Keeping university projects organized on a Mac during finals season

Every semester I end up with dozens of folders full of essays, group projects, and presentations scattered across my desktop. It gets really chaotic during finals week when I need to find something quickly. I’ve tried renaming files and creating separate folders, but it still feels messy, and my laptop’s storage fills up fast. I’m looking for an efficient way to keep everything organized while making sure I don’t accidentally delete or lose important files. How do you all manage your study materials better?