With more and more daily use of smartphones, the smallest screen is a good place to start a #digital #decluttering, says The Lifestyle Files. Sort apps into folders and delete those rarely used. Limit your home screens to one or two and place the most-used apps on the first. Delete duplicate photos or those of poor quality. Clean up your contact list by eliminating any you don’t recognize or keep in touch with. Stream podcasts and music rather than storing “native” files. Limit notification access to only the most important — texts from family members, for example — and eliminate stored alerts often. #DigitalDecluttering
Author: Jordank
Editorial Coordinator
Start a Digital Decluttering With Your Email Inbox
If you want to #declutter your #digital spaces, start with your #email inbox, says Life by Deanna. You might have thousands of emails in your inboxes, read and unread. Start with the inbox you use most. Unsubscribe from emails you tend not to open; you can look at those offers, alerts and blog posts when you feel like it. Search your email for brands or people that send a lot of emails, delete the ones you don’t need and empty the trash. Finally, make folders for old emails that you do want to keep #organized, whether they include financial information, notes from friends, picture attachments or receipts. #DigitalDecluttering
Is It Time for a Digital Detox?
With social media algorithms pushing content to your accounts and demanding attention constantly, you may need more than a #digital #decluttering — you may need a digital #detox. Create boundaries, says Simple Thread. Schedule screen time and a time when you can be tech-free. Turn off notifications. Delete unused or rarely used apps. Leave your phone in a different room or somewhere other than your pocket to ensure you won’t check it. Plan tech-free activities. Finally, get an alarm clock to wake up rather than using your phone to ensure you don’t get sucked into screen time first-thing. #DigitalDecluttering #DigitalDetox
Create a System to Cut Your Digital Clutter
It’s easy to gather #digital #clutter — thousands of photos, downloads, emails and other files that just get in the way of what you’re currently working on, eat up storage space and slow your operating system. To keep phones, laptops and other equipment running smoothly, create a system to handle those countless bits of data, says Be More With Less. Use your apps or operating system to find files and sort them into places you can access quickly. Delete duplicate files, old emails and inessential photos. Archive the stuff you might need “someday.” The goal is an intuitive system that keeps useful files front-and-center and digital clutter out of the way. #DigitalDecluttering
Observing National POW/MIA Recognition Day
National POW/MIA Recognition Day is observed on Sept. 19 this year, honoring service members who were prisoners of war (POWs) and those who are still missing in action (MIA). Its eternal message? That POWs and MIAs will not be forgotten.
National POW/MIA Recognition Day became an official observance under President Jimmy Carter in 1979, with the families of more than 2,500 Vietnam POW/MIAs pushing for full accountability. While associated with those who served in Vietnam, the day isn’t limited to their recognition.
More than 130,000 U.S. service members were held as POWs in World War II, and 14,072 of them died. Some 7,000 were imprisoned in the Korean War, and 2,701 of them died. And 725 service members were imprisoned in Vietnam; 64 died.
According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, more than 83,000 Americans remain missing in action, including more than 73,000 from World War II and more than 7,000 from the Korean War. The number of MIAs in Vietnam is now 1,571.
The U.S. is one of the few countries in the world that prioritizes recovery and identification of its service members. Efforts are ongoing to identify MIAs — and each year, more men and women are identified from their remains and interred with military honors.
The most recent to be identified is U.S. Army Master Sgt. Donald P. Gervais, who was killed when his helicopter crashed in Vietnam’s A Shau Valley. U.S. Navy Capt. Thomas E. Scheurich was identified in April, 57 years after his A-6A Intruder was shot down.
The Vietnam Veterans of America’s Veterans Initiative Program helps identify remains, using clues from maps, stories, after-action reports, pictures and personal items. It’s just one of the initiatives funded in part by generous donations to ClothingDonations.org.
You can honor POW/MIAs in multiple ways this week. Fly a POW/MIA flag below or adjacent to your U.S. flag. Take a moment of silence when you see it flown. Wear a POW/MIA bracelet. Attend a local ceremony featuring the POW/MIA Missing Man Table. And support veterans organizations dedicated to recovering the missing.