How I Tidy Up My Digital Workspace

A weekly “tidy” of two high-traffic areas—Mac desktop and the Downloads folder—can cut digital clutter fast and make the next work cycle feel immediately usable. The core idea is simple: treat these spaces like a physical desk or office. Because people spend more than 11 hours per day on devices, small routines that keep the most visible folders clean can deliver the same practical benefits as tidying in the physical world.

The routine starts with the desktop. Files accumulate there over the week, so the cleanup begins by opening Finder (via Command–N) and using a sidebar structure tied to the “para notebooks” organization system. Those folders—Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives—sit inside the My Documents folder and function as the long-term file system for everything the creator might need to reference later.

Each desktop item gets a quick decision pass. On macOS, selecting a file and pressing the spacebar brings up a preview, letting the user confirm whether it’s worth keeping. Many items are short-lived artifacts: screenshots saved for sharing on Twitter, tweets kept only “in the moment,” and failed experiments such as exporting Evernote notes to HTML or PDF. These are deleted with Command–Delete, sending them straight to the Trash.

Not everything gets removed. When a file supports an ongoing effort, it gets moved into the right place. For example, interview recordings for an online course are placed into the Forte Academy folder. Course slides get sorted into the appropriate course/version folder (sometimes the uploads folder). Assets used for the weekly review series—images and slide decks—are kept in the relevant project area. Home-loan paperwork is handled with a practical rule: keep the usable documents, but delete compressed duplicates like ZIP files, then move the originals into a “home buying” project folder for mortgage approval.

After the desktop is cleared, the same approach is applied to Downloads. The user opens Downloads side-by-side and sorts items by what they are and whether they’re already installed or still needed. A podcast promo graphic is dragged into Evernote by dropping the image onto the Evernote icon, creating a dedicated note. A DMG installer file is deleted after confirming it’s already installed. Contracts and collaborator documents are moved into the relevant project folder, while temporary icons and guide images are placed where they belong. A key finishing step is emptying the Trash—right-clicking Trash and choosing “Empty Trash”—which provides a satisfying sense of completion and ensures deleted files don’t linger.

The result is a “fresh” desktop and a clean Downloads folder, ready for the new week, with files either discarded quickly or routed into Projects, Areas, Resources, or Archives so they’re easier to find later.