Start at the Root

Determine where you want your file system to live on your computer. Having all your files and documents under one “root” folder on your computer will make it easy to locate your files. Many single Windows users have all their folders, files and documents stored haphazardly in the “Documents” or “My Documents” folder on their PC. If this sounds like your system, then you might want to consider starting from scratch. The easiest way to do this is to save all your current folders, files and documents to a new folder and name it something like 2021 Archive or any appropriate name that’s easy to remember. Now, you can start to create a new file structure with broad categories without losing any of your current information. After your new filing system is created you can move previously created files and documents to the newly created system on an as needed basis.

Create a File Structure

File structure is the backbone of your filing system and it begins with using folders for general categories. Think big when creating filing categories and limit the number of folders to a critical few. Describe the contents of the folders with short commonly used, meaningful terms. Start broad and get more specific as you add files and documents to those broad category folders.

Examples for business folder names:

Administration

Clients

Financial

Insurance

Legal

Marketing

Organizations

Sales

Vendors

Projects

Examples for personal folder names:

Financial

Medical

Health & Wellness

Housing

Insurance

Taxes

Use Sub-Categories

After you have created your folders using broad categories you will want to create files with sub-categories. Sub-categories are used to organized those files and documents within your folders. You may have a folder called “Projects” and within that folder are several files or sub-categories called Project-A, Project-B and Project–C.

Sub-category example:

Projects

Project-A

Project-B

Project-C

Determine a Naming Convention

It’s important to name your folders and files consistently and logically. Storing multiple drafts of the same document can get confusing and a naming convention is one way to avoid that confusion.

Adding a date at the beginning of the file name is a great way to keep track of multiple documents and the addition of initials at the end of the file name will add clarity if more than one person is working on the same document.

Naming convention examples:

Sample File

2022.01.01 Sample File

2022.01.01 Sample File JD

“Save As” You Go

File your documents in the proper location by using the “Save As” feature. “Save As” allows you to save and file your documents as you go, so they will be placed in the correct file or folder from the start.

Clean Up Your Desk Top

Evaluate what you really use and delete those icons or shortcuts that are outdated or infrequently used.  Note: deleting a shortcut is not the same as deleting a file, folder or program from your computer. Deleting the shortcut will simply remove it from your desktop.

A program like Fences is a great way to automatically sort out all those remaining icons into organized, easy to see boxes and categories. The program can sort the categories for you or you can create your own categories.

Backup Your Files

Have a regiment in place to regularly back up your files. If your hard drive fails, is damaged or is maliciously attacked, then you risk losing all of your personal documents, photos, business transactions and correspondence. Backing up your files to a separate location, such as the cloud or an external hard drive creates an archive that will enable you to restore your data quickly and having all your files saved to a “root” will make that process easy.

Darla Pompilio

Your Tasks – Our Time, LLC

The post Seven Steps to Organizing Your Electronic Files appeared first on Your Tasks Our Time.

I like the David Allen approach to avoiding email clutter.  He has a four part system for handling email as it comes into your box.

Delete – Immediately get rid of those emails that aren’t useful or you will never read.

Do – Follow the 2 minute rule and handle any emails on the spot that take 2 minutes or less to complete.

Delegate – Ask yourself if the email is something that you need “to do” or can you give it to someone else to complete?

Defer – These are emails that need your attention and can be added to your “to do” list and scheduled in your calendar for a later time.

Sort your inbox by the “From” category in Outlook to allow you to delete an entire group of emails at one time.

Schedule time in your calendar on a monthly basis to sort through your emails. Scheduling time will help you avoid distractions.

Email Folders:

Remove those emails that you want to keep by creating folders.

Think in broad categories when creating folders to avoid folder overload.  If you are running a business you may want to have a folder for marketing or specific projects.  If you’re a homemaker, you may want separate folders for each family member or mom groups.

​Don’t like sorting your email into folders? Use Outlook Instant Search or the Gmail Search Box as your filing system.  Emails can be sorted by a word, phrase, name or partial name.  You can even narrow your search by scope, such as, subject line or sender and you can choose to search specific folders or all mailboxes.

Email Subscriptions:

Use a program like Unroll.Me to manage all those subscription emails that fill your inbox daily.  Unroll.Me, rolls those subscribed emails into one folder and list. Then you can choose to keep them, delete them or unsubscribe, and best of all, you decide the time of day to view your subscriptions.

Virtual Filing System:

Folders and Files

Mirror your paper filing system by creating a good folder structure using broad categories, followed by sub-categories.  If you use on-line banking, your broad category (folder) would be Financial and your sub-categories (files) would be your separate accounts.

Naming Convention

Storing multiple drafts of the same document can get confusing and a naming convention is one way to avoid that confusion.  Adding a date at the beginning of the file name is a great way to keep track of multiple documents and the addition of initials at the end of the file name will add clarity if more than one person is working on the same document.

Naming convention examples:

2022.01.01 Sample File

2022.01.01 Sample File JD

Desktop Icons:

Is your desktop cluttered with icons?  If so, this is a great time to evaluate what you really use and delete those icons that are outdated or infrequently used.  Note: deleting an icon is not the same as deleting a file, folder or program from your computer.  Deleting the icon will simply remove it from your desktop.

A program like Fences is a great way to automatically sort out all those remaining icons into organized, easy to see boxes and categories.  The program can sort the categories for you or you can create your own categories.

Darla Pompilio

Your Tasks – Our Time, LLC

The post Tips and Tricks to Eliminate Electronic Clutter appeared first on Your Tasks Our Time.

When the burden of too much clutter is lifted from our shoulders, we may feel physically lighter, more energetic and less stressed. This relief can lead to increased work productivity, greater enthusiasm and better relationships.

The question we need to ponder is why do we purchase so much in the first place?  There are a number of explanations for this compulsion. Often we simply want to possess the latest and greatest stuff because we think it’s fun to own!   We live in a consumer culture and we often validate ourselves by what and how much we can accumulate.   Consumerism and materialism are promoted by advertisers in print and on TV and computers in the form of commercials.  According to Annie Leonard who wrote, “The Story of Stuff”, the two main activities Americans engage in are watching TV and shopping.  We are bombarded by advertising and are exposed to approximately 3000 ads per day. We see more ads in a day then people saw in a year 50 years ago.

Couple that with the fact that the average house size has doubled since the 1970’s and it becomes easy to see why we accumulate so much “stuff”.

Sadly in order to maintain our lifestyles of consumption, many people are working 50+ hours per week.  We work until are exhausted and depleted and then we shop to make us feel better! We return home too tired to do much else than watch TV and the cycle begins anew!!

Is this the way we really want to lead our lives?  If so, fine!  If not, then it’s time to rethink our goals and blithely step off that hamster wheel of consumption and examine saner options!!

The post Cultivate Your Space to Change Your Life appeared first on Your Tasks Our Time.

Shedding the old is easy if we are not attached to our items, but often we are attached to family heirlooms and to those items we have lovingly purchased!  After all, we paid for them and consequently consider them to be good stuff!  These are the items that hinder our efforts as we attempt to un-clutter our lives. The more we accumulate, the more difficult it is to be clutter free.

The costs of clutter are both tangible and intangible.  The tangible costs include financial loss from over spending, late fees on bills, diminished work productivity because we have to spend time locating missing papers and also creating stress that can lead to depression and illness.  The intangible costs of clutter may include social embarrassment resulting from having a cluttered home, distressed personal relationships and even loss of momentum and direction in pursuit of our goals.

Detaching from clutter may be difficult, but it’s worth the time and effort if you truly wish to live a simplified and more fulfilling life

Let’s begin this journey by asking some questions about the items you own:

Do you need the items?  If not, let them go.

Do you love the item? If not, let them go!

Do you use these items on a regular basis or recently? If so maintain those items but keep them at a minimum.

How do you use these items and are they in good working order? How you use an item can shed light on whether the item should be kept.  Items that work improperly or are difficult to use can cause frustration and should not be kept.

What is your relationship to the item? If you feel emotionally attached to an item, ask yourself the following questions.

Does this item bring value to my current life style?

Is this item contributing to the life I wish to lead?

Are you keeping the item because you think you should or because you want to? It’s okay to let go of those items that were given to us by our family members.  It’s fine to keep family items that you treasure, but frequently family members donate items because they believe only other family members would truly enjoy them or would use them properly.

Learning to detach is often a journey that includes creating new habits.  One of the best ways to avoid having to purge, is to ask yourself if you really need or love an item before purchasing it?

Begin by consciously using the method for a month or so, and you will be surprised at how easily you can reduce the clutter in your home and simplify your surroundings.

The post The Clutter Free Life – How to Detach appeared first on Your Tasks Our Time.

Clear the space you want to organize – a good way to get started is to place your stacks of papers in a basket or box and start working from the top down.

Sort & purge – quickly sort through papers by creating 4 filing categories.

• Do it
• File it
• Delegate it
• Pitch it

Use a filing system that works with the way you process information – once you have sorted all of your papers you will need an on-going filing system that works with the way you process information. You may need to use a color coded system, or verbs might be the best way to label your files and if you are really analytical you might prefer a numerical system. Just be sure to pick a system that works for the way you think.

Put supplies you need and use most close at hand – your desk and your most needed supplies should radiate around you and be easy to reach at all times.

Use only one notebook for all notes and tasks – keep all notes and to do lists in one place.

Utilize a two tray desktop organizer – one tray is for long term projects you need close at hand and the other tray is for work you need to accomplish that day.

Consider using 2 monitors – one for your calendar and one for your work.

Keep your drawers tidy – use drawer organizers to store extra supplies and keep you desk clear of clutter.

Keep your desk clear – eliminate excessive personal items and start with a clean slate each day.

Darla Pompilio

Your Tasks – Our Time, Inc

The post Quick and Easy Desktop Organization appeared first on Your Tasks Our Time.