Technical self-care for the new year: a guide

Was the term “self-care” invented by the beauty-industrial complex to sell more bath bombs? Maybe, but that doesn’t mean that setting aside time to take care of yourself every once in a while is a bad idea. This also applies to the technology in your life.

Are you pretending you don’t see a mouse’s nest of cables behind your desk? Does the triple unread email notification bug you every time you look at your home screen? Or has the once clear phone case turned a dark shade of yellow? Look, I’m not here to embarrass you. But maybe it’s time to take a look at the technology you use every day to see where a little effort could go to fixing things. If you’re looking for somewhere to start, you’ve come to the right place. (Unless you’re looking for bath bomb recommendations – can’t help you there.)

I speak from experience when I say that these dumb little cable clips from Amazon can make a world of difference to your desk. If you too are constantly untangling cords or fishing them off the floor when you need to plug something in, please meet my god and savior: cable management. This set comes in a variety of sizes, all with non-harmful adhesive on the back. Stick one to the side of your desk and you’ll have a place to tuck your cables away when you’re not using them.

Before you are caught off guard by dead batteries in your devices, check them ahead of time. This voltage controller costs $5.99 and comes with the benefit of not needing a battery itself. Give your future self the gift of not scrambling to replace the batteries in your wireless mouse before an important meeting.

If you get nothing else from this guide, just do yourself a favor and buy a gosh dang can of compressed air. You won’t believe the crumbs I can pull out of the keyboard or the corners of the phone case. If you’re cleaning your laptop, make sure you turn it off first – we have more guidance here. In fact, now is the time to dust off the old dust cloth as well and get to work. It’s a good idea to make sure the area where your electronics are plugged in is free of dust.

While you’re at it, grab a microfiber cleaning cloth and a cleaning spray too. Take a minute to clear the screens in your life – phone, car, TV, anything you watch a thousand times a week. Just make sure you’re using the right tools for the surface; leave the Windex in your closet and get this $12.95 cleaning kit and microfiber from Calyptus. it’s eve approved by the photo editor, so you know it’s legit.

Now that your phone screen is spotless, take a good, hard look at your home screen. Maybe you’re like me and start out with good intentions of putting apps in folders and then at some point you abandon the whole rant, just letting them pile up on page after page of pure chaos. This could be a whole guide in itself, but here are some quick tips to de-clutter your home screen:

Oh, and one last bit of self-care? Just delete those 30,482 unread emails. If someone gets angry about it, remind them of it texting is the new email and they should just text you next time.