Why I wiped my phone
After 3 years, my trusty iPhone wanted to throw in the towel. Apps ran slower; the phone crashed sometimes, and the battery drained itself of its own accord. I would finish work with my idle phone begging for more juice at 20% power. I had my suspicions that the masses of apps and their cacophony of notification amidst a sea of red badges may be playing a part. But, after several failed decluttering attempts, I decided to just wipe the damn thing.
Turns out, these apps (and their baggage) were the cause of my phones woes. Now my lean, mean, minimalist machine runs like the clappers. There are no battery issues, the phone hasn’t crashed (yet), and my effectiveness has improved to no end.
So how did I do this? It wasn’t a case of a clean slate; it was a change in mindset. When I reset my phone (this time), I asked myself the same question with each new install: do I need this app?
Every app served a purpose: if I used it daily, it went on the home page. Otherwise, it went on the 2nd page, and into a categorised folder. I also used started using temporary apps. They went into a folder, but the purpose was explicit and their days numbered. Oh, I also chose not to turn on notification, by default.
And there it is, a simple change but revelation as well. I know where all my apps live. My phone is uncluttered. I no longer feel like Pavlov’s dog tormented by every ‘ding’ that emits from my phone - because it seldom does.
To sum up:
- Find out which apps you use the most
- Wipe your phone (you may want to back up your photos, and anything stored on the phone)
- Ask yourself this for every app you want to install: do I need this app?
- Organise according to use