Think of your desktop or cloud-based storage (like Google Drive) as a house. đĄ
Isnât it true that youâre more productive, happier, and overall feel better when your house is clean and tidy? At the very least, itâs MUCH easier to find things when the clutterâs gone.
The same goes for your business! A clean digital house helps you stay organized, find files faster, meet deadlines, and be an overall more productive bookkeeper (and business owner).
Of course, keeping things clean and tidy can be easier said than doneâwhether weâre talking about the house or your hard drive. Unless you have Mary Poppins hanging around⊠in which case send her my way.Â
Since Julie Andrews isnât stepping foot in my house anytime soon, here are some ways Iâve learned to practice good digital hygiene as a bookkeeper.
Choose a file naming convention
If youâre feeling a little overwhelmed with the idea of cleaning up your digital clutter, start by choosing a file naming convention.
When it comes to digital hygiene, I cannot stress the importance of file names enough.Â
Whatever you choose to use, be consistent. Make file trees, and always follow the same format. This way, when youâre bouncing between clients, you wonât waste time trying to find documents that are all labeled a little differently.Â
Quick side note: In my Easy Bookkeeping System, I share the exact file naming conventions my team uses to keep everything easy to find and accessible at a momentâs notice. If youâre struggling to pick a strategy that makes sense and keeps client docs ultra organized, this system is.a.life.saver.
Conduct digital sweeps regularly
Even the best of us slip up from time to time. But hey, weâre boss ladies not robots. đ€·ââïž
So itâs possible (likely even) that new docs slip through the cracks from time to time without getting the right file name or location. Thatâs why conducting a digital sweep is important! đ§č
Once a month or so, conduct a thorough sweep of your computer or cloud-based storage drive for anything that might be mislabeled or unsorted.Â
Take Google Drive for example. Every document you create automatically saves to your general drive. That means EVERY time a document is made, you must manually add it to a folder. Otherwise, your Google drive will look like an endless scroll of mystery docsâhell to the no.
Back in the old school pre-cloud days, using Word or Excel on your desktop meant you had no choice but to save to a certain folder. Google Drive is super convenient, but it gives you the option to be less organized.
đŹ And donât think you can simply rely on the search function to find what you need. I have 80 clients and THOUSANDS of documents on my Google drive. If Iâm trying to find one P&L doc and I donât have folders or file naming conventions, Iâm SOL. And since time is $$$, Iâd be wasting A LOT of both trying to pick through hundreds of P&L statements to find the right one.
So yes⊠the search tool is powerful, but having nice and tidy documents means itâs easier to find things, especially if youâre using similar title names (which you should be!).
Ready to Clean House?
Digital hygiene sounds intense, but making a few small tweaks to your tasks everyday will make your life SO MUCH BETTER over the long runâespecially as you continue growing your client list.
Thatâs all for now, let me know if you have your own favorite tip to keeping your desktop or drive clean as a whistle!
Talk soon,
Justine
P.S. Oh, donât forget! Youâll want to grab a copy of The Easy Bookkeeping System to learn even more of my go-to tasks for keeping my client docs squeaky clean. đ«§