Since it’s in my nature to avoid all sorts of national days related to productivity — it seems like just last month that I was missing Clean Off Your Desk Day — I thought I’d talk to you about another one I accidentally missed. Clean Out Your Computer Day went by a couple of days ago, but it’s not too late to do something about it.
Here are some of things I’m doing today to clean out my computer today:
Running Maintenance Scripts
I’m on a Mac, so a system tuneup app like Onyx is ideal for this job. Your Mac runs scripts overnight that keep your system in working order, but it’s nice to run them manually if you don’t leave your machine on all the time. Some of these scripts only run once a month, so you should make sure to include those in a full cleanup. (Also, make sure you download the version of Onyx that matches your version of Mac OS.) If you’re on a PC, you should definitely run Disk Cleanup and defrag your hard drive!
Cleaning Up My HD
This one probably takes the most time and manual effort. That untamable documents folder is just sitting there waiting to be properly organized, and today is the day to man up (or woman) up and just do it. This has become a much easier task on my Mac since the introduction of Quick Look. No more opening up all those poorly-labeled Word docs to see what they are. … which brings me to another point: I should be labeling my files better to begin with, so I’ll be able to remember what they are when next year’s Clean Out Your Computer Day rolls around.
The other problem areas that need serious attention —for me, anyway — include my horrifying iTunes library and collection of seldom-used fonts. This stuff is taking up valuable hard drive space, and the fonts are only increasing the load time on my apps.
This would also be a good time to back up your hard drive if it’s been a while.
Cleaning Up My Browser
Time to see which of those bookmarks you still actually use, and which ones you can safely chuck out. Clearing cookies and caches isn’t a bad idea, either. How about those scripts, add-ons and themes? Still using all of them, or are they just slowing you down?
Literally Cleaning Up My Computer
Macworld has a great guide to cleaning up the physical stuff about your laptop, especially displays and keyboards. These tips aren’t Mac-specific, though, so feel free to apply them to whatever machine you’re cleaning.
Ahhh, doesn’t that feel better? Now, go get some work done on your freshly-cleaned machine!
Jay is a freelance writer based in Seattle, WA. He blogs about software for Download Squad and contributes interviews to The Morning News, among others. You can also find him on Twitter.
Photo Credit – twid
