Organizing in the Digital World

Even though a room full of books, documents and files can fit inside a small
laptop computer, they still require organizing. The same challenges exist in
the digital world as in our physical space. Too many files can end up
overwhelming your hard drive and make it nearly impossible to find what you
need in a hurry. Even the nifty search function can't help if you have 9
different versions of the same file that use non descript titles or provide
no indication of which file is actually the final.

Just as our physical spaces require healthy habits to ensure we are getting
the most out of our space, we must also build good file management habits
for our digital storage. One trick used by software developers, graphic
designers and other professionals that handle large volumes of files is to
create a naming convention. This helps organize files quickly by using the
sort functions provided by the file browsers in all the popular operating
systems. For example if your files are project oriented you may choose a
naming convention like PROJECT-NAME-SUBJECT-V1.doc

This convention will quickly group all documents in a folder by project
together by simply sorting alphabetically on the file name field. All
documents with the same project and subject will also be grouped together so
that the different versions will also appear next to one another making it
easy to see which is the latest version.

Got some naming conventions that help keep your computer Organized with
Style? Please feel free to comment and share your organizing tips.