Contacts in our phones and computers are absolutely important. When we need to contact somebody, it is convenient to have their information nicely stored so that all we need to do is find, click and send. But let’s face it, stuff that we store on our phones/computers can become outdated, and because this information is not tangible anymore (gone are the days of the hard copy address books for most of us) they can easily get obsolete.
Think about it this way, your son is 24; you may not need his 4th grade teacher’s contact info anymore! If your dentist retired 7 years ago and you have a new dentist, you may not need your old dentist’s contact info (he is in Hawaii half the year anyways and most likely doesn’t want to hear from you!) These are just some examples of why we need to update and declutter our contacts.
People come and go in and out of our lives for various reasons and in various ways – if you haven’t had to contact someone for 5 years, the chances are high that you probably no longer need that person’s contact information. Decluttering our contacts can be refreshing in that once you are complete, you know you only have information that you will need and use. When our contacts grow too big, it forces us to scroll and scroll through a bunch of people that we most likely won’t be contacting -plus they are literally taking up needed space in our devices.
Another issue with contacts is the problem of DUPLICATES. As much as you love your friend Lucy, why do you have her saved 6 times in your phone in different incarnations – Lucy saved with just her email; then the same Lucy saved differently with just her phone number. How about Lucy saved with her mailing address but no other information – it’s too many Lucies! I don’t think I even need to say it but we must consolidate Lucy’s information into one contact. As I am writing this, I already know I personally need to do this ASAP!
As always, when you have a block of time, sit down with your contact list and start to edit, delete and consolidate (whatever needs to be done do it!) Check that you have everyone you need with all of their contact information written in. Also have the goal of getting rid of contact clutter – use the 5 year rule of “if I haven’t…then I probably won’t.”
Important side note – sometimes we save things in strange and inconvenient ways in our phones, this may apply for passwords. Ah, the good old password problem (which gives me a future newsletter idea for a decluttering of our passwords, but I digress…) Take the time to check how you have saved passwords and see if you can find better systems for this other than having multiple things saved under P such as Instacart Password, Aeroplan Password or Westjet Password. You may want to have these important passwords saved in a more efficient way so you can actually find them and they don’t remain lost in the ‘sea of P’ in your contacts (LOL).
Last but not least, have fun with this – later down the road it will more than likely save you time and energy.
Aside from helping with all of our decluttering needs, Avery hosts the Journey Into Yoga Podcast where she guides you through a different yoga pose each week explaining all that it has to offer the body and mind. Episodes and more can be found at averyrich.com. Check out this week’s show where Avery continues a journey through the postures found in a sun salute, moving to upward salute!
Avery Rich
Avery hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba, with a background in both law and yoga! As a long time Yoga Instructor, she hosts the Journey Into Yoga podcast, a show which explores and demystifies a different yoga posture each week. A true believer in creating space in our bodies through yoga, her Declutter U newsletter is designed to provide tips and tools on how to create more space in our lives by decluttering.
