Learn more by reading the rest of the article on the BCC – Future web site.