THE IMPORTANCE OF AN ORGANISED FILE SYSTEM

Your computer files (whether they’re word documents, photos or anything else) are much like physical documents and you should have a system in place to sort them.

If you just save everything to the one folder, it’s a nightmare to sort through and find exactly what you’re looking for! Just imagine if you threw every piece of paper, book, photo album and loose photos into the one big drawer at home. Trying to find that one photo from your vacation 5 years ago is going to take ages.

But much like a filing cabinet, your computer can have folders to help the sorting process. These 3 tips will save you a lot of head-ache if you follow them when saving and sorting your files.

1.) Folders
Having properly named and sorted folders is the key for proper file organisation. The amazing thing about digital storage is that you can have as many folders (or sub-folders as you like!). A good idea is to have 2 main folders that everything is sorted into. A documents folder and a photos folder.
For example, my documents folder has a structure similar to this. With it I can easily find and sort any document I might have saved or downloaded. My photos folder has a similar structure but is instead sorted by when and where the pictures were taken!

2.) File Names
Whenever you save, download or upload a file, you should name it something appropriate so that you can easily find it later. If it’s a photo from your vacation to Fiji this year, name it something like ‘Fiji July 2019’. That way you know what it is at a glance and can even find it with your computers search function if you can’t remember what folder it was in.

3.) Stay Consistent 
Having a system in place in almost pointless if you don’t follow it. In fact it can be detrimental if you don’t. You may think you’ll remember that you saved that important document in your Fiji vacation photos folder, but one week later you’ll be at wits end trying to find it in your documents folder. Consistency is key!

It’s never too late to get started! If you start now, you can slowly work your way through your current files as you go.