N° 3 - How to organise your files
Problem: Can’t find my files
You can’t find the files you are looking for?
Do you sometimes feel lost within your folder system?
Are you missing that vital file?
Do you wish for a folder system that quickly gives you what you are looking for?
Solution: Event Driven Analysis
Event driven analysis is a simple system that allows you to easily find your past work. It is borne of the way that your mind actually works - how your mind stores memories from the past.
An event-driven system allows you to trigger recollection and delve into your past much more efficiently.
How does it work?
The key idea is in the name, event. It is based around the concept of numbering and naming folders in the order in which events occur.
So, for example:
0_archive
1_email_request_10_May_2019
2_revenue_analysis
3_addition_to_costs
Events dictate our business lives and when looking back into a folder system the events will again come back into memory if they are numbered in the order in which they occurred with a sensible name.
Numbered folders for each work event
The rules
Here are the rules:
Use a numbering system for folders whenever possible - this keeps them ordered
Add some text which briefly and reasonably describes the work that you did - this should be readable and understandable to you
Use an underscore between the number and the text
Add a “0_archive” folder within an event folder in case the files are many and some are initially less useful than others - you can store them here
Easy recognition
The idea here is to number your folders for easy recognition. It is amazing how much easier it is to recognise the location of something if you have both a number and letters.
For example, I call a folder “5_Update project in Jan 09” and then when the next project comes in I call it “6_Next project”. Notice the use of the underscore; again this makes it easier to read and find.
Numbered folders maintain the order of events
The numbers serve to keep the event-driven order even though folders that have a differing alphabetical order. When you have to insert folders in between others, simply adopt a number and letter, for example 6a_ and then 6b_.
Get in touch to find out how Lazuli Solutions can help you.
