Last week I did something incredibly stupid: I attempted to make changes to my computer’s partitions without first backing up my data. Something went wrong and it wiped out nearly 20GB of data.
Ouch.
Luckily for me, I had backed up most of my major files a few weeks beforehand and also made copies on my work computer. I also managed to recover a lot of my deleted files (free software PhotoRec was a lifesaver), but, and this is the major but, this sudden major deletion of my files made me realize just how much of it I didn’t really need.
It reminded me of something I read on 43Folders’ War on Clutter from the book It’s All Too Much
The things you own are a distraction to getting started on the right path. The key to getting — and staying — organized is to look beyond the stuff and imagine the life you could be living. Put most simply: It’s about how you see your life before all else.
Since I’ve deleted the digital clutter off my hard disk, I’ve spent less time on my computer. Freeing up my digital space has also made me feel lighter and look towards getting new resources that serve me rather than hold me. What are you holding on to in your own life that you don’t need anymore?
P.S. Want to de-clutter your stuff too but in a way far less traumatizing than mine? Read Lifehacker’s Top 10 Ways to De-clutter Your Digital Life.
August 1st, 2007 at 2:35 am
I’ve just reformatted my computer – I did back up beforehand though. I was going to transfer my back up onto my machine – but after reading this I’ve decided to start afresh. I’ll just import something as and when I need it – everything else can sit on the backup archive. I’m sure I’ll actually need to import only a small percentage of the stuff on the backup.
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:20 am
monliracelac