{"id":5017,"date":"2020-06-16T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.freelancermap.com\/blog\/organising-files-as-a-freelancer\/"},"modified":"2025-03-25T13:20:08","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T12:20:08","slug":"organising-files-as-a-freelancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.freelancermap.com\/blog\/organising-files-as-a-freelancer\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Organize Your Files & Folders As A Freelancer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Organizing your files may sound mundane, but it is actually a helpful skill that can save you a lot of time and stress. Creating an organized structure will help you easily locate and access files at any time. Continue reading if you’re looking for the best way to organize your client files and own documents<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Best practices for file & folder organisation<\/a><\/li>
    1. Have a structure<\/a>
    2. See the most important things at a glance<\/a><\/li>
    3. Always have a backup<\/a><\/li><\/ol>
    4. Digital file organization: Folder suggestions<\/a>
      1. Sort by clients<\/a><\/li>
      2. Sort by deadlines<\/a><\/li>
      3. Archives folder<\/a><\/li>
      4. The \u201cfinancials\u201d folder<\/a><\/li>
      5. Side projects & inspiration<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
        \"How
        How To Organize Your Freelance Files<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

        Think of all the time you would spend searching for your files if they weren’t organized. To make things worse, think of what would happpen if one of them gets deleted or forgotten by accident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Having the right structure in place prevents things like this from happening. And the sooner you start with your system<\/strong>, the better. It will take you days to reorganize your files if you do it anytime after the first year of your freelancing career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        In this article, we\u2019re going to first cover some best practices<\/strong> \u2013 those will be things you absolutely have to do if you want your files to be organized<\/strong>. Secondly, we\u2019ll cover some different file management systems<\/strong> that you can use to do just that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Let\u2019s dive right in!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n

        Join our freelancer community today!
        Create your profile in just 2 minutes and start attracting new clients.<\/p>\n\n\n

        Sign up for free<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/br><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

        Best practices for file & folder organisation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        1. Have a structure<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

        It goes without saying \u2013 the first step to getting organized is having a structure<\/strong>. Make sure to really think that structure through, though. Don\u2019t just make a couple of folders to fit the files<\/strong> you have. Here are questions that will help you form your structure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        – What do I use most often \/ rarely?
        – What fits together?
        – Where would I expect to find X and Y?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        2. See the most important things at a glance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

        You will want to make sure you\u2019re not getting lost<\/strong> in the middle of all your folders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        You can, ofcourse, make a computer file management system<\/strong> that ensures every folder consists of just a couple of files. But that won’t help you get rid of the clutter<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        You will want to see the most important things at first glance. This might be stuff like ongoing projects<\/strong>, different clients<\/a>, your folder with sketches \u2013 it all depends on how you set up your system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        But, remember to make the essentials visible right away.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        3. Always have a backup<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

        This ought to be number one<\/strong> on the list. One of the most important things you can do when it comes to getting your files organized is making sure you don’t lose them<\/strong>. Have a backup, at all times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Consider using cloud storage<\/strong> that easily synchronizes with your computer<\/strong>. As soon as you make changes to a file and save them, the new version will get uploaded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        If anything were to happen to your laptop, your files won’t be lost for good. Whether you get an online backup or a physical one in the form of an external hard drive<\/strong> is up to you. But always have one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        There are several cloud storage providers<\/strong> that you could use to organize your client files. Some of the most used among small businesses are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n