Now is the perfect time to clean up your home and get organized. While cleaning out the sock drawer and putting the sweaters away are certainly important, organizing your tech gadgets can be even more vital. From throwing away your 10-year-old cell phone to selling your unused but still desirable tech gadgets, there are plenty of things you can do to take charge of your tech life.

You can start by going through your junk drawer and dragging out all your old cell phones, mismatched chargers and spare batteries. Sort out the still usable items from the rest and take the junk to your local electronics recycling center. Many counties have dedicated electronic recycling programs, giving you an easy and safe way to get rid of all the tech detritus in your life.

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After you have sorted out the junk from your tech collection, you can decide what to do with all the rest. It never hurts to have an extra charger or cell phone battery, but you probably don’t need 10 of them. If you have more than you need, you can sell the extras online or through classified ads. You can use the money you make to upgrade your tech or grab the latest gadget.

If you decide to sell any actual gadgets, be sure to wipe them clean of data before offering them for sale. Use a dedicated wiping application instead of simply erasing your data. A wiping program not only deletes the data but overwrites it as well. That is the only way to be sure the new owner of the device cannot recover your personal data.

While you are cleaning up your tech life, don’t forget about your backup plan. You probably know how important it is to back up your data, but do you do it as often as you should? If not, you might want to sign up for an automatic backup and data storage service. These services automatically back up all your files whenever you are connected to the Internet; all you need to get started is a high-speed connection.

You can make backing up your data faster and easier by taking time to declutter your computers and other gadgets. You probably have some old files you no longer use; archiving that old data to a flash drive or DVD can free up space on your laptop and make backing up your important data more efficient.

Don’t forget to update your passwords as you go through the cleaning process. If you cannot remember the last time you changed your passwords, now is the perfect time to set things right. Failing to change your passwords regularly could leave you vulnerable to data theft and even physical theft from bank accounts and other financial resources.

These tech cleanup tips can protect your data and safeguard your online life. Going through your tech gadgets once a year or so is a great way to keep your home free of clutter while enhancing your online safety.