24 Seven January 2022

ISSUE NO.135

CULMINATION

JAN 2022

ORGANIZING YOUR DIGITAL FILES

Written by Gayle M. Gruenberg, CPO-CD ®

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Let’s face it, life is becoming increasingly electronic. Humans have even grown a new appendage: a digital device. Our devices enable us to always be connected to one another, in constant communication with our colleagues and families. They have erased what was once known as patience and replaced it with an urgent need for the right now. We can’t stand the idea of waiting or searching for something. We’re used to getting instantaneous information at the push of a button or voice request. We maintain that time is money. So in order to find what we need in seconds and share information with interested parties, it’s essential to keep our digital files organized.

Not everyone knows how to do that. Here is guidance for creating an organized digital file system.

If you’re used to a physical paper-management system, think of your digital system as an electronic file cabinet, with a similar hierarchy of categories. The cabinet is the main unit that contains your files. Most operating systems come with a built-in “cabinet,” a folder that may be called “documents,” “my documents,” or “my drive.” This is the base of your system, where all of your files will live. If your system were a tree, this would be the root.

Within a file cabinet there are drawers. I recommend assigning one main category of information to a drawer. For instance, one drawer can be for business files and one for personal files. In your digital system, you would create one folder within the main “documents” folder for each category: one for business and one for personal. Using the tree metaphor, this would be the trunk.

Each drawer of a file cabinet holds hanging folders. These

are the sub-categories of the business and personal main categories. In the business drawer, there may be folders for financial, human resources, and marketing. In the personal drawer, you may have folders for family history, medical, and recipes. The same sub-categories can be created digitally. These would be the branches of the tree.

In the hanging folders of a cabinet there are file folders for topics within the sub-categories. The financial hanging folder in the business drawer may hold files for accounting, insurance, and taxes. In the personal drawer, there may be a medical file for each family member. These would be the leaves of the tree. Some words of advice: Keep it simple and think in broad strokes. Limit the number of main categories and sub-topics to as few as possible, preferably between five and seven. Make a list of your topics and subtopics (in an outline or using sticky notes) and arrange them before creating your digital system.

Use an easy naming convention, with titles that you would remember. If “keeps me out of jail” works for you, then certainly use it. Save new files to the applicable folder as you create them. The desktop is only for programs you use daily. Weed out old files regularly. Back up constantly.

About The AuthorGAYLE GRUENBERG

Gayle M. Gruenberg, CPO-CD ® , CVPO is the chief executive organizer of Let’s Get Organized, LLC, an organizer coach, and the creator of the Make Space for Blessings system.

To Learn More Visit: www.LGOrganized.com