Organize information around actions, not topics

Marisol, a marketing manager at a fast-growing startup, found herself overwhelmed juggling campaign ideas, team check-ins, and budget approvals. Her file system was a tangle of subject folders—Social Media, Branding, Reports—that didn’t map to her real work. Every morning she spent precious time hunting for the right file instead of crafting strategy.

After learning to organize by action, Marisol listed her top priorities: "Q2 campaign launch," "website redesign," and "team onboarding." She created folders for each, migrating stray docs, screenshots, and notes into their proper place. Suddenly, every resource she needed was at her fingertips when it mattered most.

This shift to action-based organizing is supported by research on cognitive load: our brains can’t juggle dozens of mental contexts at once. By sorting your information storage around the projects you actually need, you free up attention for high-value work instead of file hunting.

Start tomorrow: list your three most urgent projects, create matching folders in your notes app, and drag any related notes or links into them. Watch your inbox of loose files shrink and your focus sharpen—every time you open your app, you’ll see only what’s essential for your next step.