Effective management of personal files

Problem

Managing personal files on a computer is fraught with the following difficulties.

Files are lost (where saved? As named?);
Navigating the file manager takes a lot of time;
The directory system allows you to classify files with relative convenience only by one feature.

Decision

The solution is to:

special name of any saved file;
store all files in one folder;
Access files through a single interface - the search string (for example, Spotlight in OS X).

Sounds like madness. But if you break the paradigm of normal file handling in your head and apply this approach, it will save a lot of time and nerves.

Special naming convention

When naming it is necessary to answer three main questions: when, what, why .

When is the date. The most convenient way is to specify the date the file was created. The date must be specified at the beginning of the file name in the format yymmdd . Example: "141027";
What or what is this file? - this is the class of the object. It could be a book, a business plan, an idea, a receipt, a plane ticket, a passport photo, a scan of a check — anything. The answer to the question must be indicated in the file name in the format o = what is this file . “O” is short for object. You can choose your cut, of course. Examples: “o = book”, “o = businessPlan”, “o = thought”;
Why - this is the short name of the task (project) for which this file exists. The answer to the question why should be specified in the file name in the format t = task . "T" is short for "task". Examples: “t = myNewKillerApp”, “t = New Language ProgrammingWhichI'm learning”, “t = repair”.

After answering these three main questions, anything can be written in the file name, which will then help to find it. Full naming examples: “141027 o = book t = business Geoffrey A. Moore - Crossing the Chasm”, “141027 o = resume t = job resume for Yandex”.
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In the same format, parameter = value , you can assign any other parameters to the file with any values. For example.

client = ClientName - for the name of the customer to whom you are doing the project;
v = Version number — for file version;
Or even if the file content is associated with some strong feelings (for example, because it is a special book for you, a quote, a photo of a cat), then you can enter the parameter “feeling”, abbreviated “f”, and add it to the file name, for example , the following "f = passion", "f = humor".

So you can call not only files, but also directories. For example, if it is a directory with the source codes of an application.

Parameter values can be nested. For example, “o = summary.book”.

Cross platform

That same shared folder with all files should be stored in a place that is automatically copied to the cloud. For example, we will continue to talk about DropBox everywhere. Then in the folder “Dropbox” there will be our shared folder, for example, “bigbox”. So the file becomes available from any device by default.

But files of a certain type should sometimes be stored in separate special folders, rather than in a general one. It is necessary to synchronize the files of individual applications on the smartphone. For example, all text files will go to one folder (for example, “textBox”), all pdf - to another (for example, “pdfBox”). Applications on the smartphone for managing text files and pdf-files will be synchronized with these folders, each with its own.

The convenience of the solution is that:

You can switch from application to application painlessly;
On a smartphone, search through all files via the Dropbox application is always available (after all, it may not be initially known what format the project information will be like, for example).

If we talk about iOS, then for text files I use Notesy (understands Markdown, has my own search), for pdf - PDF Expert or PDFpen. All applications are synchronized with DropBox.

Browser Bookmarks

Browser bookmarks should be named the same way, but they are stored separately by the browser and, in general, you will not be able to search through a single search line interface. Therefore, there will have to find a compromise. The options are as follows.

You can not use browser bookmarks at all, but save the links as webloc files in OS X or Internet Shortcut files in Windows. (In OS X, this is done by dragging the link from the browser line (beyond the field on the left) to the Finder window). If we talk about iOS, then it will need to install the Webloc Tool application, which will allow you to open webloc files from Dropbox. In this approach, you will have to put up with the fact that the bookmarks will not be accessible from the browser and will have to switch;
You can use the browser, which bookmarks can search in the desktop OS (Safari in OS X, for example). Then you have to put up with the need for a smartphone to search for data not only in Dropbox, but also in browser bookmarks.

I use the first approach. It is absolutely universal: there is no binding either to the browser or even to the operating system.

Additional software to simplify working with files

To simplify work with files in the specified key, it is advantageous to use additional software.

Text Expander Software, a software that enters several characters into the text of a larger volume. For example, I have been set up so that if I enter “dd” and a space from the keyboard, then the current date appears in the format required for naming the file; if I enter “nn”, then the full template of the file name appears: “current_date o = t = f =”. In general, dozens of different abbreviations appear when using such software;
Software to rename a group of files at once;
Notational Velocity (or its advanced alternative - nvALT ) allows you to conveniently work with text notes in OS X;
A number of bookmarklets make it easy to save web pages in markdown.

Pros and cons

Benefits

A file can be classified according to a set of features: as belonging to a class of objects (a book), and as belonging to a task (a specific project), etc .;
All data is available through one interface: search for an OS or a cloud storage application (Dropbox). For this reason, there is no risk that the file will not be found, because we forgot to search in a separate database of a separate application. No additional software for managing data (notes, pdf, pictures) is used, since there is no great need for it in the described approach;
The file is saved very quickly. Because the file name is much easier than navigating to the appropriate folder;
The file is very fast. Because, again, typing the elements of the file name into the search bar is much easier than navigating to the appropriate folder;

disadvantages

The names and values of the parameters may be forgotten, which may prevent the finding of the desired file. Although this may happen, the system is redundant: if the file is not found by one classification feature, it can be found by another. And if an error is found, it can be corrected by renaming;
Typos can prevent the file from being found. Therefore, it is especially important to use Text Expander Software;
It is not possible for OS tools to get a list of values for a specific parameter For example, to see all the tasks for which files are saved (“t =”), or to see all possible classes of objects (“o =”). In order to create such a list, you will need to write additional software.

Alternatives

File Attributes

Attributes with the following problems:

Name the file easier and faster. Means for minimally effective management of file attributes does not exist;
Attributes are lost when the file is moved. For example, in some cases, backup. (This is the reason why the date should be indicated in the file name. It implements reliable sorting by date.);
Attributes are not saved when using cloud storage. And the same dropbox does not implement a search for them from a smartphone, for example.

Evernote

With Evernote the following problems.

With Evernote, you cannot fully realize the main advantage of the approach - all data is accessible through one interface - because Evernote uses its database, and because Evernote is not for storing everything . (But still, for example, in OS X, Spotlight is also looking for in the Evernote database, so you can make some compromises with a lot of love for the benefits of Evernote);
Evernote is tricky and unreliable. Three times in the last few years I tried to work with him and constantly faced with errors leading to the inability to find the necessary data.

How to start working in a new concept

To begin with, you can leave all the files already stored intact, and all new ones saved according to the described system. The very first thing you can figure out is the content of various Inbox (Desktop, Downloads).

Conclusion

It is monstrously effective because it saves time and nerves. I realized the concept of Inbox Zero by myself with such work with files. Everything is always in place, nothing looms before our eyes and awaits us safely.

Application. About RSS

RSS feeds are conveniently managed in the same way.

An aggregator is selected that allows you to assign multiple tags to one stream. For example, Feedly ;
Two characteristics are used for classification: priority (“p”) and task (“t”). Tags must begin their names;
Any stream must be attached to at least one task (in general, it helps to maintain informational hygiene: you always have the answer to the question Why is it needed? ). In a pinch, the task can be interpreted broadly as a topic;
Only important streams that are worth reading regularly are prioritized. Reading begins with the fact that older in priority. The idea is that with a lack of time, low priority threads are ignored. For example, I have 5 priorities. And in the folder “p = 1”, no more than 5-10 posts per day appear.

The approach is similar, but we must remember that if you have once saved an interesting stream on your project, then you should look for it separately in the application for reading RSS feeds.

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/241965/

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