5 Weeks to Overhaul Your Files
Time is flying by.
This makes it even more clear that we need to make the most of every minute. At work and at home, there’s no time to waste. I don’t know about you, but my time is too valuable for me to spend it wading through a swamp of digital files every day.
I want to easily find the information I need to focus on my most important work, so I can get home and focus on what’s most important in life.
That’s why I want to try something new this month.
For the past two months, I’ve sent you weekly lessons. The topics have ranged from project management to inbox maintenance to file organization. We’ve gone broad, but for the month of March, I want to take you deep into one topic.
After reviewing the data from our “How Organized Are You?” quiz, one topic stands above the rest: file management.
Here are some interesting statistics from our quiz:
- 51.2% of people said their files are “all over”, instead of in one, easy-to-navigate source.
- 35.% said their files are “mostly one source”.
- Only 13.7% said their files are all in one place.
I’ve shared this before, but I think it’s worth repeating:
On average, people spend 1.8 hours per day searching for the information they need to do their work.
That’s almost a quarter of the workday.
If you want your team to be as efficient and productive as possible, you can’t afford to tolerate disorganized files.
That’s why, in the month of March, we’re going to take…
5 Weeks to Overhaul Your Files
Here’s what we’re going to cover:
- Week 1: Choose the Right Platform and Subscription
- Week 2: Decide Which Files to Keep, Delete, or Archive
- Week 3: Name Your Files to Make Them Easy to Find
- Week 4: Create a System for Organizing Your Files
- Week 5: Share Files Strategically to Maintain Ownership
By the end of the 5 weeks, you will have a streamlined file system that helps you trade Digital Stress for Digital Peace.
Let’s dive right in!
Choose the Right Platform and Subscription
The first step to organizing your files is putting them all in one place.
You don’t want your team to have to search their personal hard drive, email inbox, Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive, etc. just to find a single file they need to do their job. When you organize everything into one place, it makes everything easier for everyone.
So where should you store all your files?
I recommend using Google Workspace. Other platforms work, but with 1.8 billion Gmail users, Google is an intuitive option that most people are familiar with.
More specifically, I recommend opting for the Business Standard subscription, mainly for its Shared Drives feature.
Some companies make the mistake of using “My Drive” in Google.
It seems harmless enough, but it can cause serious complications. For example, if you share a folder with a contractor and they add a new document, you do not own that document. They own it, even though it’s your folder.
That’s why it’s important to use Shared Drives.
It’s a game-changer for teamwork, ensuring all your files fall under the company’s umbrella, instead of being owned by one person. This way, you sidestep the risk of losing crucial files if someone exits or decides to clean up their personal drive. It’s all about keeping the reins in your hands, maintaining control over your vital documents, and steering towards a more structured, efficient digital workspace.
Here’s your action item for this week:
Pick one platform to be your “single source of truth”.
Then, have everyone on your team take every file and put it into the platform you’ve chosen. It might seem daunting, but getting all of your files into one place is the first step to improving your productivity.
If you want to migrate all of your data without lifting a finger, schedule a call with my team to learn how we can handle it for you.
