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Planning Checklist

Big plans tend to stall at the first fuzzy step. A checklist fixes that by turning "sort out my phone one day" into a handful of boxes you can tick on a Sunday afternoon. Below are four lists built from our most practical guides. Print one, copy it into a notebook or keep it open in a tab while you work.

1. Phone and inbox clean-up

  • Phone charged and connected to Wi-Fi.
  • Photos and important files backed up somewhere else first.
  • Storage overview opened to see the biggest space users.
  • Idle apps offloaded or deleted.
  • Recently Deleted album emptied once you are sure.
  • Notification list reviewed app by app.
  • One focus or do-not-disturb schedule set up.
  • Promotions and old newsletters cleared from the inbox.
  • At least two filters created for repeat senders.

Guides to follow: freeing up iPhone storage, turning off notifications and cleaning up a Gmail inbox.

2. A photo backup routine

  • One cloud photo service chosen and switched on for every phone in the household.
  • Upload quality setting checked.
  • Library exported to a computer in year-and-month folders.
  • External drive set to back up automatically when plugged in.
  • A second copy stored away from home.
  • Strong password and two-step verification on the cloud account.
  • Calendar reminder to open a few old photos from the backup each season.

The reasoning behind each step is in How to Back Up Photos So You Never Lose Them.

3. Starting a new hobby

  • One small first project chosen, something finishable in a week.
  • Only the essential materials bought.
  • Two or three short tutorials saved for the first skills.
  • A regular fifteen-minute slot in the diary.
  • A notebook page for notes, sizes and ideas.
  • A local club, class or online group noted for questions.

Two easy starting points: learning to knit and starting a bullet journal.

4. Publishing a new video

  • One-sentence promise for the video written down.
  • A few deliberate stills captured while filming.
  • Thumbnail checked at tiny size on a phone.
  • Text on the thumbnail kept to a few words.
  • Title adds to the image instead of repeating it.
  • Rights confirmed for every image and music track used.
  • Click-through rate noted after the first week.

Details in How to Make a YouTube Thumbnail People Click.

Make the lists your own

None of these lists is sacred. Cross out what does not apply, add the steps your own setup needs and keep the version that works. Got a checklist we should add? Suggest it on the Contact page.

Getting it done

How to actually reach the last box

Lists are easy to write and easy to abandon. A few tricks that keep momentum going.

  1. Start with the easiest tick

    One quick win at the top builds enough momentum to carry you into the harder items.

  2. Set a short timer

    Twenty-five focused minutes beats an open-ended afternoon that drifts into scrolling.

  3. Group similar jobs

    Do every phone task in one sitting and every inbox task in another, instead of jumping between them.

  4. Park the tricky ones

    If a step needs a password reset or a call, note it and move on rather than stalling the whole list.

  5. Celebrate the finish

    Cross the list out with a flourish. It sounds silly, but it makes the next round easier to start.

Pre-flight check

Before any big digital clean-out

Tick these off first and the actual clean-up goes quicker and safer.

  • Device plugged in or well charged
  • Wi-Fi connected for uploads and updates
  • Important photos and files copied elsewhere
  • Passwords for key accounts within reach
  • Half an hour blocked out without interruptions
  • One list of what you want to finish today