How to Organize Digital Files
Hello hello! Welcome to my blog! I’m Amy Fredericksen. A Professional Organizer serving West Hartford, CT and all surrounding areas! If you have been following along this past month, you would have noticed that I was talking ALL things digital. I’ve talked about how to organize apps on your phone, digital photos, and how to manage your email inbox! CLICK HERE to check out all of these posts to learn more about each topic!
This week, I am talking about how to organize your digital files or documents that you have in folders on your computer. But first, let me tell you a little story about why I am doing this…
About a month ago I needed to update the software on my lap top. The update required a certain amount of free storage space on my computer in order to complete the update. And you want to know what happened? I’m sure you can take a guess….
I DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH STORAGE SPACE!!!
Talk about annoying! So, here I was, trying to update my computer. Something that should have taken me maybe 10 minutes ended up taking about THREE HOURS because I had to go through all of my files to make more storage space. I am not that “techie” so I am now wondering if there was an easier way for me to do this, maybe external drive or something, but I needed to update it at that moment. I did not have time to buy an external drive and wait for it to get to me.
So, for organizing sake, let’s just talk about what I did because it still felt good to get a handle on my documents and actually delete things I no longer needed. So, here is what I did to purge my files and organize them in a way that I can actually maintain them:
1. Delete
The first thing I did was to go through all of the folders that were already listed in my documents and scan each document and see if I still needed it.
I download a lot of files, so the first place I checked was the “downloads” folder. I ended up deleting most of those images and files because they were not important to me. After I went through he “downloads” folder, I moved on to all of the other folders that I already had set up. I went through each folder one by one looking at each document in that folder. If I didn’t need it, I deleted it.
Tip: If you use programs like Google docs, or any other type of programs that give you storage space on that platform, you don’t have to save the file on your own computer. For example, say you write a paper on Google docs. Yes, you need to technically download that doc to print it. But once you print it, delete that file from your “downloads” folder. It will automatically be saved on your cloud space with Google!
2. Create Names
As I was going through all of the files I had, if I did not recognize a file name of something I wanted to keep, I renamed the file name to something I knew I would be able to find.
I also created any extra folders I needed and titled each folder so I knew what was inside that folder. The name of the folders will vary depending on what type of materials you have saved. For instance, I created a folder labeled with my business name, and other folders labeled with different online courses I have taken for my business. These courses came with downloadable materials so I have them on hand in their own folders.
If you have multiple people sharing a computer, you can create folders labeled with each person’s name. From there, you can create other folders inside of those folders to organize any materials you have for a specific category.
3. Empty the Trash Bin
Even though you have technically deleted the files, the files then get stored in your “trash bin”. I thought that once you deleted them, it’s fine. But no. Even though you deleted the file, it sits in your trash bin which takes up storage space also, so make sure to empty your trash bin!
4. Maintain
The hard part is over. Doing the initial purge and organizing can feel like such a drag, but once you get everything in order, it should be smooth sailing from there. Now you just need a system put into place to keep up with everything.
Now that I have everything organized, here is what I do to maintain it. There are days that I spend hours on my computer doing work. Now, when I am finished for the day, I open my “downloads” folder and automatically delete anything I downloaded for that day. Most of the time whatever I downloaded can be found again for me.
If I am saving a file, I make sure to tag it right away so it gets stored into the appropriate folder.
Feeling Overwhelmed?
First of all, you aren’t alone. Decluttering can feel so stressful, especially if you are inundated with stuff, no matter if it is physical or digital. If you feel like you are buried, don’t do it alone. Let me help you. Let’s set up a call and we can come up with a game plan - together!
TALK SOON, FRIEND!