Organization is Key

People never believe me when they say this, but I love to be organized. Yeah, my room may always be ranging from untidy to disaster zone, but that doesn't equate to being disorganized. (It was a sad sight when I came home the first time after going away to college to see that my dad had thoroughly cleaned my room. I was looking for a book to bring back with me and had to ask him, "Dad? Have you seen my book, So and So? It was halfway down that third pile from my bed when I left, but now I can't find it anywhere.")

With a million deadlines, meetings, forms and sources of income to keep track of, it's crucial to come up with a system or else you'll

a) Go crazy.
b) Crash and burn.
c) Lose a client (or all of them)
d) All of the above.

These are four things that I highly suggest you do to get things in order.

1. Buy a planner, and then actually use it.

I find planners really exciting, but maybe that's just because I'm a nerd. My favorite thing to say (or think) these days is "let me check my calendar." Write everything down, even the things that repeat every week. Carry it with you wherever you go and look at it at least once a day just in case. Some people go crazy with color coding the different entries, but I'm not that organized. I personally like Moleskine's line of planners. Part of it is because that's what all the hip kids use, but it's mostly because it has a blank lined page opposite every week. This is perfect for writers because you can always jot down ideas when you're inspired or use it to take notes on an assignment or write down contact information. The notebook's also a great size for portability, has enough space for each day, a pocket in the back for tucking any cards or tidbits, and has really texturally pleasing paper.

2. Create a digital filing system.


If I were to leave all of my files dumped in the standard document folder, it would be completely overwhelming. I find it very helpful to create new folders to stow everything away in. I have a folder for every client where I keep all of my assignments and paperwork. I also have a "Job Hunt" folder, where my resumes are as well as any cover letters, queries and edit tests. Even though I have an online portfolio, I also have a folder where I keep a copy of my favorite, most impressive and most useful articles, posts and clips are in case I want to quickly attach one to an email. This all takes a couple more click-throughs, but it's much better than scrolling through a list of potentially hundreds of documents.

3. But don't forget a good old fashioned paper filing system.


Every now and then, I still have to deal with a piece of paper (shocking, I know) so it's also important to file these properly instead of throwing them in your Everything Drawer. I brought some pretty files from The Container Store to make it a bit more exciting, and then got a freestanding hanging case that lives under my desk. I have a file for Incoming Money, which is for paycheck stubs. Then there's the less fun Outgoing Money, for bills. Then I have a paperwork file for contracts and tax-related things. The one thing I'm not doing so well with is remembering to print out anything that should go in any of these files for business that's all done digitally.

4. Set up your "books."


Since your money is coming from all over the place, and you'll likely be doing your own taxes (which I'm terrified of doing, but we'll talk about that again in September) it's essential to come up with your own little accounting system. You need to know where your money is coming from, and how much you're really making. If you keep track of it along the way, it'll make collecting all that information much easier when it comes to tax time. I haven't bothered to look at Quickbooks or anything like that. For now, I'm satisfied with creating simple Excel spreadsheets. For my steadiest job with the iPhone app, which is the only gig that has defined hours, we fill out bimonthly timesheets to send in. But for my more independent jobs where I write articles for the same company as a freelancer, I create a document that has a column for the name of the assignment, the date I submitted it, the price of the assignment, and the date when I was actually paid. I keep this document in the folder for the job. Depending on how often you write for each gig, each spreadsheet can be for a month, or for a quarter. My plan is to print everything out at the end of each quarter for safe-keeping, and use them to make a master list.

Sometimes, you can feel like you're being pulled in a million directions, but these few things have seriously helped me stay sane and in control.