Tips for Staying Digitally Organized
We often think of staying tidy and organized as being exclusive to our physical environment. Just as you tidy up the physical spaces around you, think about the digital systems that you have in place.
This can be anything from time management systems, cloud based platforms you use, to how you organize the folders on your computer. With anything you organize, you’re setting yourself up for success by creating foundational systems that work for you. Here’s my top tips on staying digitally organized:
FOLDER SYSTEM
Just as you would organize a filing cabinet or a cupboard in your home, you’ll want to put “like items” together into categories so you can easily find documents when you’re searching for them. Yes, the search function can be helpful on a computer or in Drobox, but it shouldn’t be the rule for finding a file. The goal is to easily find a folder and a file in a moments notice when you need to access a document.
Main Hub Folders: I have a variety of different business ventures that I work on, as well as personal files, so having a clear folder for each of these things and making them easily accessible is important to me. Upon opening the finder window on my computer, you’ll see on the lefthand side panel there are main hub folders for each subject. Avoid getting too specific here if you have many projects. This is a general starting place to find your files.
Subfolders: here is where you start to get more specific about different topics but you still want to stay broad. For example, in my business, I have folders for HR, Marketing, Sales, and so on.
Specific Project Folders: now, we’re getting into Russian nesting doll status here with folders being inside of folders, being inside of folders. It’s important to be broad enough to be able to find a file or a project, but not so specific that you’re endlessly searching for your file. Also, it’s important to reduce redundancy by combining similar files for projects together. i.e. having your social media content in two different places, etc. vs. one place.
NAMING FILES
Naming files are important in the event you need to search for something.
Version History: If you need to save past versions of files for any reason such as track progress or save information on a file you’ve made changes to, but still might need to access later — version history is important.
Dates: Perhaps you have a date in which this specific file was used - i.e. meeting notes, blog posts, etc. The last save date should be in the information on the file, but this isn’t always an indicator of the date this file was used.
CLOUD STORAGE
In the age of technology, it’s important to be able to access your files across a variety of different computers or phones. Dropbox is my favorite cloud storage tool and it’s the most popular. It makes it easy to share files and gives me peace of mind that my files are backed up in the cloud.
PROJECT ORGANIZATION
There are a variety of different project management platforms out there available for use ranging from free to premium pricing. These are the two platforms that I use the most that are most effective for me:
Airtable: when I discovered Airtable many years ago, I was very excited to get all of my thoughts and ideas down into these. Similarly to how I organize my files on my computer, Airtable has what’s called a “Workspace” for each main project and then inside of a workspace, there’s what’s called a “Base” for each project.
There are many functions in how you can view each base for those who are more visual. I like the general spreadsheet list view. There are thousands of different functions in Airtable, making it customizable and easy to organize different pieces of information.
Google Drive: because Google Drive is a universally used platform that makes it easy to shares files and sync calendars, I’ve included this here on the list. Some of the documents I have in Google Drive, I link to from Airtable.
TIME MANAGEMENT
Lastly, time management when it comes to tech is an important topic that cannot be talked about enough. Setting boundaries around when you are on your computer or phone can positively impact your mental health and well being. Understand when it’s time to take a break from being in front of the computer at work all day, working from home — even if it’s a walk around the block to get your blood pumping.
