Guiding Vision

Simplifying my Digital Life

Today I am starting a three part series on simplicity. It is difficult to have focus and live out a vision for life when there are so many things competing for our attention.

I spend hours online and at the computer every day since it’s my job. But often websites, social networks, instant news feeds or other “latest thing” is just a distraction. It can be the equivalent of junk food. So today I’m considering my digital diet and looking at what is really nutritious — fueling my business and even my soul — and what could be empty calories.

1. Email newsletters - Over the past few years as I’ve moved from complete newbie to more experienced several of the newsletters have outlived their usefulness. So I’ve been unsubscribing to all but the most essential ezines. Then there’s the online retailers that send me email promotions. If I just bought one thing from them and am unlikely to be back there’s no reason to stay on the list.

2. RSS feeds - I started this one last week while watching the first night of American Idol. I went through my Bloglines list and reviewed the feeds. There were several that had become inactive since I’d sub’d originally. Otherwise I just evaluated the content - was it truly unique and valuable? Quite a few didn’t pass the test. Now it’s down to 79 feeds from a high of 142.

3. Organizing Bookmarks - I spent just a few minutes organizing the folders in my internet bookmarks. I deleted a few and moved some folders around.

4. Sync Bookmarks - Since I use my laptop about half the time it’s important that the bookmarks on both computers are the same. I installed the foxmarks plug-in for Firefox and it syncs the bookmarks on both my PC and laptop. Very cool.

5. Fast Graphics - Snag It software makes taking screenshots and making web graphics so fast! I also use it when I need to explain something via email - as a picture is worth a thousand words. Just make a quick screenshot and email it out. Now I also have Snag It installed on the laptop too.

6. Online Logins - The more logins the greater the possibility for confusion. Unfortunately I have several different screen names but am trying to stick to one name and email now. That way when I forget my login I might be more likely to guess correctly. LOL.

7. Email Application - This one I haven’t quite tackled yet. I have about a dozen email addresses and use Outlook on my PC to read all of them. On my laptop I just use webmail which can be a waste of time since I have to go to multiple sites. So I need to install a catch all application on the laptop also, but am considering Thunderbird since I hear it’s faster.

So those are a few of the ways that I’m simplifying my digital experience. If you have any other suggestions, leave a comment below.