Routine Computer Maintainance - Keeping Files Organized
November 18th, 2007Along the same lines as defragmenting your hard drive, a good practice to get into is going through your documents folder and deleting anything you know you don’t need. We all know how easy it is to accumulate "stuff" in real life, how much more so in the digital realm!
However, the more cluttered and unorganized your hard drive is, the more work you have to go through every time you need to find something. This can severly inhibit your enjoyment of your computer. Here are some common practices I use to increase my peace.
Temporary (junk) Folder
On every computer I use, I have a temporary folder where all my downloads go, and any other junk that I probably don’t want. I make a strict rule that anything that goes in this folder is OK to delete at any time. Collecting a certain level of junk is inevitable, so I find it’s best to draw a strict boundary around your junk area and not let it creep into the organized pats of your computer. It’s easier to understand what this folder is for by listing what doesn’t go in there:
1) No documents I write or receive (unless they’re throw away documents ).
2) No files that I know I don’t want to ever lose
3) Nothing I access on a regular basis.
Documents Folders
I create one document folder for each area of my life. Church, Work, Personal. On Windows these folders typically go inside the My Documents folder. Sometimes I also include a Miscellaneous folder alongside these, but I’ve found that most of what goes in Misc, probably belongs in the Temp. folder.
Pictures
On Windows all pictures I need go into Picasa. Other pictures go in my temporary folder. On Mac, the same is true for iPhoto. Any picture not worthy of keeping in iPhoto or Picasa is relegated to the Temporary folder.
Music
On both Windows and Mac, all my music collection is handled by iTunes so I have no need for organizing music files all over my Hard Drive. I always turn on the option "Copy items to my music library when adding them to iTunes". This makes sure that once I’ve added something to my iTunes libarary, I can safely delete it from the original location.
Email Attachments
Email attachments almost always go into my Temp folder unless they contain something I want to keep. I have my email program setup to always save stuff there when I open it.
Following these rules helps me to keep my hard drive nice and organized which makes it easier to work smoothly on an everyday basis. This kind of organization is essential to keeping my peace.
