A realistic digital detox for people who live online

by Isabelle CassidyAdvicePublished 28th January 2026

Chapters

2026 In: touching grass. 2026 Out: doomscrolling. If only it were that simple. As January brings with it a hefty pressure to self-better, it’s also a great moment to reflect on online habits. For anyone starting the year buried in digital clutter, a more realistic kind of detox might be the reset that actually sticks.

If, like me, you’re starting the year with 60,000 unread emails, full iCloud storage and a desktop so cluttered the screensaver barely gets a look-in, you’re in good company.

I’m usually resistant to the promises of ‘new year, new you’, but a recent house move and (pretty dramatic) physical clear-out made tackling my online space feel overdue. I’m not looking to delete Instagram or go off-grid, but I do want to reduce the low-level digital noise draining my attention, and put a few systems in place that might actually last before I add another 500 images to my camera roll.

Plus we’ve all heard the high screen-time = higher stress argument before. More recently, research has suggested something else: constant smartphone use can chip away at creativity — because staring at a screen all day leaves very little space for ideas to surface.

Rather than aiming for less screen time altogether — as a twenty-something working in media, being chronically online comes with the territory — I wanted to see what would happen if I focused on reducing friction instead: unread notifications, cluttered folders, and things constantly asking for attention. The aim was to make my online life feel calmer and more manageable, so my attention wasn’t constantly being pulled in different directions.

A humbling reflection on the state of my desktop

Why digital clutter builds up by stealth

Rarely offensive enough to get dealt with, digital clutter has a habit of disappearing into the background. It’s not loud enough to force a clear-out, but noisy enough to drain you every day. A lot of digital overwhelm isn’t about volume so much as curation – deciding what actually deserves space in front of you. Let’s be real: no one needs those old project files saved “just in case,” or 10 QR code screenshots for a parcel sent last October.

Part of what makes digital clutter so draining is how often we’re forced to look at it. Growing message counts, notification dots and half-finished files act as constant reminders that something is still pending — compounding a low-level sense of overwhelm that, for me, shows up as constant distraction and a feeling of never quite being finished.

Why your brain hates open tabs

Psychologists use the Zeigarnik effect to describe our tendency to keep unfinished tasks active in mind. In short: things that feel incomplete are harder to mentally put down.

Unread emails and notification red dots act as visual cues that something is still pending. Each one keeps a task slightly “open”, even when it isn’t urgent or actionable – quietly pulling at your attention in the background.

Starting small

If the sheer scale of your digital mess makes control feel out of reach, you’re not alone — it’s usually what stops me before I’ve even started.

Professional organisers often share the same advice, arguing progress comes from starting small, not trying to fix everything at once. As Beata Kozlowski puts it: “Think of a digital cleanse like cleaning your home – start in one room, rather than trying to clean the whole house.”

She advises choosing just one area – your desktop, downloads folder or camera roll – and starting there.

How a declutter expert approaches the problem

Knowing you should start small is one thing, knowing where to start is another. To get practical guidance, I spoke to declutter expert Karla Pryce (BBC One’s Clean It, Fix It) about how she approaches digital organisation. Her focus is all about reducing the mental load rather than aiming for a perfect blank slate — using simple systems designed to make everyday life easier.

Karla’s organising tips:

Use waiting time, not “free time”
Karla suggests decluttering in time you’d otherwise lose — on public transport, in waiting rooms, or while travelling. Her own go-to on flights is clearing her phone: deleting photos (especially screenshots!), then organising photos into folders so they’re easier to find later.
Reduce what comes in, not just what’s already there
If you start with email, Karla advises focusing on reduction. Unsubscribe from emails you no longer need — especially retail emails — then search for those senders and clear what’s already sitting in your inbox.
Label clearly, keep it simple
The same principles she uses in physical decluttering apply digitally too — “especially labelling”. Clear, logical categories make things easier to manage once clutter is reduced.
Use numbers to control chaos
To stop important folders being pushed down alphabetically, Karla recommends numbering them — for example:
1. Email templates
2. School emails
3. Household
with subfolders like 3.1 Mortgage, 3.2 Utility bills, 3.3 Car.

Karla Pryce

As Karla puts it: “When everything has a clear place, you spend less time searching, make fewer decisions and feel more in control. That is just as true in your digital life as it is in a physical space.”

Given how much time we now spend in our digital spaces, treating them with the same care as our homes reduces the mental load we carry day to day.

But mass delete with caution…

That said, once you start clearing digital clutter, the temptation of the ‘select all – delete’ is strong.

A journalist friend recently learnt how deceptive that urge can be. If you’ve ever been tempted by a ‘select all’ moment, this is why it’s worth pausing. Overwhelmed by more than 6,000 unread emails, she started sorting – before impatience took over. “The allure of a blank slate was irresistible, so I selected all and pressed delete.”

With the short-lived joy of a clear inbox closely followed by a realisation that important contacts and documents had disappeared too, the digital cleanse turned into an admin nightmare.

✅ Use ‘archive’ as a halfway house
If the urge to mass delete is strong, archive first. It clears your inbox visually without permanently removing anything.

✅ Group by purpose, not volume
If you keep searching for the same type of file — screenshots, drafts, invoices — it needs one clear folder, not another catch-all.

✅ Treat your desktop as a holding zone
Think of your desktop as a temporary drop-off point, not long-term storage. Once you’re done with a file, move it into a proper folder or delete it.

✅ Unsubscribe, then delete
If an email only exists to sell you something, unsubscribe — then search for that sender and clear what’s already there.

DON'T

❌ Keep things “just in case”
Habit is how digital clutter rebuilds. If you can’t picture when you’d need it again, let it go.

❌ Leave emails sitting in your inbox
Unread emails keep tasks open. File what matters, delete what doesn’t.

❌ Make the system too clever
If it takes more than a second to decide where something goes, it won’t last.

❌ Declutter when you’re already overwhelmed
Mass deletes tend to happen when patience is gone. If you’re tired, stressed or short on time, stop earlier than you think — that’s when mistakes happen.

Building better habits

Once I’d put a few systems in place, it became clear that clearing space was only half the work. It was time to tackle other online habits.

As someone who feels most comfortable with multiple streams of information coming at them at once, I’m not instinctively opposed to screen time. But I’ve also come to recognise that the TikTok doomscroll is where ideas go to die.
I still need something to occupy my hands. Evenings spent making something – crochet, in my case – feel noticeably calmer than those lost to double-screening.

It makes sense then, that so-called ‘cosy hobbies’ have been having a moment. From crochet and pottery to chess clubs and book groups, these slower, hands-on pursuits give your brain a break from constant input — and often come with the added bonus of real-life connection.

Replacing the scroll for the sake of rest

Infinite scrolling works by keeping attention slightly open, always waiting for the next thing to land. That sense of anticipation is why feeds can feel stimulating without ever feeling finished.

Activities with clear endings don’t operate in the same way, which is why making something — even slowly — often feels more restful than scrolling.

Illustrator, designer and content creator Olivia McEwan Hill uses crafts as a way to slow her mind without forcing herself to switch off entirely. “When I’m knitting, my brain can really relax,” she tells me. “I’m focusing on each stitch and each row, but that hyper-focused state feels calming and meditative.” What started as a solo habit has since grown into a weekly craft club with friends.

Another social creative explains how they use junk journalling as a way of rescuing moments from the digital pile-up. “We take so many photos on our phones and forget about them,” they explain. “Cutting out notes, cards or packaging and keeping them somewhere physical makes those moments feel real again.”

Five small ways to limit screen time today

Leave your phone at home for a short lunchtime walk
Even once or twice a week is enough to feel the difference.
Skip Netflix on your commute
Try letting your brain wander instead of filling every gap.
Gamify the camera roll clearout
Apps like Swipewipe harness your love for a swipe into something productive, and can help get those unwanted pics deleted.
Use do-not-disturb selectively
Not all day — just enough to get a stretch of work done without constant replies.
Turn off notification badges you don’t really need
Fewer red dots = fewer things quietly tugging at your attention.
Swap the scroll for something hands-on
Cooking, crocheting, journalling – anything that keeps your hands busy without asking you to completely “switch off”.

And if you’re someone who sets app limits and then consistently hits Ignore for 15 minutes (hi), tools like the Brick can help by adding a bit of friction — which work by disrupting that automatic urge to scroll.

A reset that actually sticks

In theory, filling that space with something slower sounds appealing. In practice, it’s hard — especially when your phone is already in your hand and your brain feels fried.
It’s working against our psychology: fast, unpredictable digital input trigger short bursts of dopamine – meaning slower, offline activities can feel harder to start, even when you know they’ll make you feel better.

For me, the most useful realisation hasn’t been that I need less digital life, but that I need fewer things competing for my attention at once. A slightly calmer desktop, fewer red dots, a phone that isn’t always asking to be checked — shifts that won’t transform my life overnight, but will subtly change how they feel.

What I’m really working towards is being more tolerant of boredom — of not filling every gap, not reaching for something the moment my brain goes quiet. If a realistic detox means sitting with that discomfort a little longer and letting my attention wander, that feels far more achievable than any dramatic reset. And much more likely to last.