Hey Reader,
I get asked a lot about staying organised.
What apps I use. What system I follow. How I stay consistent.
The honest answer is that I’m not that organised, at least not in the way people usually mean it.
And in the last couple of years, as my work has shifted from mostly photography into newsletters, content, client projects, and a lot of moving parts in between, I’ve learned how to make things easier to start, and easier to continue.
Let’s dive in.
Organisation is Really About Friction
For a long time, I thought being organised meant having everything neatly mapped out.
Clean folders. Clear routines.
A sense that nothing would slip through the cracks.
But every time life or work changed (often in my case), that version of “organised” fell apart pretty quickly.
What I kept running into wasn’t chaos, it was friction.
Too many steps before I could begin something.
Or many small decisions to make when my energy was already low.
The days I didn’t shoot, write, edit or create were rarely about laziness.
Those were the days when starting felt heavy.
So I stopped trying to become a perfectly organised person and started asking a simpler question:
“How can I make this easier to begin?”
You might find that question more useful too.
It Starts with Capturing Our Ideas
It’s fair to say that everything we do stems from an idea:
Our photography subjects, editing direction or even the projects we want to create.
For me, all of my ideas live in Apple Notes.
Not because it’s special, but because it’s always there when something crosses my mind during the day.
Half sentences. Rough thoughts. Things that only make sense to me.
But that habit has quietly become one of the most useful parts of my workflow.
Because ideas are fragile.
You’ll recognise the feeling. You notice a frame, a light pattern, a moment on the street, or you think of a photo you’d love to take one day, and you tell yourself you’ll remember it later.
Usually you don’t.
So instead of trying to hold it in my head, I catch it and move on.
It’s messy for sure, but it’s far more effective than scrolling to the perfect folder in a Notion doc and adding a new page.
I’ve found that the process of capturing ideas is the most important ‘organisational’ task you should make frictionless as a creative.
Saving small visual thoughts is how your style slowly forms.
Which leads me into the next step, which is what to do with these ideas…
Make Coming Back Easier
Once an idea is captured, the next part of staying organised is simple.
Making sure it’s easy to come back to.
Not everything needs to become a project.
Not everything needs a plan.
But when ideas live across different apps, notebooks, folders, or only in your head, they start to feel heavy. And heavy ideas are easy to avoid.
So I try to keep this part boring and obvious.
One place for ideas.
Loose notes.
Enough context that when I open it again, I know what I meant.
If you’re a photographer, that might be:
- A short list of places you want to shoot.
- A note about light you liked one afternoon.
- A subject you keep noticing.
Nothing polished.
Just something your future self can pick up without effort.
That alone makes starting again much easier.
When Organisation Actually Helps
I used to think organisation was about being in control.
Now I think it’s more about removing small points of resistance.
Knowing where your latest edits are.
Having files named in a way that makes sense.
Delivering work the same way each time.
None of this is creative.
But it means when you finally sit down to shoot, write, or edit, your energy goes into the work, not into figuring out where things are or what to do next.
That’s the part people don’t talk about.
Organisation doesn’t make you more talented.
It makes it easier to show up.
Allowing for Flexibility
Some weeks will feel smooth.
Others will feel messy and unfinished.
That doesn’t mean you’re failing.
It means your life is changing.
So your version of “organised” will change too.
You don’t need a perfect system that lasts forever.
You need something that supports the season you’re in right now.
A Small Nudge...
If you try one thing this week, make it small.
Pick one part of your process that feels harder than it needs to be.
- Saving ideas.
- Finding old photos.
- Editing.
- Sharing your work.
Ask:
“What would make this easier to start next time?”
Those small changes are usually what make consistency possible - the exact thing I covered last week.
If this resonated, you can hit Reply. I reply to every email.
Catch you next week,
Matty 📷 🚀
