Listening to the recent episode of App Stories (while running on the treadmill...something I’ll be writing about later in the week) I was motivated to look at my digital life and do a little Spring cleaning. Heck...I have nothing else to do while on my well deserved Spring Break.
I started this cleaning by going to my iPhone XR. As I’ve written in previous posts, I claim my iPhone XR as my primary device. So, in my mind...it’s the device that should be the most clean. I went to the Settings app to see how many apps that I currently have. Answer: 83. Your mileage may vary but to me...that sounds like a bit much. A quick pass through my folders found me deleting 4 apps that I wasn’t using or finding value (let alone joy) at this time. Now I’m down to 79.
The next step was to look at the Shortcuts I am using via the Shortcuts app. I found that I have 41. Again...your mileage may vary but to me (not a power user but also not a “normal”) this seems a bit excessive. My first step was to go through the list and delete Shortcuts I am not currently using or find value (and/or...you guessed it...joy) in keeping on the list. Going through this list was very insightful. There were many Shortcuts that I just am not using at all. Some of these are Shortcuts that the app created for me based on apps I use daily. I’m cool with that in so far as they act like recommendations to me...there if I care to try them. I ended up deleting 26 of them so I’m down to 15 Shortcuts. I also thought it would be a good idea to clean up the Shortcuts Widget. Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I have stopped going to my folders and am using either the Widget screen or Spotlight to access my apps. That said, why keep Shortcuts on the Widget screen that I’m not using? After a quick glance I deleted several and am now down to just 8 Shortcuts on the Widget screen. Why might you ask are the other 7 Shortcuts not included on the Widget screen? Good question. The 7 Shortcuts that are not on the Widget screen because I use them solely via Siri. For example, before I get on the treadmill, I drink a 10oz glass of water. It’s usually very early in the morning so I invoke Siri to help me log the water. The 8 Shortcuts I have on the Widget screen are 100% tactile. I have one that helps me log weight and body fat daily. It’s THE Shortcut I am most proud of creating because I figured things out all on my own. There may be better ways to accomplish the task but...due to the steps involved...it’s tactile.
So...there you have it...a bit of Spring cleaning on my primary device. Tomorrow I plan on writing about a decision I made last week...that being to bring back running on the treadmill as a part of my overall health!