A place for every file

A few habits that make finding things easier.

Organizing documents does not begin with a perfect folder tree. It begins with a simple question: where will I look for this file next time?

Group things by project

Keep documents for the same project together. Within that folder, separating source material, work in progress, and finished results is often enough. Extra layers are only useful when they help you find something.

Use names that explain themselves

A short project name, a description, and a date make a file recognizable. When dates matter for sorting, the year-month-day format keeps names in chronological order.

Archive completed work

Your working folder should show what you are working on now. Move completed projects into an archive, keeping the final version and any source material you may need again.