For years, I organized things for others. A chaotic mess or a system that existed mostly in one person’s head, and I would attempt to turn it into something anybody could walk into and actually use.
Funny thing about that skill. I was so busy using it for other people that things in my own life were exactly the kind of mess I used to fix for others.
My files, personal and business, lived in many different places depending on what day I made them. My to-do list existed in three different apps and notebooks because I kept starting a new one every time I got overwhelmed by the old one. I knew where everything was, technically, the same way you know where everything is in a junk drawer. Which is to say, I knew until I needed something quickly. Then, of course, I couldn’t find it. Sound familiar?
Eventually, I realized I needed to do for myself what I’d always done for someone else. I needed to make things easier to manage, not create another complicated system I would have to work to maintain. So I started with the basics. I created one clear structure for where my files live. Everything gets the same basic folder setup, so I’m not reinventing the wheel every time I start something new. I also made a simple map of where everything is, so on a day when my brain isn’t cooperating, I don’t have to remember. I just have to look.
It’s not a fancy system, it’s just consistent, which turns out to matter a lot more than pretty.
And that got me thinking about how often we make things harder on ourselves without even realizing it. We try a new app. We start another list. We save something somewhere because it’s convenient in the moment, then can’t remember where we put it when we actually need it. We tell ourselves we’ll get everything sorted out when we have more time. Meanwhile, we’re spending time looking for things, trying to remember things, and figuring out where we left off instead of doing what we set out to do in the first place. Anyone? Just me? 🤣
Here’s what actually changed for me. I used to spend the first twenty minutes of a lot of work sessions hunting for what I needed before I could even start the actual work. Now I open one folder, and it’s there, because I put it in the same kind of place every single time. That time adds up. So does the mental energy we spend keeping track of everything.
And this is the part I think is easy to overlook… a system doesn’t have to be elaborate to be helpful. It doesn’t have to look impressive, and it doesn’t have to work perfectly every single day. It just needs to make the things you’re trying to do a little easier. That applies to business files, but it applies to plenty of other things in life, too. Sometimes we don’t need a whole new plan. We just need to find a simpler way to handle something we’re tired of struggling with.
I’m learning that the best systems aren’t necessarily the ones with the most features or the prettiest labels. They’re the ones that work for the person using them when there’s a lot going on and nobody has time to make everything perfect.
Because the point isn’t to spend your life organizing your life. The point is to make a little more room for living it.
What areas do you struggle with organizing your information?
With love,
Mindy