A Spot of Digital Housekeeping

This week after struggling to upload some photos to add to blog posts, I decided it was probably time to do a bit of digital housekeeping.  My netbook, which I haven't been using of late, due to the keys sticking, had approximately seven thousand photos on it, many of which are no longer relevant or necessary for me to keep and a good clear out was definitely needed.  OH had been nagging me for ages to do it, but I constantly put it off. 

Many of the photos were business related, items I've sold in the past and therefore I no longer need to keep them, and many others were blog related photos that I doubt I'll ever need to use again.  I did keep all of the family photos and most of the photos of house and garden, as it is often very interesting to look back and see how your home has changed over a period of time.  I found it interesting to look through these, as it did show just how much progress I've made as a result of decluttering attempts in the last couple of years, which was encouraging.  You often lose sight of how far you've come, especially when there's a long way still to go.

As already mentioned, many of the photos stored were from blogging; photos of things I might have bought on my travels, cooked or made.  Most of these have now been deleted, much to my pleasure and satisfaction, as I no longer have need of them.  Even if my blog suddenly disappears overnight, as has happened to some people over the couple of years I've been blogging, I don't think any of the deleted photos will be required again.  I did keep some photos of various makes, just for my own personal record and in case I want to pin any on Pinterest.

After a few days of doing what I could, when I could, I managed to work my way through clearing the bulk of my photo hoard and got it down to around 2000.  Having done this, I then began to create new folders to organise them in a way that makes them easily accessible.  I'm pleased to say that I have just about finished, so I can now continue to keep things organised as I go along, which is a very satisfying prospect.   I just need to create a couple more folders when my keyboard is working properly again, as certain of the letters that weren't working were essential for naming purposes.  I'll get there eventually.

Whilst on my digital decluttering crusade, I also decided to delete any old photos from my digital camera too, as I found when clearing the computer, many photos have been uploaded more than once because they were still on the memory card, which made the whole process even more lengthy and laborious.  In addition, I have cleared my memory stick of all but essential items and am currently sorting through and clearing recently added photos from Little Bird's tablet.  This is the final hurdle and I am doing it bit by bit each day.  It may take another couple of days to get everything in order, but I know it will be worth it. 

How do you keep your digital life organised?  Do you regularly clear out blog photos and other data after you have used them or like me do you let a whole hoard build up over time and then set about purging your machines?