Transcripts
1. Introduction: If you want a really simple way to organize your
creative files in Google Drive without
overthinking it and without spending hours
going through old clutter, then you're very
welcome to this class. Hi there. I'm Sharon, an experienced virtual
assistant, content creator, and your Google WkspaceGuide, helping solo business owners
understand how to use Google WebSpace in a way
that works for them. Now, if your drive
feels messy or you're always clicking around
looking for the right file, you're definitely not alone. We collect a lot
of things, drafts inspiration, screenshots, final versions,
photos, client work. And it all piles up
really, really quickly. So by the end of this class, you're going to have a clean, easy to use folder structure
that actually makes sense. Something that you can
stick with long term. You won't need anything fancy, just a Google account, a free Google account if needed, and access to Google
Drive on desktop. And there is a class project. You're going to create your
own Creative File Hub. Take a screenshot of
your top level folders and upload it so we
can all cheer you on. Are you ready? Then
let's get started.
2. Class project: So your class project is really simple and actually
quite satisfying. You're going to build your
own Creative File Hub using the structure that
you'll learn in this class. So here's what I want you to do. Create your main folder and then add your top
level folders to it. Move in one or two real files so it feels like
it's your system. Take a screenshot of
your new setup and then upload it to the class project
section. And that's it. It doesn't need to be
perfect or finished. Show us your starting point. It's always inspiring to see how everyone sets
up their own space. Now, let's dive into Lesson one so you can start
building your class project.
3. Why Creative Drives Get Messy: Before we jump in, I
want to quickly talk about why we end up with
a messy Google Drive. You see, most of us
collect things as we work, reference images,
drafts, ideas, PDFs, photos, client notes,
and we tend to save things wherever we happen to be at that particular moment. So sometimes we're halfway
through a project and think, I'll organize this later. But the thing is,
later never comes. So the goal of this
class isn't to create a complicated system or hundreds of folders.
Absolutely not. We're going to build something simple that supports
your creative workflow, doesn't get in your
way, and helps you find what you need quickly. So let me show you the
structure we're going to use.
4. The Simple Folder Structure That Works: Okay, let's talk about the actual system
we're going to build. You're going to create
one main folder called something like
Creative File Hub. Inside it, you'll create seven or eight top level folders that cover the big
categories of your work. So here are the folders that
I recommend setting up. Inspiration. So in here, you'd have ideas, screenshots, mood boards, reference images, work in progress, anything
you're currently creating. Final projects,
finished polished work, client work, everything
relating to your clients. Admin, things like invoices, contracts, brand
assets, paperwork, templates, things
that you reuse, and portfolio, your best
pieces nicely organized. Now, this is just
a starting point. You can absolutely
tweak it as you go. But the biggest rule is don't create folders that
you don't need yet. If you've only got one project, then you don't need
five subfolders. Just start small. Also remember that
each top level folder should feel like a boket. You shouldn't have to question
where something goes. Okay? So let's start
building your hub now.
5. Building Your Creative File Hub: So go ahead and open
your Google Drive. Now, I want you to think of this as starting
again from scratch. So at the moment, every time
you go into your Drive, it looks like one big mess and you've got to use the search
feature to find anything. So the first thing
I want you to do, and this might sound a bit
drastic, but bear with me, I want you to create a new
folder called sort M. Now you can either click on
the plus New button in the top left corner here
and choose New folder, or you can right click on the screen and choose
New folder there. Name your folder, something
like SOT me or Archive. Add an underscore at
the start of the name so that it will always appear at the very top of your
list of folders. Then click once on
the very first folder or file that's in your
drive, so it's selected. Then scroll right down to
the very bottom of the page, hold down the Shift key, and click on the very
last file that's listed. So everything will be selected. It tells you at the top how
many are actually selected. Then scroll back up to the top and whilst everything
is still selected, click and drag them into
the new SOT me folder. So you can see here
everything has been scooped up and it says how many files
or folders are included. Then we just drop it
into the sort me folder. Now, doesn't your drive
immediately look so much better? And don't worry. All your files and
folders are still there. They're just hidden away
in the SOT me folder. You can still go into the folder and access anything you need, and you can still use search
to find any of them, too. It's just that your
main Drive page now looks so much calmer. Now we can start creating a
more organized hub for you. Create another new folder and
call it Creative File Hub. Then double click into it. Now this is where you can now
add your top level folders. So again, right click and choose New folder and call
it inspiration. Repeat the process and call the next one work in progress. Do it again and call the
next one final projects. Right click again, New folder
and call it client work. Do it again and call
the folder admin. The next one will be
called templates. And the final one will
be called portfolio. Now we're going to
place a couple of real example files in there so you can
see how this works. So let's imagine you're
working on a logo design, a blog post draft,
or a product photo. You drop the current version
into work in progress. If you've finished
a piece, upload it into final projects. Anything inspiring
you, a screenshot, a color palette or an image, put them into inspiration. So now that we've
built the structure, let's talk very quickly about naming files so they don't
drive you mad later.
6. Simple Naming Conventions: Now, file names don't
need to be complicated. They just need to make sense next month when you
convert to them. So a few quick tips
to bear in mind. Keep the name short and clear. Include the project name. If it's a draft, add something
like draft one or V one. For images, add a
number, product name 01. So instead of this,
you'd use this. And please don't worry
about doing this perfectly. Good enough is good enough, and as long as it makes sense to you, then that's all
that matters, right? So next, we're looking at small habits to help keep
your drive organized.
7. Keeping Your Drive Organised: So now that you've got your
Creative File Hub set up, let's talk about
keeping it organized. Now, the good news is you
don't need to schedule a monthly decluttering
session or spend hours reorganizing
everything. In fact, the best systems are
usually the simplest ones. So here are three habits that will help you
keep your drive tidy without it feeling like another task on your
to do list. Tip one. Do a five minute tidy up
once or twice a week. So a couple of times a week, spend just 5 minutes
looking through your recent files and moving anything that's ended
up in the wrong place. Maybe you've
downloaded a few PDFs, saved some screenshots,
or created a new document and left it
sitting in your main drive. And don't worry about
making everything perfect. Just ask yourself, does this file belong
somewhere more specific? The answer is yes, then move it. And if you have a
bit of time left, then look through your
sort me folder and start moving files into the new folders that
you've created. Now, you don't need to
spend hours doing this, just 5 minutes and then stop. If you spend a big
block of time doing it, it will start to
feel like a chore, and then you won't want
to carry on with it. But by limiting
yourself to 5 minutes, you'll feel a bit
more productive and motivated to do
it again each week. These little tidy ups are
much easier than leaving everything for six
months and then trying to organize hundreds
of files at once. Number two, save new files in the right place straightaway. Now, this one sounds obvious, but it's probably the habit that makes the
biggest difference. Whenever you create
a new document, upload a photo or
save a project file, try to put it in the correct
folder straightaway. It only takes a
few extra seconds, and it means you don't have
to go hunting for it later. Think of it like putting
something back in the cupboard after you've used it rather than leaving it on
the kitchen counter. The more often you do this, the more natural it becomes. And lastly, tip number three, create new project folders
only when you need them. One mistake people often make is creating lots and lots
of folders just in case. But before long,
they've got dozens of empty folders and they're not quite sure where
anything belongs. Instead, keep things simple. Only create a new folder when you're actually
starting a project or when you genuinely need
somewhere new to store files. Your system should grow
naturally alongside your work. Remember, your folder structure
is there to support you. You don't need to build the
perfect system on day one. If you can stick to
these three habits, a quick weekly tidy up, saving files in the right
place straightaway. Creating folders only
when you need them, you'll find that
your drive stays organized with very
little effort. And that's really the goal here, a simple system that's
easy to maintain and helps you find what
you need when you need it. I know I keep saying it, but it really doesn't
need to be perfect.
8. Bonus Handy Google Drive Tips: Now before we wrap
up, I want to share a few extra Google Drive tips that you might find
really helpful, especially if you work
with a lot of files, visuals, or different types
of creative projects. Now, these are
completely optional, but they can make
your drive feel a little bit nicer and
easier to work with. So, number one,
colour-code your folders. This is such a simple thing, but it makes your drive
instantly more visual, which is great if you're
a creative thinker. To add color, right
click a folder, go to organize and choose
any color you like. You could colour-code
by type of work, priority, mood, whatever
works for your brain. For example, inspiration could be yellow, work in progress, blue, final projects green
and client work purple. It just helps things
stand out a bit more. Tip number two, create shortcuts if a file
belongs in two places. Now, this is brilliant because some files genuinely fit
in more than one category, like a final image that also
belongs in your portfolio. So instead of duplicating it, you can create a shortcut, simply right click on the file, select Add shortcut to Drive. Choose the second
folder that you want it to appear
in, and that's it. So you can keep the real file in one place and access it
from another location, too, and it will always be the most up to date
current version. Tip number three, start your
important working folders. So if you've got
a few projects on the go and you're dipping in and out of them all the time, you can star those
folders so they show up in the start section
over on the left hand side. To star a folder,
simply hover over the folder icon and click on the star in
the top right corner. It will say add to stard
when you hover over it. Then to access those folders, click on the stared section
over on the left hand side. Just saves a lot of clicks, especially when you're
working quickly. Tip number four, use recent when you're
jumping between files. This could be one of the most useful little things
that you'll use. If you're working
on multiple drafts or bouncing between visuals, the recent section
in the side bar on the left shows the files that you've opened
most recently. It's perfect for quick access, especially during
busy creative days. Tip number five, use the navigation panel to
move files more easily. Now, this is one of my favorite
little Google Drive tips. Over on the left hand side, you'll see your folder
navigation panel. So instead of constantly opening and closing folders
on the main screen, can expand your
folder structure in the navigation panel
on the left and drill down into subfolders
while keeping your current view visible
on the main screen. This is particularly
useful when you're organizing files because you can simply drag a file
from the main screen and drop it directly into a folder in the
navigation panel. It's much quicker than
opening a folder, moving a file, and then
navigating back again. If you're sorting a
lot of files at once, this can save quite
a bit of time. My final tip is to search
for Untitled once a month. This is a habit that I recommend to everybody, including myself. When we create a new Google
Doc sheet or the file, it's very easy to get started and forget to give
it a proper name. A few weeks later,
you end up with lots of files called
Untitled Document, untitled spreadsheet, entitled
Presentation, and so on. And because they don't
have meaningful names, they can easily get
forgotten about. Once a month, I
recommend searching for entitled in the
Google Drive search bar. Then spend a couple of minutes reviewing the
results and renaming anything important or delete the files that you
don't need anymore. It's a quick way to tidy
up your drive and make sure useful files don't
disappear into the background.
9. Wrap up: And that's it. You've
built a clean, simple file system in Google Drive that supports
you and your creative work. I hope you enjoy the
feeling of having a drive that finally
makes sense to you. Thanks so much for joining me, and I can't wait to see your creative File hub in
the project section. Remember to upload
your screenshots. And if you've got any questions, just leave them here, and
I'll do my best to help you. Also, feel free to give me a
follow here on Skillshare, and you'll be kept
up to date with my other Google
Workspace classes that I'll be
recording very soon. Lastly, I would love
it if you would find the time to leave a
review on this class. My whole purpose is to make
Google Workspace feel a bit easier to use and in
a way that works for you. So I'd really appreciate
your feedback. Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing your
projects. Bye for now.
Sharon Sheppard, Your Google Workspace Guide
