Creation of a File Monster
a Digital One that Will Bite You in the Ahhhh – there must be a better way
When I started out building my online presence, I thought I was a pretty savvy organizer. To manage my digital files, I created folders that made sense at the time - kept the folder names short and descriptive, and started filing documents in my savvy organized way.
Since I like to keep pretty much everything – you know, just in case I need it one day – the files started to pile up quickly.
To be more specific, I created subfolders within the folders and sub-subfolders within the subfolders, and sub-sub-subfolders within the sub-subfolders. You see where this is going?
A pile of files a mile deep! Descension into the digital depths…
Before I knew it, I was spending more and more time trying to remember where I put that document. Did I file it under James Clear? Or was it under Habits? Or how about Atomic Habits? Or maybe Personal Habits? And this is a pretty simplistic view of the mess I soon found myself in.
Me – the savvy organizer. Certified, no less. Certifiable is more like it.
Then it was too late. I couldn’t start over. I already had so much stuff in so many places under file names that seemed appropriate at the time I first named them.
Here is a rundown of just a few of the problems:
Some files were categorized, i.e. courses, products (those I created or those I bought??), YouTube, social media
Some were filed under a person’s name, like the person who launched the course I bought.
Some were dated to provide some type of order.
Some were filed under the name of the course I bought, or the person who created the course, or the bundle from which the course was released…
Here’s a hypothetical example of what I mean.
Let’s say I bought a course from a bundle. The course was created by Suzy Floozy. The bundle was launched by Joe Blow. The name of the course I wanted to save was “Email Marketing for Beginners”.
Where did I put the course files? Here are some file and folder options.
FOLDER: Email Marketing ➡️ FILE: Email Marketing for Beginners. You’d think I’d stop there, right? Nope.
FOLDER: Spring Marketer’s Bundle ➡️ FOLDER: Email Marketing ➡️ FILE: Email Marketing for Beginners
FOLDER: 2025 Courses ➡️ FOLDER: Spring Marketer’s Bundle ➡️ FILE: Email Marketing for Beginners
FOLDER: Courses ➡️ FOLDER: Suzy Floozy ➡️ FOLDER: Spring Marketer’s Bundle ➡️ FILE: Email Marketing for Beginners
FOLDER: Joe Blow ➡️ FOLDER: Spring Marketer’s Bundle ➡️ FOLDER: Courses ➡️ FOLDER: Suzy Floozy ➡️ FILE: Email Marketing for Beginners
I could go on, but…
Turns out, I’m not the only one wondering where I put a file. Most solopreneurs and creatives I talk to are managing files with a vague mix of hope and muscle memory.
No structure. No system. Just survival.
But I did learn a new system. I did start over, without losing what I already had, and without moving and renaming every file I ever created. And it’s working for me.
Describe your digital file management system in a single sentence.
Too many.