Getting organized is the second most popular resolution under “losing weight” – but don’t just think about decluttering and cleaning up as a physical thing! It’s also something you should be doing in your technical life. Here are a few tips to keep your virtual self-clean, organized and effective in the New Year.

Spend Some Time With Your External Hard Drive

Is your computer sluggish? Are your programs and apps taking too much time to open? You probably need to move stuff off your computer and local hard drives over to an external drive. What? you don’t have one? Well, get one TODAY because they are a must have!

A few months I ago I was ready to throw my computer out the window – EVERYTHING took so long to load and anytime I wanted to do everything I got Apple’s infamous “spinning wheel of death.” If your computer is slow, take a look at these few (simple) areas you can clean up.

1)   Your photos: I had over 10,000 photos in my iPhoto – most of them not even good photos {blush}! I deleted hundreds of pictures and then moved all my “keepers” onto an external hard drive for safekeeping.

2)   Your mailbox application: How many emails are in your inbox right now? I think I’m pushing 13,000! While I wish I were one of those people who kept my inbox under control – but, I’m not. So every few months I have to go through and clean it up. Facebook notifications, old flash-sale notices, ezines, none of those are important 2two weeks later. Sort by sender and delete them all!

3)   Files: Think of files like the clothes in your closet, if you haven’t opened them in over a year, you probably won’t have cause to in the near future. Delete the ones that you KNOW you wont need, and move others to your external hard drive.

Tame Your Cords

I recently realized that I had 25 black cords that connect something to something shoved in a drawer. Considering we have about 5 digital cameras, 3 video cameras, an ereaders, 2 iPads, 2 iPhones, 2 iPods and uncountable amount of various other electronics in current rotation in our house it was understandable that I couldn’t find the charger I was looking for.  But with a few items, I’ve cleaned up or game a bit:

1)   Get a charging station: I recently got a Kanex Syndee and I LOVE LOVE LOVE how this changed our charging life. We can now charge 2 iPads and 2iPhones at night all at the same time. It’s also a super fast charger, so if I forget to charge my phone at night, I can plug it in and normally get a full charge by the time I need to leave. While this one is a little more pricey (but SO worth it), you can also get docking organizers at Target or combine bedside charging by getting a docking alarm clock.

2)   Tag ‘em up: I had been looking for an excuse to go crazy in the Martha Stewart aisle at Staples, and now I had one. With a variety of tags and boxes (all in MY COLOR) I was able to get things sorted out and looking cute.

Clean-Up The Look of Things

Nothing makes you feel organized more than to have things sparkly clean. Use the New Year as an excuse to get all your tech items up to code and looking fine.

1)   Computers: Turn everything off and gently wipe it down with a dust rag and/or products specifically tailored to cleaning electronics. If your “electronic-baby” has seen better days, trying sprucing it up with a new keyboard cover or decal.

2)   Phones: Take off the cover and clean gently. Use a q-tip and get the grease and gunk out of the ridges. Feel fresh with a new cover and/or screen shield for you phone. And get new ear buds. Think about how many times you’ve shoved the old ones in your dirty ears and spend the $30 on a clean new pair.

3)   Bag It Up: Take stock in your current computer bag. Love it and it’s still newish? Clean it out and trim lose threads or wash off scuffs. Has it seen better days? Shop around for a new bag or get a cute sleeve to turn any tote into a computer bag!

With these few things you should be off to a fresh-tech start to the New Year!