Hey Reader,

Does it ever feel like your Google Drive is an endless game of Where’s Waldo? Like you’re spending more time searching for files than actually working on your business?

If you’re someone with all those random documents floating around that you told yourself you’d “home” later — this email is for you!

I’ve fine-tuned a file management system over the years for myself and my clients that’s become the backbone of my efficiency. And it works seamlessly whether you’re using Dropbox or Google Drive.

Basically, you’ll create folders with a number and a name attached to them, and create subfolders based on what you need. It’s important to note that the order of your folders listed in the framework isn’t important, but numbering them is.

Here’s the rundown of my framework and how I organize my Drive:

1) Back Office

This folder’s for everything internal—legal docs, financial records, and brand assets. I like to create subfolders like brand elements, finances, and portfolio to keep things neat and easy to find.

2) Clients

Each client gets their own folder, and if necessary, their own subfolders that contain assets, images, final files, etc, to ensure no detail is lost.

3) Content + Marketing

This is designed to be your content hub. You can create subfolders for blog posts, courses, and social media posts. Break it down according to your business and the content you’re creating for marketing efforts.

4) Resources

This folder should be dedicated to templates, brushes, fonts, brand photos, mock-ups, freebies you’ve downloaded and more.

5) Personal

Anything personal—taxes, travel docs, and more go here.

6) Public Links

A quick access folder for files you share with the public, like opt-ins and intro packets for clients.

7) Sort

At the end of the week, go through your desktop and downloads folder and move everything to the right folder or trash it. If it’s something that you’re not sure where to put it or if you just need somewhere to dump things for a few days, stick it in the “Sort” folder. Then once a month, make sure to go through this folder and clean it up by either deleting or moving the content to their correct folders. That way this folder doesn’t become a virtual “junk drawer”.

This framework has been instrumental in keeping me and my clients organized. It’s one of the first things that I tackle when starting with a new OBM client if they don’t yet have a system set up for their files.

Having an organized file system will help you and your team know where things are and give you less stress.

Til next time,

Liz

PS. I’ve even applied the same system to organize my inbox—it’s all about simplicity and consistency to get and keep your files organized.

This week's picks 📚 Currently reading: The Curse of Saints 🤓 Thought of the week: When in doubt drop it in the Sort folder. You can always deal with it later — clearing out the visual clutter will help