In 2024, the Tidy Tuesday newsletter progressed through a series of monthly topics concerning digital organization. Each month, we covered four actions you can use to move your digital footprint away from chaos and toward something more organized, intentional, and sustainable. For the months with five Tuesdays, there is even a bonus action. The complete Tidy '24 archive is collected here for easy reference.
January 2024: Email
For the first month of the year, we're targeting Inbox Zero: getting to (and staying at!) the wonderful situation where you have nothing in your inbox.
- Week 1 (Jan. 2nd): Archive Everything
- Week 2 (Jan. 9th): Unsubscribe Without Mercy
- Week 3 (Jan. 16th): Simplify Your Folders
- Week 4 (Jan. 23rd): Quick-Clean Routine
- Week 5 (Jan. 30th): Leverage Good Tools
February 2024: Photos
In February, we'll tackle steps you can take to manage your photo collection, whether you're starting fresh or you have tens of thousands of images spanning decades.
- Week 1 (Feb. 6th): Find Your Media
- Week 2 (Feb. 13th): Pick Your Platform
- Week 3 (Feb. 20th): Centralize Your Collection
- Week 4 (Feb. 27th): Organize Something!
March 2024: Tasks (Appointments, To-Dos, and Habits)
The third month brings us high-level time management tips to help you approach different kinds of responsibilities with a fresh outlook and the right tools.
- Week 1 (Mar. 5th): Clarify Your Commitments
- Week 2 (Mar. 12th): Schedule Your Anchors
- Week 3 (Mar. 19th): Collect Your To-Dos
- Week 4 (Mar. 26th): Review Religiously
April 2024: Apps
Here we take a look at attention-sucking apps on our devices and consider how we can interact more intentionally and proactively with the devices that don't always seem to deliver on their promises of improved productivity and communication.
- Week 1 (Apr. 2nd): Purge the Unused
- Week 2 (Apr. 9th): Silence the Distractors
- Week 3 (Apr. 16th): React Immediately
- Week 4 (Apr. 23rd): Adapt Freely
- Week 5 (Apr. 30th): One App, One Purpose
May 2024: Mindset
It may not seem immediately relevant to digital organization, but how we approach our data and technology has a big impact. Even the best organization and productivity systems won't save you if you continually collect far more than you can ever process in the time you have.
- Week 1 (May 7th): You Can't Do Everything
- Week 2 (May 14th): Attention is Life
- Week 3 (May 21st): Limit Your Priorities
- Week 4 (May 28th): Multitasking is Evil
June 2024: Review
As we make it to the halfway point in Tidy '24, we're taking a break from new material and instead spending some time summarizing what we've gone over during the first few months, both to help newcomers get up to speed and to remind everyone else about the main points.
- Week 1 (Jun. 4th): Email Organization
- Week 2 (Jun. 11th): Photo Organization
- Week 3 (Jun. 18th): Tasks Management
- Week 4 (Jun. 25th): Apps Management
July 2024: Security
It's time to review basic data security and safety topics. Security in its various forms is an enormous subject in the digital world, and we aren't going to get very deep into it. However, there are still very accessible recommendations that significantly reduce your risk.
- Week 1 (Jul. 2nd): Password Managers
- Week 2 (Jul. 9th): Two-Factor Authentication
- Week 3 (Jul. 16th): Backups
- Week 4 (Jul. 23rd): VPNs
- Week 5 (Jul. 30th): Phishing
August 2024: Baby Steps
Baby Steps Month is about small actions that gradually shift your digital life in a better direction. The point is not dramatic transformation overnight, but behavior changes that make progress more sustainable.
- Week 1 (Aug. 6th): Delete Something
- Week 2 (Aug. 13th): Pause
- Week 3 (Aug. 20th): Unfollow
- Week 4 (Aug. 27th): Pavlov's Trick
September 2024: Habits
In September, the focus shifts toward building habits that make data organization easier to maintain. These posts explore practical ways to make good behavior stick.
- Week 1 (Sep. 3rd): Routine Triggers
- Week 2 (Sep. 10th): Paper Reminders
- Week 3 (Sep. 17th): Habit Apps
- Week 4 (Sep. 24th): Accountability
October 2024: Big Picture
October zooms out from tactics to ask bigger questions: what hurts, why it hurts, what better looks like, and what should happen next.
- Week 1 (Oct. 1st): Pain Points
- Week 2 (Oct. 8th): Root Cause
- Week 3 (Oct. 15th): Long-Term Goals
- Week 4 (Oct. 22nd): Short-Term Goals
- Week 5 (Oct. 29th): Immediate Tasks
November 2024: Analog
Analog Month steps slightly outside the usual digital focus to look at papers, printed photos, physical media, and other information that still occupies real-world space.
- Week 1 (Nov. 5th): Physical Data Review
- Week 2 (Nov. 12th): Papers
- Week 3 (Nov. 19th): Photos
- Week 4 (Nov. 26th): Music and Movies
December 2024: Wildcard
The final month rounds out the year with a handful of worthwhile topics that didn't need a full month to themselves, plus a short holiday pause and a year-end wrap-up.