I Tried the "One Touch" Rule to Keep My Digital Clutter at Bay
Over the holidays I decided to commit to spending a few hours doing a massive digital declutter. I got rid of old contacts in my phone, unfollowed some accounts on Instagram that were no longer serving me, and deleted apps that I hadn’t been using for who knows how long — and I ended up saving myself $120 a year because I no longer need to keep buying extra iCloud space to store all of that.
But the most tedious task (it took the better part of the three-hour process) was deleting photos and videos — and there were a lot of them. I noticed that screenshots especially were taking up a large share of my photo storage space, and I deleted nearly 3,000 in total (yes, really).
As with any organizational project, you can get a lot done during a major decluttering session — but unless you have smart systems in place, you’ll just end up right back where you started. So in order to continue enjoying a nicely organized phone with ample storage, I committed to following organizational expert and founder of Organize Every Room, Cara Palmer’s, “one touch” rule over the past month or so when it comes to photos — and it’s changed my phone organization entirely.
What Is the “One Touch” Rule?
When I was decluttering my phone, Palmer suggested applying the “one touch” rule to my photos. The rule says that the second you take a screenshot on your phone, you immediately sort it into the proper album, share it, or delete it if you’ve gotten the information you need and don’t need to keep it. “Think of your phone like a busy desk,” Palmer says. “Things take longer to find and process when it’s cluttered.” And organizing your photos as you go can save a ton of accumulated time down the line.
The idea is that instead of collecting screenshots in my general folder, or recipes I’ll maybe someday cook, or DIY projects that I might get to one day if I ever buy a Cricut, I’m organizing them in a way that actually lets me come back to them later rather than letting them get lost among my photos or take up space.
While the “one touch” rule works wonders for helping keep digital clutter at bay, you may also have heard the phrase applied to an organizational method for keeping the rest of your home in order. This version of the rule means that you put away every piece of clutter right away, rather than setting it down halfway through.
Whether you’re handling digital or physical clutter, the “one touch” rule encourages you to reduce the amount of times you have to revisit the task, which saves yourself a lot of time and disorganization in the long-run.
How the “One Touch” Rule Is Helping Me Keep My Phone Organized
The “one touch” rule coincides with my favorite organizational ethos, which is that it’s easier to keep things tidy when everything has a place. While I have some pretty good systems in place at home, I was lacking this kind of organization in my phone.
When I was going through my screenshots, I noticed some patterns in the types of photos I was saving. So now, I have folders set around those themes so that I can quickly sort these photos. Instead of having a broad “recipes” category, I have more specific categories to help me find what I’m looking for more quickly — like “high-protein breakfasts,” “party apps,” “dinner ideas,” and “cocktails.” My husband and I are in the process of furnishing and decorating our new home, so I’ve also got photo folders for design ideas broken down by room.
Interestingly, I’ve found that the “one touch” rule has also made me much more intentional when it comes to what I screenshot, as I know I’ll be responsible for sorting it right away.
The rule has also helped me keep from receiving the dreaded “iCloud storage is full” notification I couldn’t escape before. If your photo album looks anything like mine did, there are 20-plus photos snapped within a minute, with all the photos appearing to be almost identical. A new habit I’m working on is “hearting” the best of the best and deleting the rest of the photos so that the next time I declutter my phone I don’t have to spend so much time poring over old pictures.
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