Technology, whether you like it or not, is here to stay. unfortunately, technology can be baffling. It takes time and feat to understand. It can get expensive. We can spend as much prison term investing into engineering as we actually save from using it. And without intentionality, the dateless avocation of the latest and greatest gadgets can be a bootless enterprise .
On the other hand, technology offers countless benefits: the ability to stay connected, the ability to communicate to a far broader audience, the ability to solve building complex problems, the ability to save time, and the ability to clear some physical clutter from our lives .
For those of us who hate physical clutter, consider these 15 ways that technology can help clear clutter from our homes:
1. Photos.
While many of us enjoy our physical photograph arranged in photograph albums and scrapbooks, few people have estimable systems for storing physical photos. fortunately, a elementary software program such as Iphoto or Adobe Photoshop Elements not only store your photos digitally where they can never lose quality, but offer a wide range of options for sorting them. Without the good equipment, the serve of converting physical photos to digital files can be time-consuming. But, for a fee, services such as ScanDigital will do it for you .
2. CDs.
even the smallest of MP3 players ( 8GB ) memory approximately 1,500 songs in their memory, somewhere around 150 CDs – that ’ s a distribute of ledge space that can be replaced by one device that fits well in your air pocket. And MP3 players can easily be played on any audio system that allows for an aide input .
3. DVDs.
Less and less homes these days are showcasing DVDs. For starters, Blu-Ray players have replaced DVD players in both timbre and functionality. But more importantly, companies such as Netflix stream such a large assortment of movies and television receiver shows on requirement that keeping all those DVDs on the ledge is no longer necessary. And what about all those movies that you ’ ve already purchased on DVD ? DVD-Burning software ( such as Handbrake ) promptly eliminates any reason to keep the physical DVDs cluttering up your populate room .
4. Contacts / Address Books.
The contact information of commercial enterprise associates, extended family, and erstwhile friends used to fill address books, rolodexes, and the margins of call books. But this is no long the casing. Every computer nowadays provides opportunity to digitally store the information of even your most-obscure acquaintance .
5. Yellow Pages / White Pages.
Depending on the residential district you live in, those Yellow Pages may be taking up far more quad than you prefer. But yellowpages.com contains all the same information… providing an invaluable opportunity to clear up some space in your junk drawer .
6. Maps.
Maps come in a variety of forms : atlas, fold-up, handwritten directions. today, GPS devices come standard on about all smart-phones ( Iphone, Blackberry, etc. ) and even some vehicles. For those of you who don ’ t use a Smartphone, a simple GPS device can distillery replace all those maps taking up space in your baseball glove compartment .
7. Cookbooks.
Cookbooks may be among the hardest hit by the holocene explosion of free websites and ebooks. The number of photograph in physical cookbook is hard express by price, size, and opportunity. But on-line, recipes are not limited by the same restrictions. As a result, not only can countless photograph be used to guide the cub chef through the fudge process, but illimitable videos can besides be used to answer any questions. An entire ledge of cookbooks in your kitchen can quickly be replaced by a few keystrokes on your computer .
8. Books.
Ebook readers ( Kindle / Nook ) have exploded in popularity and digital books now outsell physical books on Amazon. While reading books on a screen may never replace the actual feel of flipping pages in your world, it surely provides a golden opportunity to lower your monthly book budget and conserve space on your bookshelf for only the books you urgently need to keep .
9. Newspapers/Magazines.
EBook readers offer newspaper and magazine subscriptions ( Kindle subscriptions / iPad subscriptions ) to some of the most popular industry journals. This means, of course, fewer periodicals cluttering up your home or office… and more trees standing in the afforest.
10. Sticky-Notes.
ever wish person would create a product that could replace all those sticky-notes and abrasion pieces of paper laying around your home and office ? indeed did the creators of Evernote. And while it may take a bit of effort to figure out how to use, it ’ randomness surely not more feat that sorting through a stack of yellow-sticky notes every time you need to find a note .
11. Cameras (Still/Video).
With the ever-increasing quality of cell-phone cameras, the need to carry a simple point-and-shoot television camera is far less authoritative today than it was even 1-2 years ago. Skilled photographers will even use their advance equipment to capture photograph far better than cell telephone photographers. But for those of us who fair want to be able to capture life ’ south unpredictable moments in the blink-of-an-eye, the camera lens on most cell phones does the trick .
12. Cable TV.
There are new products entering the market about every calendar month that make cutting the cable in your home that much easier. Products such as Netflix, Apple TV, and Google television are offering more and more television programs than always before. And while dropping cable television receiver from your home may not clear much physical clutter, the savings of $ 50-60+/month will surely clear up some outer space in your checkbook .
13. Landline Phone.
With more and more people choosing to rely entirely on cell phones, only 49 % of american households use a land line phone ( that is down from 97 % in 2001 ). People all over the earth are making the switch from land line to cell-phone coverage only. After all, why send money to two different telephone companies when you can only talk on one at a clock time ?
14. Computer Data Storage.
Computer workstations and office drawers used to be home to floppy disks… 3.5in disks… CDs… and external hard drives – all for the purpose of storing more and more data. But now, office drawers are beginning to empty again as more and more people choose to store their data in the overcast using detached services such as Dropbox. not only does Dropbox keep data condom from open fire and flood, it stores it in a place accessible from anywhere .
15. Calendars.
Oh certain, nothing may always in full replace the family calendar posted on the inside of your pantry water closet doorway, but the Calendar functions and the synchronize abilities across platforms ( desktop computers, cell phones, and on-line ) of computer devices sure helps the digital storage of your appointments give that old calendar a good run for its money .
now I know full-well that the use of engineering is a personal decision. Some people will never replace their physical books, magazine subscriptions, or favorite cookbooks. People lived their lives free from clutter for thousands of years without the technology available to us nowadays .
But with the late advancements in both the functionality and intuitiveness of technology there are identical real opportunities available to us to unclutter physical clutter by using it. And if that ’ s the case, I ’ m in !
