It doesn’t feel good looking for things that are hard to find. What makes it worse is if there is clutter, and too much to sift through.

As business owners, the need to access information anytime, anywhere, has been ever increasing. How much time during the day do you spend looking through several digital files just to find one document or attachment? And, if the scene is chaotic, how many hours per week are dedicated to the hunt when you add them together?

That is time better spent somewhere else.


Consider the stress and frustration experienced when you are in a rush, or someone is waiting for you. If this is an ongoing issue, or if there is absolutely, positively, no more room for shortcuts on your desktop then it may be time to organize!

1.) Establish where you are. How many files and folders do you currently have? Make a list of what is important and DELETE what is no longer needed, and outdated.

2.) Develop a file structure: Think about different categories associated with your business. Then make a separate folder for each. Your main categories could be ‘Departments,’ ‘Clients,’ or ‘Products,’ for example.

3.) Utilize sub-folders. Each folder in the ‘main category’ should come with a set of subfolders. For instance, inside the ‘Client’ folder, I would have subfolders for each client with their names. Inside those named subfolders would be even more subfolders (projects, newsletters, website updates etc.)

4.) Use clear descriptive file names. The purpose of this is to make finding documents as easy as possible. You want to keep the file names relatively short, and adding the date in the yyyy-mm-dd format wouldn’t hurt especially if there are multiples of the same type of document. Beware of using special characters. (/: < >) They have specific meaning in various operating systems and can result in your documents being misplaced or deleted.

Getting those digital files in order will take some work depending on its severity.  Breaking it down in bite sized morsels will make it easier. 

Squashing that digital clutter bug will help you to find your files faster and ease the overwhelm!

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Quote of the day

“The wheel constantly turns. We must adapt to its position or be crushed beneath it.”

That quote is from Madame Gao, Daredevil, season one, episode 12. Yes, Marvel can be inspiring as well. 

Having a positive attitude and seeing change as a mechanism for growth will leave us all better prepared.

Change is inevitable.

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