What a time to be alive! In this day-and-age, your computer can give you access to email, Skype meetings, applications, the internet, and so much more.
The only struggle with that is trying to keep everything organized. How can you keep track of files from all the different applications and software on your laptop?
While it may not happen overnight, there are several things you can start to incorporate and get your file organization back on the right track.
Here are several tips on how to rearrange your digital files and have things ready to be opened at any moment.
1. Have a “Sole” Folder
The file organization has to start somewhere, right? If you’re going to start getting things rearranged, it all starts with a folder that will hold all the other folders.
On a personal folder, your laptop probably has a storage location titled “My documents”. However, on a shared computer, such as your work computer, that isn’t an option.
So, with that said, you’ll have to make your own. Place a folder on your desktop that will be designated as the location for all of your documents.
That way, next time you can’t find a specific document, no matter what folder they’re in, you at least know where to start your search.
2. Comb Through the Old Documents
When you start to pay attention to how many documents are spread out throughout your computer, the age of some of them will astound you.
Because you saved them so long ago, you probably won’t remember the content within them. They could be important or they could be non-essential. But there’s only one way to find out… combing through them.
Set aside some time, either during your workday or over the weekend, to go through all the old documents.
As you go through them you can decide whether they can be thrown away or moved under one of the many new folders that you have for the organization.
3. Backup the Essentials
Sometimes attempting to organize your files can get messy. It’s entirely possible that after 20 to 30 minutes of sorting, your mind will start to trail off.
When that happens you risk deleting or misplacing a very important document.
To avoid that from happening, and having no way to retrieve it, start by backing up everything that you know to be essential. This means documents, photos, everything.
You can choose to back it up either on an external drive or through the cloud that your computer offers. If you’re looking for ways to better manage your business’s documentation, consider Docuware as your solution.
4. Clear and Concise Folder Titles
Many people make the mistake of trying to provide shortcuts when it comes time to name their folders.
For example, they feel that naming a file “Potential Client Invoice Mock-Ups” is too wordy. So, in an effort to spare themselves the long title, they abbreviate the file to “PC Invoice Mock-Ups”.
Then, a few business days later, they go searching for a particular document and forget what “PC” stood for.
Each folder title needs to have a title that explains the documentation within it. Try to keep it as few words as possible, but don’t sacrifice description just to keep it aesthetically pleasing. That’s not the end goal, here.
5. Consider Your Storage Capacity
While you’re putting forth the effort of properly organizing your documents, it’s worth considering other things that play a role in your device’s organization.
Keeping documents clean and organized is only half the battle. You also need to consider that there is only a finite amount of space on your computer’s storage. Some tough situations may arise one day if that were to reach its maximum.
While you’re sorting through documents, try to keep an open mind on what has to remain in storage and what doesn’t.
That doesn’t mean you should simply throw everything you deem “non-essential” in the trash. Try placing it on an external drive so that you have it ready to go if you should need it in the future. Speaking of external drives…
6. Organize Your External Drive
You’ve placed all of this effort into reorganizing the documents and files on your desktop. What good is it to back up some of those files if the external drive you’re sending them to is disorganized?
You will dread having to go back to the external drive and try to scope out a file you saved on it. In fact, you’ll actively try to talk yourself out of doing it.
Take the practices you’re placing on organizing your files within the desktop and do the same for your go-to external drive. That way, you’ll only spend mere moments, not hours, retrieving a file from the drive when you need it.
7. Use a File Structure That Fits You
Consider this: there is no one correct way to organize your files. In fact, the filing system that might work for you may not make much sense to your friends, and that’s okay!
What’s important is that you use a filing system that makes sense in your mind.
That way, when you need to retrieve a file, you’ll understand the system’s layout and know exactly where to go.
Get Your Digital Files In Order Today!
Now that you’ve seen several ways to go about organizing your digital files, it’s time to act on them!
Take your time to file through things accurately and efficiently. Ideally, this will be the last time you have to organize your digital files for a while.
