The First Seed: A Humble Guide to Digital Organization for Creatives

Let’s be honest for a moment. What does your computer desktop look like right now?

Does it resemble a serene, minimalist sanctuary? Or does it look like a digital crime scene where screenshots go to die?

If it’s the latter, welcome home. You are in good company.

As an overly organized person, (Yes, I am the one that names meticulously each layer in Photoshop when editing) I have experience re-organizing and organizing different files for projects. But sometimes, I slip into the laziness of not organizing properly at the correct time and it leads to countless hours searching for the correct version, looking at my notes, etc. I know you have been there at some point, either as the editor, artist or project manager trying to workout where the needed file is right before the delivery.

For years, my creative process was fueled by adrenaline and caffeine. I loved shooting, I loved editing, and I loved writing the stories that connected them. But honestly, the ‘admin’ work sometimes got a little complicated. Sometimes, I treated my hard drives like junk drawers, stuffing files wherever they fit just to get the project done. Key word: sometimes.

Honestly, looking back I am laughing at how much time I spend trying to find the correct version of a file, through my video and photo editing workflow. (It was not funny at the time, and mistakes were made but that’s life. Key thing, I learned from my mistake.)

This is even as important as having the backup, of a backup. Since you never know when you beloved drive might die out of nowhere (Yes, it has happened to me too and tears were shed).

The result wasn't just lost files; it was lost energy. Every time I sat down to edit, I had to spend the first twenty minutes excavating my own digital clutter. It was exhausting, and it was a fast track to creative burnout.

Welcome to An Editor’s Greenhouse. This blog isn't about becoming a perfectly optimized productivity robot. It’s about realizing that your work—your photos, your footage, your words—are seeds. And you can’t grow prize-winning flowers in concrete.

Digital Organization for creatives is vital regardless of your role, weather your an editor, artist, or even project managers. It isn’t about learning a complex software; it’s changing how we view our files. We tend to treat raw photos and draft documents as disposable steps on the way to a final Instagram post. But those raw files are your memories. They are the evidence of your effort.

When we treat organization as a chore—something cold and corporate—we resist it. But what if we treated it as an act of kindness to our future selves?

What if we treat it as the soil of a greenhouse? See where I am getting at? Fantastic! If the soil is toxic and full of rocks, nothing grows easily. You spend all your energy just trying to push through the dirt. But if the soil is tended to, nutrient-rich, and organized, the growing part happens naturally.

A clean workspace doesn’t make you a better artist, but it removes the friction that stops you from creating art.

The Greenhouse Method: 3 Humble First Steps

If you are staring at terabytes of chaos, do not try to fix it all today. That is a recipe for closing your laptop and watching six hours of Netflix instead.

Take a deep breath, and remember breaks are very important in this process.

Let’s just plant one seed. Here are three gentle steps to start cultivating a better video editing workflow or photo archive system.

The "Master Container" Concept

DO NOT SAVE EVERYTHING ON YOUR DESKTOP!!! I REPEAT!!! DO NOT SAVE EVERYTHING ON YOUR DESKTOP!!!

I do save files on my desktop, but those are the ones I normally open daily or need very quick assess to. Even then, they are organizing into folders, within folders within folders. Neatly organized.

The first step to managing photo files and video assets is creating a single "Master Container" on your main drive. Every single piece of creative work you do lives inside this container. This container can have other versions based on what you are creating. For example, you can have one master container for all your videos, one separate container for photos, and another for written work. You will want to organize it by type of content/art you are making. Then within each Master Container you will have separate folders to organize it better. I will get there in a moment.

Inside that container, use a structure that relies on dates first, then names. Why dates? Because our brains naturally remember when we felt something before we remember what we named it.

A Simple Structure to Try:

[YYYY] Master Container > [YYYY-MM-DD] Project Name > [Folder Types]

Example:

2024 Creative Archive > 2024-10-15 Autumn Portrait Session > Raws / Exports / Contracts

“Naming the files”

Your files deserve better names than DSC_88392.jpg.

When you import footage or save a draft, take ten extra seconds to perform a little "naming ceremony." Give the file a name that future-you will thank you for. Use keywords that describe the content or the feeling, not just the camera sequence number.

WHAT NOT TO DO: Sequence 01.mp4

WHAT TO DO: 2024-10-15_Autumn_GoldenHour_v1.mp4

(Funny Note: If you have a file on your computer right now named final_v3_REALFINAL_FORREALTHISTIME.psd, please raise your hand. I am raising my hand, myself included. Okay, now put it down and let's never do that again.)

Honestly, future you will thank you for it.

PRO TIP: Either on notes, document or a notebook write a little summary of the project and what kind of files they are, you can go back later and search for it. It is specially nice when you also need to explain the context of the images and your inspiration either for a post or blog. It’s a good gentle reminder.

“Sorting Ceremony”

Honestly, gardens sometimes get weeds. Those plants that you never planted, and just randomly sprout out and now making your garden look weird? Those ones.

Now, some digital files are the same. Once you remove them, not only does your computer run at a better speed but that program you were using runs quicker too and you get to export without it crashing. These digital weeds, or unwanted files that we wanted to use - but eventually forgot about it - normally end up in your ‘downloads’ folder. It is filled with random fonts, memes, pdfs, photos, etc.

Not all is lost, you can easily schedule 15 - 20 minutes once a week when your schedule allows. Or in extreme cases a a whole day - with breaks in-between of course - to sort out those unwanted files.

My advice, put your favorite songs on a playlist and play it while sorting through those files. Open your computer and sort all the documents you need to sort out. Remember to trash files you no longer want. Once you are sure everything you want removed is in the trash - anything that no longer serves you as a creative - empty the trash.

When your digital house is in order, something magical happens to the actual creative work. The workflow is better and can concentrate more on your creative pursuits!

If you need, buy a new external hard drive, label it nicely, and promise to treat it with respect.

Let’s grow something beautiful together, without the mess.

Now, I hope this guide helps you tremendously to organize your digital files. Whether it is managing photo files, organizing creative projects, managing video editing workflows, this hopefully can serve as a guide to organizing your own editor’s greenhouse.