Those who want to declutter their digital lives should spend time unsubscribing, deleting and budgeting, according to Newstalk Tech Correspondent Jess Kelly. 

The beginning of a new year often comes with people decluttering their lives, from a big clean of their house to donating unwanted clothes. 

In today’s world, however, decluttering your digital space is just as important as decluttering your physical space. 

Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show today, Jess said the first way people can digitally detox is by evaluating their digital subscriptions. 

“If you're on Netflix or Spotify or any of those services and you're not using it enough, just hit unsubscribe,” she said. 

“We worked out last year people are spending anywhere from €40 to €160 every single month on different types of subscription services. 

“Go through [your subscriptions], do a bit of an audit and see if you’re using the plans – if you’re not, ditch them.” 

A Netflix login screen is seen on on a smartphone display. Picture by: Rokas Tenys / Alamy Stock Photo

People need to be aware of the money they are wasting as streaming services change their policies, such as Netflix cracking down on password sharing. 

“If you are someone who was paying for four people to use an account at one time, you're probably paying around €20 a month,” Jess explained. 

“If those people now can’t access your account, you should downgrade to a plan that costs €12 or €13 a month. 

“They make it very easy to [change plan].” 

Jess also recommended Spotify users get a few people together to subscribe to a group plan, which works out cheaper per person. 

Decluttering your inbox

When it comes to a digital spring cleaning, Jess also said there’s no better place to start then an overflowing email inbox. 

“Go into your inbox right now on your phone, search for the word ‘unsubscribe’,” she instructed. 

“Then click through and unsubscribe from any newsletters, emails, contacts from stores, anyone that’s emailing you that you don’t want. 

"Delete what you don’t need and then move on.” 

Digital budgeting

Another way to declutter your digital life is through good consumer choices and Jess answered some listeners’ budgeting questions. 

When answering questions on how to buy a laptop, you need to be confident and knowledgeable.  

“On the spec sheets when you go into shops, there’s an awful lot of jargon,” Jess said. 

“I would just look at the RAM/memory space – I wouldn’t buy anything less than 4GB.” 

She also recommended being clear about your own budget before going shopping so you’re not overwhelmed.