Spring Geeking

Sunny weather and warm temperatures trigger in me an uncontrollable cleaning reflex. After I throw open the windows, turn up the music, and dust my baseboards, it’s time to clean out every kitchen drawer. And then I tackle the closets.

I know I’m not alone. But after all the around-the-house cleaning chores are complete and your house smells like an orange Swiffer cloth, make time to do a little spring geeking, too! While you’re in the mood to alphabetize your nail polish collection, why not tidy up the bits and bytes, too? Here are some ideas to get you started.
 
Zero Out Your Inbox
When I say “zero,” I mean as close to empty as possible. An inbox shouldn’t be a to-do list or a catch-all filing cabinet.

As for how much email should keep, here’s a hint: If you have to sort by name and/or date to find something, start purging. I try to keep my inbox down to about 10 emails at a time, but I’m kind of obsessed like that. 

Many of you are likely using Outlook at work, so take advantage of the folders and subfolders you can create. If you’re worried that your company will auto-delete those files after a certain amount of time, contact your IT department and ask for help with permanent file archiving.

You may think I’m crazy, but I promise zeroing out is not that painful. Sit down at your work inbox (and after that, your personal account) and start trashing email you don’t need and filing the ones you do into a folder to reference later. And give yourself plenty of time because I’ve seen this process take even the most focused gal several hours. Trust me, though! It’s worth it!
 
Put Your Desktop on a Diet
Can I just tell you how much my heart hurts when I see a gal’s desktop and it looks like the Word doc fairy got drunk with a bunch of PowerPoint presenters and they threw up on each other? If that description conjured up a mental picture of your own Dell or MacBook desktop, it’s time to drag and drop.

Just as your inbox is not a to-do list, your desktop is not a library. How many drafts of that memo do you really need to keep anyway?

The solution: create folders for drafts, memos, docs from others, etc. It’s fine to keep them, but just keep them organized. Once you have folders in place, create desktop shortcuts for easy access. 
 
Consider an e-Reader
When you buy an e-reader like the Amazon Kindle (I love mine!), you can purchase just about any book you’ve ever imagined, read it whenever you like, and never have to worry about storing, dusting, or alphabetizing it. Plus, it’s a move toward greener living!

If you’re in a small apartment or are just tired of the clutter, an e-reader is a real space saver. Our place is really tiny, so not having a bunch of books around actually helps quite a bit. When we cleaned out recently, we kept the sentimental books, but the rest we took to the library or sold on amazon.com. Now, when there’s a new bestseller or timeless classic we can’t live without, we boot up our Kindles. It saves trees and precious space — what more could you ask for?
 
Find an App for That
Just about everyone I know has an iPhone or iPod Touch. You may love yours for the Facebook application, games, and cool factor, but there are actually a lot of purposeful apps out there that can make your life easier and more productive. 

For example, for gals trying to conceive, there’s the BabyMed app (free) by BabyMed.com. It tracks your cycle and ovulation date, and it even suggests the best days to do the deed. Once your bundle arrives, you’ll want the Total Baby ($4.99) app by Darren Andes, which helps you track diapers, nursing, sleeping, bathing, even vaccinations. And those are just for gals in the maternal state of mind. Pick any area of your life that needs a little streamlining and organization, and I’m sure there’s an app out there.

Apple actually has a great Web site to navigate your way through the 140,000 available apps, from cooking to kids to managing your money. Check it out at apple.com/iphone/apps-for-iphone and see what’s out there!

Now get to geeking, and happy spring!