Cleaning Up Your Google Drive Jungle

Clean Digital Workspace = Clear Mind

Navigating my Google Drive used to be like trying to find the right key on the janitor’s humongous key ring. That thing I needed was there – I just knew it. But opening, reopening, and navigating through different documents in search of what I needed made me feel overwhelmed. I’d get nauseous just opening my Google Drive.

Most people in my industry use Google Docs and sing its praises for how easy it is to find and organize things. Sure, I liked it more than Word, but it hasn't quite reached that *easy peasy* level.

It's not that I wasn't creating systems. I was, but they weren’t refined or user-friendly. I imagine time travelling back to my new copywriter self and saying gently, “My dude. My dear. Just make it user-friendliness. I promise – it’ll do more for a ‘professional feel’ than any fancy system you’re trying. You’ll love it. It’ll be so much better for your clients. Trust me.”

Here's the plan I’d give younger me for cleaning up a disorganized Google Drive.

For context, I'm a writer. I ghostwrite and do a lot of copywriting. With my Google Drive, I deal with lots of docs for client work, calls, notes, personal notes, and collections of links.

Here's how I recommend starting to organize your Google Drive:

Create a personal folder for yourself, and then a folder for each of your clients.

Before organizing your Google Drive, you probably have a bunch of "files" that hang out in a long, endless scroll on the desktop. Before sorting through each doc, create some folders.

Give each client their own folder, whether you're currently working with them or have completed their work. Place all respective docs in the client's folder. 

If something doesn't fit into a client folder, put it in your personal folder. If you have many untitled folders, leave it on the desktop We'll get to it in a minute.

Create a new folder for past clients. 

Put all your respective past client folders into that folder. Then, place your "Past Clients" folder into your personal folder. Don't let a whole folder that you're not regularly using sit on the top of your Drive.

Organize your current clients' docs by project.

Once you enter the folder of a specific client, create a folder for the specific separation you need. This might include “blogs,” the “June plan,” or whatever is appropriate.

Open your untitled docs name your docs, then assign them.

Open them up, give them a name, and put them in the appropriate folder. They need to go there. Or simply delete them!

Google Drive habits that future you will adore

I also developed a few small habits that have saved me so much energy and time. Here's what I recommend:

1. Never leave anything untitled. 

Even if it's a lousy title, give it something. It's easier to click "rename" when you have some context rather than opening the entire document to figure out what's going on.

1. Fill titles with relevant details. 

I strongly suggest going beyond generic titles. Include the project name, client's name, and other pertinent information like time. For instance: Copywriting & AI | June 2023 Blog | Client McClient. This greatly improves searchability within the Drive.

1. Utilize links extensively. 

I love highlighting text, hitting ⌘K (or Ctrl + K for Windows users), and inserting relevant links. It could be for the website it will be published on, references within the text, or links to other documents.

1. Avoid creating multiple documents when one will do. 

I used to think it looked more official or somehow easier to have multiple docs for a single project. You guessed it – it only made things more complicated. 

Now, I put relevant copy all together. For example, if I’m writing web copy for multiple pages, I put it all in a single document, even if it spans multiple pages. I make sure to use the index feature for easy navigation. 

Why make each page its own Google doc? This approach has made things much more user-friendly for both me and my clients.

1. When you create a document, immediately assign it a folder

You can even assign it to subfolders. This prevents it from lingering in the no man's land of your drive files. If you opened the folder, then created a new document, that doc will automatically be in filed in that folder. Yay! One less thing to do.

1. I don't worry about organizing files that aren't in a folder until my admin time

You know when you have a document that's not assigned to a folder and it just lingers in the unorganized files? Ideally, nothing should be left there unless intentionally kept for easy access. I let things accumulate until my admin day to make the filing process more efficient.

1. When working with a document that isn't yours, save it and assign a folder as soon as possible

This saves you a lot of time when you need to retrieve it. Personally, I don't rely on the "shared with me" section much. Instead, as soon as I access a document, I click "add shortcut" and assign a folder within my Drive.

1. Use the batch select option

When assigning a file to your documents, select the relevant ones, click the "move to folder" icon (an arrow), and choose the desired folder for assignment.

Organized Google Drive = Clean Office

Having an organized Google Drive made all the difference for me. It transformed the feeling of being overwhelmed when starting work into a sense of capability to tackle any task. Plus, it eliminated the stress of wasting time searching for things or switching between documents because I couldn't quickly grasp the context from the title.

Over time, you'll discover what you use most frequently. Recurring topics make excellent folders. In my personal folder, for instance, I have sections for potential clients, notes, non-business documents created for friends, my swipe file, random fiction, and more.

Tackling your Google Drive is just grind work, but it’s a huge head start once you’re done. I really recommend going to a coffee shop or friend’s place to knock it out in a fun environment.

Plus, once you’ve pulled things together, it’s SO much easier to keep things organized. Even when you have weeks (or months) of letting things slide.

Copywriters’ Favorite Google Doc Keyboard Shortcuts (on Mac)

Your friendly neighborhood copywriters don’t waste clicks. They use these keyboard shortcuts every day.

As much as I love writing and editing, I can’t stand the click-dropdown-select part.

I blame 7 years of charting as a nurse. And the rise of “no click” answer searchability, thanks to AI.

Some of these shortcuts might feels obvious, but they sure didn’t when I originally learned them. Plus, it helps me to have a personal glossary for reference.

I’m forever in debt to the nice internet folks who took the time to create step-by-step directions to my random problem. YouTube & how-to blogs are the backbone of everything I do. Maybe this humble post will give you that nugget of time-saving you never knew was in reach.

No questions asked, my most used (Mac) keyboard shortcuts are:

Copy shortcut: ⌘C

Paste shortcut: ⌘V

Undo shortcut: ⌘Z

Bold text shortcut: ⌘B

Underlined text shortcut: ⌘U

Italicized text shortcut: ⌘I

You bet I used them fifteen thousand million times for just this blog.

Don’t forget!

If you can’t remember a shortcut, but you CAN find it in the toolbar, hover to discover.

It’ll often reveal the keystrokes to the shortcut.

Here are my other favorites:

---

What’s the keyboard shortcut to view word count?

Select text, ⌘ + Shift + C

Select the text and key in the shortcut.

I base some of my work on length. I also need to view character count when I’m putting together stuff with limits, like meta descriptions.

Need to view the whole doc’s word count?

1. ⌘A (this selects everything)

2. ⌘ + Shift + C

---

What’s the keyboard shortcut to activate (Google doc) voice dictation?

⌘ + Shift + S

I’m telling you, it’s the ultimate time-saver for those first drafts. And brain dumps.

---

What’s the keyboard shortcut to change text format?

⌘ + ALT + (text number)

No more clicky-click-clicking through a million menu subcategories. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for Title and Subtitle but I don’t use those super often.

• H1: ⌘ + ALT + 1

• H2: ⌘ + ALT + 2

• H3: ⌘ + ALT + 3

---

What’s the keyboard shortcut to find words/symbols in doc?

⌘F

Excellent for finding a section of a long doc. Or seeing if you’ve overused a word.

I also tag sentences with ELEPHANT when I need to add something later, like a link. That way, I just ⌘F and enter ELEPHANT to find all the places I bookmarked. 

---

What’s the keyboard shortcut to add a hyperlink to text?

⌘K

If you’ve already copied the link to your clipboard, adding a link is as simple as:

1. Select text you want to link

2. ⌘K

3. ⌘V

4. Enter/Return

---

What’s the keyboard shortcut to create an adjustable screenshot grid?

⌘ + Shift + 4

I’ll use this bad boy when I need screenshots of an example to include in a blog or client work.

---

What’s the keyboard shortcut to create a full-screen screenshot?

⌘ + Shift + 3

I’ll use this option when my screenshot needs to include something my mouse is hovering over. The screenshot automatically shows up on my desktop. I can then crop the image to what I need.

---

What’s the keyboard shortcut to create a strikethrough (crossed out text)?

⌘ + Shift + X

I use this to cross out notes, copy elements, or tasks I’m finished with but don’t want to forget.

For example, I’ll copy/paste a client’s email with copy requests into the doc. Then I’ll strike through the details I’ve covered.

---

What’s the keyboard shortcut to do superscript (small citation number)?

⌘ + .

Sometimes when I’m creating a blog (especially if my client is in the medical profession), I’ll format my references with a superscript that’s linked.

---

What’s the keyboard shortcut to pull up the emoji menu?

Control + ⌘ + Spacebar

It pulls up the good emoji menu 😘  The one with your recents. And the one that’s big enough to see.

I use this one for some of my client work that has emojis, like emails and social media ads. 

---

What’s the keyboard shortcut to zoom in your screen?

⌘+

The toolbar has preset options by the 25%. I don’t need to increase my screen in increments that dramatic.

⌘+ zooms in smaller increments. 110% is my sweet spot.

---

What’s the keyboard shortcut to zoom out your screen view?

⌘-

Zoomed in too much? Wanna set it back? Hit that subtract key. Finally, an intuitive shortcut.

---

What’s the keyboard shortcut to insert bullet points?

⌘ + Shift + 8

An internet friend just introduced me to this one, and I’m over the moon! I use bullets in everything I write.

• It makes your text not look like a brick.

• People who like to skim-read love it.

• It’s so much easier to organize my thoughts.

You can either use the shortcut to begin a bulleted list or create one out of existing text. Simply select the text you want to be in bullet points, then ⌘ + Shift + 8.

---

In the same vein, if you want your bullet points to be a numbered…

What’s the keyboard shortcut to insert a numbered list?

⌘ + Shift + 7

Again you can either use the shortcut to begin a numbered list or create one out of existing text. Simply select the text you want to in a numbered list, then key in ⌘ + Shift + 7.

---

And here’s a few things that can’t entirely be done with keyboard shortcuts…

but are still total life hacks:

---

What’s the shortcut to find & replace text in Google Docs?

Amazingly handy when I realize I’ve spelled a name/company/product wrong. Or consistently used an incorrect punctuation mark.

1. ⌘F

2. Click the ፧  symbol on the right-hand side (for more options)

3. Enter the replacement you want

4. Hit “replace all”

---

What’s the shortcut to create Title Case (make the first letters upper case) in Google Docs?

turn this lame headline formatting >> Into This Awesome Headline Formatting

1. Select “Text” (in the left-hand toolbar)

2. Select “Format”

3. Select “Capitalization”

4. Select “Title Case”

---

What’s the shortcut to the menu of special Symbols & Characters?

90% of the time I’m using it to find the ™ symbol. Or the right kind of dash.

1. Select “Insert” (in the left-hand toolbar)

2. Select “Special Characters”

3. Type out the symbol name (or if you don’t know the name, draw it in the box).

---

    Need a shortcut for your writing needs?

Yes? Then a copywriter is the magical life hack you’ve been looking for.

Writing all that website copy, email sequences, and readables is time-consuming. Plus, it’s a massive time sink if you delegate it to a team member that’s doing other valuable work.

If writing isn’t your work’s main squeeze…then it’s time to outsource.

You won’t believe the relief of getting that clean, on-time Google Doc with your brand-customized text, all ready to copy-paste.

Let’s chat! Pick a phone time here—I can’t wait to hear about your copy & content needs.