Organize Files

 

If your files are organized well, you will save lots of time when retrieving files from the past. Here are some suggestions:

 

1)    Be disciplined about your naming of computer files. Be sure to include enough information in the filename that the file contents can be quickly recognized simply by looking at the filename.

 

2)    Organize your work into categories and create master folders for each category. For example:  work, family, church, etc. For many years, I have used the following top-level categories for my computer files:

 

o   0-General/Family

o   1-International

o   2-Church

o   3-School

o   4-Music

o   5-Research

o   6-Utility

o   7-Computer/Web

o   8-Financial

o   9-Old

 

Within each top-level category, I created subfolders. So, for example, under international I have:

 

o   1-International

-   India

-   Japan

-   Zambia

-   Other

 

By creating primary folders with “nested” subfolders, I know exactly where to place a computer file, and I know where I am likely to find it later. For example, if I want to find a pdf copy of a song I used five years ago, I know it will be in the Music folder. If I want to find the Sikalongo Bible Institute syllabus for the History of Christianity, I know I will find it in the Syllabii subfolder of the SBI subfolder which is located in the Zambia subfolder which is located inside the International folder. Because I named the file with a descriptive name, I will also be able to see it immediately. Hence:

 

o   1-International

-   India

-   Japan

-   Zambia

>      SBI

a.     Course Syllabii

                                                                                                                                     i.      SBI-GEN-ChurchHistory

>      ZACU

-   Other

 

3)    Be disciplined about filing documents as soon as you produce them. If possible, save the document directly to the appropriate folder.

 

4)    Place “shortcuts” on your desktop for your short-term work. When one project is finished, that shortcut can be deleted without deleting the files for the project. This saves time going through folder after folder to find the actual document every day. For example, My desktop has a shortcut for every class website, allowing me to quickly go to the documents in order to update the website.