How do you maintain your digital devices? One more aspect of wellness

According to observations by psychologists, during the months of the pandemic there has been an increase of “technostress”; a CCleaner study shows that around 70% of Spaniards regularly experience stress if their electronic devices do not work properly, and that nearly 80% associate the proper functioning of these instruments with their emotional well-being.

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The proper functioning of digital devices reinforces mental health

Keeping electronic devices tidy, clean and without "digital garbage" is associated with an improvement of the mental health of Spanish consumers, according to research carried out by CCleaner, leader in system optimization software.

The results of this study show that about 80% of users experience satisfaction or relaxation when devices such as smartphones, tablets and computers are optimized and their software resources are well organized, without being weighed down by elements unnecessary.

In this sense, 81% of those surveyed affirm that the proper functioning of these products is an important issue for them, and slow operation and decreased performance of devices generates a significant level of stress in 70% of people.

Remote relationships or friendships, teleworking, self-taught learning through the Internet... The rapid digitization of personal and professional life has made computers in all its formats and mobile phones have been integrated into the daily life of millions of people, so that technology has become an inseparable companion for many users.

It no longer has to do with simply waiting more or less for a page to “load” on our screens; if a smartphone or a computer does not work as it should, it affects a large number of activities that we could be doing. Therefore, the malfunction of one of these devices can generate a qualitative change in the quality of life of people; hence the relationship between the psychological well-being of consumers and the proper functioning of their electronic products has become very close.

A) Yes, Around 75% of Spanish consumers say they are calmer if their devices are well organized and optimized. However, this is not always reflected in the habits of users: only 37% say they organize and clean their devices. In addition, about 29% procrastinate leaving this kind of task for another time despite recognize that they need to carry them out, and 14% say they never find the right time to do it.

“It is shocking how computer security and the speed of our technological devices are factors that are closely related to our mental well-being. Our research shows that our levels of dissatisfaction, frustration and techno-stress increase when our devices are not working properly and have a detrimental effect on our overall mood”, says Bertrand Regader, psychologist and CEO of Psychology and Mind. "It is important, therefore, to have tools that optimize our devices."

"While no one doubts the benefits of using laptops, tablets, and mobiles to connect with friends, co-workers, and businesses, psychologists have noted an increase in 'technostress', a phenomenon that generates stress and anxiety, which in turn can have a negative impact on our quality of life," says Jonathan García-Allen, psychologist and Director of Communications for the Psychology and Mind. "Ensuring the optimization and proper functioning of devices is a very effective and easy-to-apply preventive strategy."

"For a device to work properly, it is necessary to take care of your health. In the same way that good nutrition and hygiene are essential for people, we must pay more pay attention to how downloading files and content clutter affect the devices everyone we depend Having too much 'junk' not only opens the door to security problems, it can also negatively affect the performance of the devices and, therefore, to our mental well-being", adds Luis Corrons, Security Evangelist of CCleaner.

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Psychologists recommend applying healthy digital routines on a daily basis

Another part of the results obtained from the research carried out by CCleaner shows that despite recognizing the importance of optimizing and organizing the operation of electronic devices, users do not always go from wants to Actions.

Some 53% of respondents admit they never update their drivers, and 39% don't often change their passwords. And when it comes to online privacy, 24% say they never delete their browsing history or clear their cache.

Of course, about 76% of respondents delete unwanted files at least once a month and 72% empties the recycle bin, while 33% empty their email inbox daily.

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How to optimize and improve the health of electronic devices?

Currently there are applications and programs specifically designed to improve the optimization and organization of electronic devices to significantly improve your experience of use and your performance; example of this is CCleaner, created in 2004 and currently a leader in the field of system optimization software worldwide. 39% of users surveyed say they use this type of resource, either to improve device performance (49%) or to prevent slowdowns (47%).

In this sense, Luis Corrons, Security Evangelist of CCleaner, gives the following tips to maintain a good organization and optimization of your digital spaces:

• Don't just delete the emails that come in constantly and don't interest you, spend a couple of minutes a week deleting unwanted subscriptions.
• Delete all your email accounts, social networks or websites and apps that you no longer use.
• Avoid falling into multitasking: having many tabs open at the same time will make your device perform worse and predispose you to pay less attention to each of these elements.
• Do not fall into the dynamic of using your computer's desktop as a file store that you almost never use; think about creating folders with meaningful names that act as a directory to access less important ones.
• Once a month, uninstall the mobile phone applications that you no longer use; the best thing is that you write it down in your agenda or in another place that you have in sight frequently.
• Regularly check the photos that you have been storing and delete the duplicates and the blurred ones, which can become a large part of your multimedia files.
• Use a tool like CCleaner to eliminate unnecessary elements that remain on your device, preventing them from accumulating and generating "digital garbage" that affects its performance.
• Set up your folders to keep only the emails you really need to keep, so less relevant ones don't pile up.

Survey methodology

CCleaner has carried out this survey in the online format and in collaboration with YouGov, a market research and data analysis company on the Internet. The sample of users surveyed was 2,053 people of legal age who live in Spain and regularly use electronic devices. The survey was applied between January 19 and 21, 2022.

About CCleaner

CCleaner is the world leader in system optimization software with hundreds of millions of users worldwide, who use their resources either personally and/or professionally. Its software tools optimize computing performance, improve device security, and extend the life of computers, smartphones, and other hardware.