<p>I just realized that I’m an e-hoarder. That’s a term I thought I had made up until a few seconds ago, when I googled it and found that it’s already in use.</p>
<p>Basically, I’m afraid to delete computer files and emails because I imagine (wrongly, I’m sure) that they might be useful one day. I don’t keep absolutely everything, but the things I do keep, I often keep for the stupidest reasons, or for no reason that I can articulate, just like a hoarder of material things.</p>
<p>I’ve got drawings of products made by companies I don’t work for anymore. I’ve got emails from people who died a year or more ago. I’ve got emails at work that say nothing more than “OK” or “Thanks,” which I keep because they prove that the person received the email to which they were replying, and you never know when that might be handy. I have games I like but haven’t played in years, which I could delete since I have them on CD, but I don’t delete them because, gasp, what if the CD gets damaged?</p>
<p>This behavior wasn’t an option fifteen years ago when hard drives were smaller than today’s thumb drives. But now, with 1-terabyte hard drives being dirt-cheap, there’s no need to delete. The files can just keep piling up for years on end, like a hoarder’s garbage in a 20,000-square-foot mansion.</p>
<p>Anyway, I’m trying to get up the gumption to do a massive hard-drive cleaning. Anyone else have this problem? Any advice?</p>
<p>I used to do that-- REALLY badly. What I ended up doing was I made myself take care of it in steps. I made a “keep” folder and a “delete” folder and forced myself to honestly assess what I would actually still use and sort the files accordingly If it became too stressful I could come back to it later, or move files back to where they were. I could convince myself to put things in the delete folder honestly, because I knew it wasn’t necessarily permanent. Then once I finished sorting, I’d leave it alone for a while. One day, after I’ve forgotten what all was in the delete folder anyway, and without taking the time to think about what I was doing, I would just wipe the “delete” folder. Really quickly and impulsively, no time to hesitate. Usually it was several weeks later, and I’ve never missed anything deleted.</p>
<p>I made that sound easier than it is for me, sometimes the process takes several weeks while I wrestle with the “what if I need this?” anxiety, but I do manage to keep my harddrive /fairly/ clean that way. Slowly but surely, things to get deleted.</p>
<p>I actually used to be a (mild) hoarder off the computer, and this was how I broke the habit. I 'd take pictures of junk I wanted to keep-- for me it was always irrationally sentimental items so a picture sufficed, then throw out the real thing. Then every few weeks, when I’d forgotten what was in the photo folder, I’d just delete it. Junk gone. </p>
<p>Now my hoarding tendencies are gone. I guess I trained myself out of it. It used to make me physically sick to throw certain things away or delete old files, but with this strategy I got rid of those feelings.</p>
<p>^My spouse is just like you. It actually comes in handy…like he’ll say, after diving into his email archives, “On Sept 2, 1997, they installed the watch-a-ma-call-it…” I have it right here. It is in some ways like the archive of his life, the perfect memory. It’s great (and really doesn’t cause any problems at all like brick-and-mortar hoarding.</p>
<p>I am discovering that I am a hoarder in all kinds of ways. This week I have to pack my house up as if we are moving because we have to be treated for bedbugs that my H and I brought in on our luggage. It is a horror show. we have lived in this house for 23 years and it is stuffed to the gills. It’s as if the universe conspired to cause us circumstances that we can’t ignore and force us to confront our pack rat lifestyle.</p>
<p>Because we have only had a few days to do this, we have had to be merciless in our assessment of whether to trash stuff or not. Everything else has gone into bins and bags with pest strips. The things that i can’t bear to part with are boxed and will be opened in a few months after three treatments for the bugs have been completed. At that point I may have dealt with my separation enough so that I can toss more stuff.</p>
<p>As far as the computer goes, Emaheevul has the best idea. get it out of sight and then delete. I have a bad habit of keeping all my files on my desktop instead of in documents. I have this irrational idea that if I can’t see it, it isn’t there. So infantile.</p>
<p>My H has it on his computer AND prints out a hard copy. Yup. He even prints the pages of his calendar. I have even seen him carry around printouts of emails.</p>
<p>I should add my spouse USED to hoard in real time with paper etc, and his office was a huge mess. But he started scanning it all in (and showing off the really cool search function to find any bill, note, or paper he once had!) and viola, his office looks great and empty, he still gets to hoard to his heart’s content, and I’m happy too.</p>
<p>I have copies of homeworks I did in 1985… Electronic copies - WordPerfect format :-). Copies of every homework I submitted to Purdue in the mid 90’s… The works. </p>
<p>As long as it is backed up safely and is organized well so you can find it, go for it.</p>
<p>Does he use special software or equipment to do this? I’m more of a paper hoarder and would love to come up with an easy way to scan documents in so I can toss them. I have a printer, copier, scanner but the scanning methodology is pretty laborious.</p>
<p>got 1414 emails in my work inbox, not to mention the stuff I have already moved to specific folders. I’m constantly getting emails from IT that I’m over my limit. Unfortunately in my business, I get lots of legal docs and powerpoint presentations that I need to hold onto, plus I get 100+ emails/day. It takes me nearly a day to clean up my inbox when I’m out of town for a week.</p>
I have games I like but haven’t played in years, which I could delete since I have them on CD, but I don’t delete them because, gasp, what if the CD gets damaged?</p>