Creative Organization

Why is Creative Organization Important

We, as creatives have so many ideas and thoughts, it’s nearly impossible to keep them all straight sometimes. In order to, well keep order in our lives, we need systems and organization. This organization goes beyond just setting up a workspace, it will allow you to save, access, and work more efficiently; getting more done and less time wondering what happened and where the time went.

What are the Benefits of Organizing

When you organize your area, schedule, and work, you are able to keep track of your projects and access them quickly for better efficiency. Knowing where everything is and having systems in place that work for you allow you to gain momentum and keep moving forward. It’s hard to keep going when you can’t find something and then frustration sets in, making the situation even worse. You want to clear the clutter in your head and workspace, which will in turn, reduce overwhelm and further frustration.

Organizational Process

The organizational process consist of steps to take to get your creative life in a flow that works with you and for you rather than against you. These steps will guide you to getting everything in place for you to make the most of each day. That’s the goal right? Making the most of each day, whether it’s getting work done, spending time with family, or something else you find important. Efficiency and progress are the goal.

Plan

Yep, even creatives need a plan when it comes to organizing. Though I do believe that those who have a messy atmosphere and insist they know where everything is works for them. It would certainly not for others, so here is your chance to get things where the need to get the most of your time and resources.

Create Clear Goals

You need to know where you want to get to and how do you know that if you don’t have any clear goals? You’re just flying by the seat of your pants. Yes, creatives should have goals, just like others. Our lives may depend on the creative, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have structured goals. You want to be successful with your creativity, right? Well, create some goals!

Break Down Goals Into Tasks

Once you have your goals, take them one at a time and break them down into smaller stepping stones. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself with large goals when smaller ones will be easier to handle and achieve in the long term. If you looked at the goal as a journey, what stops would you need to take to get to the goals destination. Write down your successes no matter how small and what obstacles you faced. You now what you’ve overcome and what you’ve achieved.

Schedule in Deadlines and Tentative Milestones

Put those deadlines you know you have on your calendar right away. This is what you know you have to get done and adding to it throughout the year when new deadlines or destinations come into play will keep your moving along the path you set for yourself. If you are planning to reach a milestone on a specific day, put those in as well and celebrate them. I have a great idea here on this post!

Physical Organization

Here we are going to get into the physical organizing of your space, wherever that space may be.

Workspace

Your workspace may be an artists studio, office room, or even a gaming pad. Where ever your space may be, it’s time to get it organized. Clean, declutter, purge, and re-arrange if necessary. Get the space into a clean and workable place for you to get your creative flow going and continuing when things really get moving along.

Supplies

Find a way to present your supplies in a way that compliments you and how you work. If you like a peg board, use one to organize your supplies. If you like drawers and containers, then have at it. Keep in mind how you work and where things should be placed for maximum flow and efficiency.

Files and Ideas

Using digital iCloud storage or an SD card to keep your files all in one place will keep them safe, in one place and accessible from anywhere. You could also keep them on an external hard drive, which is also portable, or an internal one, but you have to be sure you’re using the same computer each time unless you also use iCloud storage for backups.

Give each project it’s own folder so you can keep all the pieces together. Adding to the folders are easy and you know exactly where they are.

Physical Items

If you have physical items, such as printed books or canvases, you’ll need a place to store ones that are not complete, ones that are complete and work in progress pieces. It’s not always easy to find places for these, but if you think about it, you should be able to find something suitable. A closet, the small spaces between book cases and walls, or be creative and use your wall space to store and/or display your work in progress. If you’re the only one in the room, you can use it as a glance experience.

Tools

You’ll need tools to keep you organized and together, so I’ve decided to provide you a list that can help you out!

Visual Tracking

Obviously all tracking is visual, but for the sake of this post, we’ll stick with the name. These are things that you can put visuals in to keep track for your processes, tasks, and other items that go with the project, paper, or goal. Programs like Trello and Asana are great for this. They allow you to create lists, attaché images, and order things just the way you want. You can also use a planner or journal to keep track of things. Using planners and journals allow you to use your creativity to decorate the pages any way you want.

File Systems

As mentioned above, you’ll need a place to keep all your online documents, whether it’s ideas, written documents, project notes and more. Businesses like Google have created suites that will keep your documents in one place (google drive) when using their suite of products. Others like iCloud, Dropbox, and more are also great for keeping your files organized and in one place.

You could also use physical storages, such as flash drives, SD cards, and external hard drives for when you need to travel and bring your files with you.

Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

• Make a plan and adjust when it’s necessary
• Schedule time to organize – It’ll take longer than you think
• Use ideas from others – check out Pinterest and search for inspiration to use
• Automate what you can to make things a bit easier
• Do what you need to focus on
• What works for you, find it and use it to it’s full potential.

Don’t

• Take on more projects than you can handle
• Try to be perfect
• Let distractions divert you (this include the “Shiny new projects” that come to mind) Trust me the struggle is real!
• Give Up