Always be curating new files. Whether we’re managing photos, (legally) downloading songs or starting a movie project, it’s easy to get lost in the plethora of files being created on our computer everyday. These files can build up over time, even long after we no longer need them. The trick to managing storage is being organized, know where files go after they’re downloaded or created. Have a good folder system going so new files are always being filed away. When it comes time to delete or back up data for more storage, we could simply move the entire folder instead of going through individual files.

Limit browser storage. Our browser is always backing up elements of the sites that we visit to enhance the web experience, the more it backs up the faster we browse the web. With the media heavy websites today, these “temporary” files can build up and take a good chuck of memory in our computer. We keep these files in check by clearing these files regularly. We also set a maximum limit for the browser to store these files. Usually these settings can be found under the Options or Preferences menu of the browser.

Back up, back up, back up. Getting an external hard drive is the basics of freeing up space on a computer, but it’s important to actually back up regularly. Having a good file structure could make this process a lot easier. Set up an automated solution like Time Machine or other software can make this process quick and painless. This also allows us to get rid of those important files on our local drive that we don’t always need to have with us. We regularly back up photos, music and movies that we’ve worked on and purge them from our local drive.

Turn off/restart the computer. Whether it’s a Mac or a PC, the OS usually backs up the documents and files is being worked on in case of any mishaps. Similar to browsing data, this can build up quickly on a computer. We found that by restarting our Mac once in a while, we recover about 1-2GB of storage space. Turning off the computer and letting it rest also has the advantage of saving energy by limiting electricity draw from the standby mode and improving the computer’s performance by clearing its RAM.

The Cloud is our friend. With so many cloud services for music and movies available, there isn’t much reason for us to keep physical media on our computer anymore. For the music lovers amongst us, services such as Spotify, Rdio or many others give you access to most of the music ever created in the world for a small fee or even free. For the TV and movie buffs, check out the perenial favorites such as Netflix and Hulu, the major streaming services are even creating their ownoriginal content. And with the growth and development of web tools such as Google’s services to Microsoft Office’s effort to “cloudify” themselves, soon we may not even need all those pesky programs taking up valuable storage. For the anti-Google fans, check out Lifehacker’s list of Google alternatives.

What are your tips and tricks for keeping your files from taking over your storage? Share with us in the comments below!
By Eric Chen

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

The statistic/infographic geniuses over at Hunch polled their readers and discovered 72% of their readers keep their computer desktops tip-top and tidy, an impressive figure considering the average person’s desktop looks like someone spilled mahjong tiles. What was even more interesting was the conclusions they came to with their desktop organization findings, which may or may not apply to Unplggd readers, but gives insight about how we organize our virtual workspaces. Key findings include:

*Men are more likely to have neat desktops, but are also apt to have too many icons on their desktop (a no-no, since it slows down OS performance).

*The older you are, the more apt you are to have a messy desktop. 12% of those belonging to the 35-49 age category had a mess on their computer.

*The more education and more liberal you are, the more likely you are to have a messy desktop. Hunch’s readers tend to skew to the left, as noted in their findings, but it makes sense those who are more conservative and like order would have neater desktops.

*Those who live in urban areas have desktops that reflect their environment: “…users with messy desktops are 42% more likely than those with neat desktops to live in an urban environment.”

*No surprise, neat freaks like ourselves, have desktops that reflect their overall neat and organized tendencies. Neat types also tend to own and use external hard drives.

*Work for yourself? Your desktop is 5% more likely to be messier than the average.

*Math geeks and the scientifically minded have an irrational tendencies to chaos on their desktop, 12% more so!

*And finally, those with neater desktops place their personal priority of overall quality of life over the importance of professional work (well, maybe because the messy ones are still trying to find files while us neat freaks are quicker to find what we need!).

By Gregory Han

[Go over to Unplggd to do their desktop survey. I'd love to see Lifework reader's desktops. Mine is below. It's only this "neat" because my computer was running slow and I thought if I cleaned up it might run faster. Wrong. I think I will have to bite the bullet and get more RAM.]

You know how it’s only when addicts plummet to the bottom that they can begin to rebuild their lives? So it goes with my home office. Which I, over the next many weeks, hope to transform into a beautiful, functioning workspace where thoughts will soar and inspiration will flow in like a spring breeze.

I thought the antique sheet music storage would be good for my paper organization. Apparently not.

Some background: I live in a delightful two-bedroom 1947 condo in Southern California with my über-supportive and well-meaning husband, Steve. We are not terrifically messy people, but we’re not completely compulsive either. What the architect intended to be a dining room is my workspace, open for all to see. There’s a desk and several bookshelves. And in an attempt to be organized, I have purchased many holdy-things: snappy cardboard boxes in attractive colors and prints, a file rack that goes on the wall, desk organizers and under-desk storage. I thought it was a genius move to commandeer a cedar hope chest as a filing cabinet and stick one of those press-on lights to the inside of the lid, but I have not opened it since I tucked away papers I apparently can’t live without two months ago. Steve tried to put up a shelf but ended up with a precarious installation that seems like it’s trying with all its might to escape the wall and go back to Ikea. There is a lot of glue where I think screws are supposed to go.

This shelf is defying all known physical laws as it pulls away from the wall and still stays up. Hopefully there will be no animals or people nearby during an earthquake.

I think I may have all the tools for effective organization, but there is a user-error issue here. My office is where I write magazine stories and work on my blog. There is always an impending avalanche of paper. My tax guy told me to save all my receipts, but I honestly do not think that the IRS cares that I spent $26.29 on sheep’s milk gouda, Valrhona chocolate and lavender-scented laundry detergent at Trader Joe’s.  My desk is covered with menus and brochures from travel story research, “inspiration” pages torn from magazines, photos that are not important enough to frame but too dear to toss, mortgage re-fi paperwork, postcards from the vet reminding me that my dog is due for a dental cleaning – you get the idea. Pretty much everything.

I found this perfectly good inbox in my neighbor’s trash. I put wedding invitation stationary in it. I got married in August so I hope I won’t need it again any time soon.

Once I hired a woman to help me organize my office, and after her two-hour show of folding and tossing and filing, I thought, “Well that was easy enough. I didn’t need to pay anyone, I could have done that.” And then everything went to hell the next week.

These are my desk drawers. I like to play a little game called “find the scissors.”

The issue is that I need a system. I need to know what to do with each piece of paper, each electronic accoutrement, each business card and bank errata that passes my way.

How do you do stay clear and organized in your workspace so that you can actually produce? Welcoming all suggestions, and I thank you in advance.

2. Chess Hooks, $105 These sculptural wooden knobs inspired by the game of chess are designed by Malin Lundmark. Made of white lacquered birch from Sweden. Get it: Huset

3. Hang Out Hooks David Zachary, $18 These eco-friendly hooks are handmade entirely in Brooklyn (from sourcing to manufacturing to packaging) from wood that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill Get it: Supermarket

4. Gum Hooks, $15.92 Liven up your space with soft, simple, silicon hooks that are as practical as they are playful. Get it: Curiosite

5. Five Alarm Hook, $14 Bright cherry red wakes up this standard, sturdy hook design (and will also wake up your walls). Get it: Anthropologie

Images linked to their sources within the numbered text