Alright, so today I wanted to share a bit about my recent dive into something I’ve been calling the “McKenzie Hawkins” way of doing things. It’s not like it’s some official, trademarked system you’ll find in business books, not that I’ve seen anyway. It’s more like a name that stuck in my head after piecing together advice and observations from various places, mostly obscure forum posts and little comments here and there. Someone, somewhere, probably a practical soul named McKenzie Hawkins, must have championed this straightforward approach, or at least that’s the narrative I built.
How It All Started
So, picture this: my digital life, and even some of my project workflows, were getting seriously out of hand. I mean, files everywhere, notes scattered across a dozen apps, and that nagging feeling that I was spending more time looking for stuff than actually doing stuff. It was frustrating, you know? I was getting bogged down. I knew I needed to simplify, to find a more grounded way to operate. I started poking around online, not for a fancy new tool, but for a mindset shift, a simpler philosophy.
That’s when I started noticing these little breadcrumbs, hints of a really stripped-down, no-nonsense way of organizing and executing. No fancy jargon, just common sense. And somehow, the name “McKenzie Hawkins” got associated with it in my mind, maybe from a particularly insightful comment I read, or maybe I just made it up to give a name to the principles I was trying to distill. Let’s just say McKenzie Hawkins represents that practical, get-it-done spirit.
My First Steps with the “McKenzie Hawkins” Idea
The core idea, as I interpreted it, was ruthless simplification and consistency. My first target? My computer’s file system. It was a disaster. So, I just started. No grand plan at first, just action.
- The Big Purge: I took a deep breath and just started deleting. Old downloads, duplicate photos, project files from three years ago I swore I’d get back to. If I hadn’t touched it in a year and it wasn’t critical, it either went into a deep archive or got deleted. It felt good, like decluttering a real room.
- Folder Structure Reset: Then, I tackled my main document folders. Instead of twenty vaguely named folders, I forced myself to use just a few top-level ones: ‘Active_Projects’, ‘Reference_Material’, ‘Admin_Stuff’, ‘Personal_Life’, and ‘Archive_Deep’. That was it. The “McKenzie Hawkins” vibe felt like it was about broad, clear categories at the top.
Getting into the Nitty-Gritty
Okay, so cleaning up was one thing. Staying organized was the next hurdle. This is where I really tried to channel that “McKenzie Hawkins” practicality.
Naming Conventions – Oh Boy: This was a big one. I decided every new file, every new note, would have a consistent naming structure. Something like `YYYY-MM-DD_Topic_Descriptor_v01`. It felt a bit robotic at first, I won’t lie. There were days I’d just save something as `*` out of old habit and then immediately regret it. But I pushed through. The point wasn’t to be perfect, but to build a habit.
Tool Simplification: I also took a hard look at the apps I was using. Was I really using all the features of that fancy to-do list app, or could a simple text file work? For many things, the simpler tool won. The “McKenzie Hawkins” way, in my head, wasn’t about having the best tools, but about using basic tools effectively.
Applied to a Small Project: I then tried to apply this thinking to a small personal project I was working on – organizing a community workshop.
Instead of overthinking, I just created a main folder for the workshop. Inside:
- `01_Planning_Docs` (with my consistently named files)
- `02_Comms_Material`
- `03_Attendee_Lists`
- `04_Feedback_Forms`
Super simple. Every email related to it got tagged or moved into a specific email folder. Every task went into a plain text file, checked off when done. No Gantt charts, no complex software. Just basic, consistent steps.
What Happened? The Results.
Honestly, it wasn’t a magic bullet. There were days I slipped up. But overall? Things got… calmer.
Finding things became so much faster. That consistent naming and simple folder structure meant I wasn’t guessing where things were anymore. A quick search usually brought it right up.
My stress levels actually dropped. Not having that constant low-level anxiety about where information was, or what I was forgetting, made a real difference.
Starting new things felt easier. Because I had a basic framework, I wasn’t facing a blank, chaotic page every time. I knew how to set up the folders, how to name the initial files. It reduced that initial friction.
The so-called “McKenzie Hawkins” approach, or my version of it, isn’t revolutionary. It’s just about being deliberate, consistent, and favoring simplicity. It’s about doing the basic things well, over and over. Took a bit of discipline to get going, but for me, it’s been a quiet game-changer. I spend less time managing the mess and more time on what actually matters. And that, I think, is something McKenzie Hawkins, whoever they are or were, would approve of.
