No Really - This Is About Folders & Files

Next I want to discuss organizing the information you will gather and want to keep in your My Documents file folder.

You will use the same process that you would use to set up a filing system in your office. If you don’t have a filing system and don’t set one up on your computer then every file you create or save will show up in one huge group when you open you’re my documents file.

If you have varied interests and do research or write about things or take pictures and want them on the computer you will need to think about making folders with unique names and possibly even folders within folders.

In my home office file cabinet I have hanging folders with titles like Finances, Wills, Owner Manuals, Insurance, Medical, Writing, Publishing, etc.

Within Finances, I have twelve pendaflex folders named by month. I put my receipts and monthly finance information into these folders and at the end of the year I go through them for tax information. I have a thirteenth folder at the back of the Finances folder called Taxes which is where I keep my income tax information for a few years.

The same thing exists on my computer I am a published author. I’m currently writing two new books. I use a word processing program on my computer and I’ve set up a folder called Writing and Research. Within that file folder in My Documents I have several other files one each by book title, one for Research and so on. Like this:

• Inside Writing and Research are the sub files:
• And within each of these file folders are individual files, emails and some pictures and audio pieces to support the writing that I do.

I love Railroads, I worked for one for many years and one of my new books is set in a railroading community. So within My Documents is Writing and Research an within that is Railroads and inside that is the word processing file I created last month for the website.

This is just one way in which you can set up organizational file folders and files on your hard drive.

I have many interests and am active in many things. To keep my life somewhat orderly, I have a Calendar, File folders set up for various kinds of information like my writing.

I find if I am thoughtful when I create a file folder within My Documents and then even more thoughtful about the sub folders and their contents my information is compact and organized just like in a folder in my file cabinet. I can grab a folder by copying it onto a portable device such as a USB drive (finger drive) and take it with me to another computer for instance if I want to use the information somewhere else.

It just takes a bit of mindfulness to make your computing life as harmonious as the rest of your life.