okay so this has been building for a while and i finally need to ask because my hard drives are a mess and every project takes me forever to find anything. i shoot probably 2-3 times a week and i keep all my raw d-log clips in one folder sorted by date, which made sense at first but now i have like 8 months of footage and finding anything is a nightmare. i dont even know where to start with organizing this stuff.

but beyond just file management the actual editing side is slow too. i import into premiere, apply a LUT, cut stuff down, and then just kind of... stare at it for a while not sure whats missing. the technical stuff i can mostly handle but the storytelling part or knowing how to structure even a 2 minute reel is where i lose confidence completely. does anyone have like a rough workflow they actually stick to? not looking for the perfect system just something functional that wont make me want to throw my laptop

for the file thing, the structure that worked for me is a top level folder per project or location, then inside that you have RAW, EXPORT, and PROJECT FILES as subfolders. the date goes in the folder name not as a separate layer. so something like -03-coastaltrip and inside that its just those three folders. raw clips stay untouched in RAW, your premiere file lives in PROJECT FILES, and exports go in EXPORT. sounds simple but having that consistent structure means you never have to think about where something is.

for the actual creative block when you're staring at the timeline ? i started doing a rough selects pass before i even think about editing. just go through all the clips and mark the ones that are actually usable with a color label in premiere, red for no, green for yes, ignore everything else. then close the source monitor and only edit from your greens. it cuts decision fatigue in half honestly.

the storytelling thing is something i still struggle with after 3 years so dont feel too bad. what helped a bit was picking music first before i touch a single clip. like actually sit with a track for a few minutes and figure out where the energy changes are, mark those points in the timeline, and then build your shot selection around hitting those moments. it forces a structure on you so youre not just slapping clips together and hoping it feels right. the music kind of tells you how long the whole thing should be too which removes another decision