The beginning of the year is a great time to have a clear out. The new year signals a fresh start for a lot of us and getting rid of old clutter that no longer serves you is a brilliant way to hit refresh.

However, while you might be itching to clear out your wardrobe or blitz through that ‘everything drawer’ that’s become home to approximately 83 charging cables, there’s one area of your life that you’ve very likely forgotten about but is almost definitely overdue a good decluttering – your digital life.

Just as clutter around your home can make your feel stressed and disorganised, a cluttered phone or laptop can have the same effect. The camera roll on your phone can become particularly chaotic, as we live in a world that encourages us to snap away all day, every day. From holiday snaps to group selfies and pictures of your pet, it’s great that we have access to all our cherished photos at the click of a button, but when it takes several minutes of scrolling just to find a photo you took a couple months ago, it’s time for a digital declutter.

A survey found that 11% of UK individuals have over 7,500 photos on their smartphones, with 8% exceeding 10,000 – that equates to around 50GB of storage for 10,000 high-quality images.

Not only will a digital declutter of your photos help with those pesky ‘low storage’ warnings and free up significant space on your device, Eloise Skinner, psychotherapist and author, says that a digital declutter can greatly benefit your mental health, too.

“Since so much of our lives take place in the digital space, feeling a sense of overwhelm or disorganisation in our digital lives could make us feel anxious or stressed, and could add to a feeling of being out of control,” says Skinner. “As the vast majority of people feel more comfortable with a sense of order and some degree of control over our environments, building up clutter on our digital devices could have a negative impact on our mental health and wellbeing.”

She says that a digital declutter can help us feel more settled, organised and productive. “On a practical level, once we’ve cleared out old tasks or content from our devices, we might feel the benefits of a ‘fresh start’ – more energy, enthusiasm and motivation to move forwards. On a psychological level, we might feel a sense of release or renewal, enabling us to engage with our devices without a feeling of dread or anxiety.”

Ready to tackle your clogged up camera roll? Nicole Lambert, manager at Custtom, shares her tips for a pain-free digital declutter…

Digital decluttering – the clear-out task you’ve probably forgotten about