Minimalism is all about removing clutter from your life in order to use your time, energy, and space for the things that are truly important. It simplifies your day-to-day life, allowing you to live with intention and to prioritize your personal values.
While the lifestyle is often understood in a physical sense, such as in home interior design, it is still possible to apply the mindset in other aspects of your life, including digitally. In fact, it’s recommended. After all, it’s likely that you have a ton of emails, notifications, apps, and outdated files cluttering your digital life, which can stress you out without even realizing it. Plus, not being aware of the state of your digital space can potentially leave you open for privacy concerns and issues.
Decluttering your digital life and ensuring your own privacy will help you take better control of your online presence and security. To that end, here are some habits you should start building to help you create a safe and intentional digital space for your needs:
1) Store Digital Assets Securely
Technology is ever-evolving, and now digital currencies and online transactions have become an incredibly prominent part of the digital world. Investing in cryptocurrency can be a great way to diversify your investment portfolio and build wealth in the future. But it’s also crucial to ensure that any cryptocurrencies and assets you have are stored properly.
For example, if you invest in Monero—a cryptocurrency known for its strong privacy protocols—you can store them in a Monero wallet with features that protect transaction history and personal identity. Being able to handle these types of investments in one safe, yet convenient location will prevent digital clutter, disorganization, and even safety risks from accumulating.
2) Use a VPN for Everyday Browsing
A VPN, or virtual private network, masks your online presence by encrypting your internet connection and routing it through a secure server. It ensures secure internet access and online anonymity.
If you want to keep yourself extra safe online, using a VPN can protect you and your data by masking your IP address and blocking tracking by third parties. This is especially useful if you regularly use public Wi-Fi while out and about, but you can also use it every time you access the internet to give yourself some peace of mind and clarity while surfing the web.
3) Clean Out Your Apps, Programs, and Files
Digital clutter often starts with the apps and programs you have in your devices that you no longer need. Start by going through your phone, computer, and/or tablet, and delete anything unnecessary. These can be old gimmick apps you’ve forgotten about, games that you no longer play, or one-time downloads that you haven’t touched since. Many of these apps and programs collect data, even when unused, so clearing them out helps limit exposure of your personal information.
It’s also important to remove any unnecessary files. Old photos, outdated downloads, and documents you no longer need can all be deleted to help you save some storage space on your devices. A good rule of thumb is that if you haven’t opened anything in the last six months, you likely don’t need it anymore.
4) Keep Everything Updated
While updates mainly add features, they’re also done to patch up any security issues in the previous version. By putting off updates, you may be more at risk of hackers getting into the software or device.
The best way to solve this is by downloading updates as soon as they release, or enabling automatic updates so that you don’t have to think about them yourself. Downloading updates as soon as possible will prevent any pesky notifications from clogging up your device, making it much cleaner and more organized.
5) Make Sure Your Passwords are Secure
Using the same password for every account is an all too common security mistake. While it certainly is convenient, since you don’t have to worry about remembering dozens of different passwords, it also makes your entire online presence easy to access by hackers and intruders. Once they’ve guessed the password for one account, it’s likely they’ll be able to get into many more.
The best way to keep yourself safe without having to keep track of every single password is by using a password manager. These programs can store and encrypt all of your passwords, allowing you to easily access your accounts without compromising your safety. Password managers can also generate new, secure passwords with complex combinations of letters, numbers, and special characters, so that you can have a unique and safe one for each account.
Keeping Your Mind at Peace and Your Digital Life Secure
Minimalism is a mindset that can trickle down into every part of your life, including your digital presence. If you’ve chosen to adopt this philosophy, you’ll want to make sure your digital home is just as safe and simple as your physical home by securing your online accounts and using the right safety tools while keeping your setup minimal and efficient. Your effort to declutter your digital spaces and adopt the right privacy habits will result in more clarity, security, and peace of mind—all of which prove that in this instance, less is really more.
