My Organized Biz

Conquering your snarly virtual file folders

by Jennifer Hofmann on June 11th, 2008

(www.myorganizedbiz.com) - Do you ever find yourself muttering inane things while you search for a file on your computer? “Now… where did I… put that… blasted thing…?” Your brows are furrowed and if you could just… remember, maybe you could actually get some work done.

So often, when we’re working on something, we “save as” without giving a moment’s thought to how we’ll need to retreive it someday. We just give it any old name that makes sense - adding it to an old folder or creating new ones willy-nilly.

I have a client who’s goal is to set up his virtual folders to be so logical that anyone could quickly find the information. I like that.

In order to retrieve files and data easily, what’s needed is some consciousness. You don’t need a yoga pose or deep breathing (although they wouldn’t hurt), but here are 3 steps that can help:

1. Figure out what you’ve got - Most people have no idea what’s in their virtual files unless they’re used regularly. So I recommend taking 30 minutes to go in and actually look. Get friendly with your files.

It’s important to not judge what there, but simply observe and take stock. It was useful to you at some point, and that’s enough for the first step.

2. Figure out what you don’t need - Once you’ve gotten more familiar with the contents of your electronic files, start culling the herd. Chances are good that there are things you don’t use or even recognize. Just delete ‘em. If you’re not sure, create an archives folder that you can visit at a later date when you’re sure.

The benefit of deleting things is that you decrease the sheer volume of decisions you need to make about where things should go (the 3rd step). Plus, it just feels good. So does hitting “Empty Recycle Bin”.

3. Deliberately move “like” things together - When you know what you have and you’ve removed what you don’t need, the next thing is to determine how to put it all together. If you have a lot of sub-folders for classes you’ve offered, for example, create a folder for your classes, and store them all there. This may sound basic, but lots of us just store documents anywhere.

The most important thing is naming the folders with logical titles. Abbreviations and numbers aren’t recommended because they’re hard to visually scan. Just ask yourself, “What do I call this thing in real life?” - and name it that. Note for a few days if they’re working for you - and change them if they’re not.

Lastly, repeat. As your business grows, so do the documents you use. Set aside some time on a 6-12 month basis where you evaluate your file storage. Tweak what’s not working for you - and you’ll find yourself muttering less and enjoying your work even more.

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POSTED IN: Declutter and downsize, Systems and structure, Technology Tips