It’s not glamorous, but what’s the one thing on your computer with which you probably interact the most as a business professional? Aside from your email or (for some) social media, it’s usually your file system. I bet you didn’t think of it immediately, and if you did, you’re probably already ahead of the game. These are my best tips for organizing your file system for maximum efficiency and effectiveness. What do you think?
How to PROPERLY organize your digital file system:
Step 1:
- Take everything that is old, irrelevant, or not immediately useful and archive it. Put it in an Archive folder or, even better, get it off your dang computer and into a cloud backup or other location (if appropriate for security and confidentiality reasons). Don’t even put any energy into filing, managing, or organizing these materials. If you need them later, you can put in the extra effort to find materials or even un-archive them.
Congratulations! You just made your filing project significantly more manageable. Hopefully, you’re down to a year or less of materials and perhaps some miscellaneous files/folders.
Step 2:
- Organize the first echelon of folders/materials by the first and most salient “search parameter.” When you recall the last 5 things you had to go find in your file system, what was the first defining characteristic that you thought of (date, type of material, client, type of project, line of business, etc.)?
- Organize the subsequent set of folders and files by the next most obvious criteria. When you look at the material in each of the first set of folders, the natural order of things should begin to present itself. Everyone’s mind is different.
- Wherever possible, don’t go more than three folders deep on any important material. As you add files/folders and organize them, you will naturally add more bottom-level folders, which becomes unmanageable if you start too deep.
Step 3: Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS). This is all about accessibility and reducing friction, not perfect labeling and categorization.
Step 4:
- Regularly put in a limited amount of energy into maintaining your file system and organizing wayward files, moving things around appropriately, etc. Just don’t get out of hand. Once a week should be plenty – always on the same day (often beginning of the week) and immediately after your overnight or periodic backup, not before (in case you delete or lose things).
Step 5: Learn to use
- sort by date modified
- shortcuts (links)
- pinned folders
- recent files/folders
- frequent files/folders
Sit back and enjoy your frictionless file system!
Coincidentally, I can’t vouch for any of the above instruction on a non-PC OS, and I would probably look down on you if managing serious amounts of work and material on a Mac. Linux gets a pass but assumes you already know what you’re doing. I recognize this point of view may be controversial.