This Simple File Management System Changed My Life!

Struggling with file management? In this video, I reveal my simple file management system and share my top 5 file management tips that can help streamline your digital life!

I discuss the importance of balancing form (organization) and function (searchability) when it comes to managing your files.

I then provide an overview of my easy-to-use framework for file hierarchy, limiting folder levels to a maximum of five, with each level accommodating up to 99 folders.

I explain how I use Google Drive, and I also reveal the logic behind my file naming conventions, including two effective ways: date-based and alphabetical sorting.

*THE NO BS PRODUCTIVITY NEWSLETTER* 📧

*TIMESTAMPS*
00:00 Different File Management Systems
00:40 How I Organize My Files
02:47 How I Name My Files
04:36 Digital + Physical De-cluttering
05:19 Tip 1 - Organize Files by Where You Use it
05:50 Tip 2 - Leverage Native Features
06:36 Tip 3 - Attach Keyword to File
07:31 Tip 4 - Selectively Star or Flag files
07:59 Tip 5 - Know when to Create a Shortcut
09:03 Two File Management Rules to Live By

*RESOURCES I MENTION IN THE VIDEO*

*MY FAVORITE GEAR*

*MY TOP 3 FAVORITE SOFTWARE*

*BE MY FRIEND:*

*👨🏻‍💻 WHO AM I:*
I'm Jeff, a tech professional trying to figure life out. What I do end up figuring out, I share!

_PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links I get a kickback from and my opinions are my own and may not reflect that of my employer_ 😇

#filemanagement #productivity #organization

[JeffSu]

Do you prefer douchebag Jeff 💪🏻 or nerdy Jeff 🤓?

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Different File Management Systems
00:40 How I Organize My Files
02:47 How I Name My Files
04:36 Digital + Physical De-cluttering
05:19 Tip 1 - Organize Files by Where You Use it
05:50 Tip 2 - Leverage Native Features
06:36 Tip 3 - Attach Keyword to File
07:31 Tip 4 - Selectively Star or Flag files
07:59 Tip 5 - Know when to Create a Shortcut
09:03 Two File Management Rules to Live By

[rhaguiuda]

99% of YouTube videos need to be watched on fast speed. This one needs to be slowed down. Thank you for saving our time @JeffSu.

[NihonDream]

The best parts for me:

1. limitation on the zero/main level
2. folder 99 - always archives
3. naming conventions for files
3a. yyyymmdd - that is obviously useful but many people rejects that possibility replacing it with ddMMMyyy - nonsense
3b. variable granularity starting with year or with year and month or with year, month and day - superb

Well done. Thank you.

[GoodKid]

As someone who used brackets ([ ]) to preface folder names a couple years back for organization, I would recommend against it if you ever need to interact with your directory structure via Windows CLI. Interacting with brackets is possible, but in a lot of instances the bracket is considered a wildcard and causes unneccesary tedium (e.g., something as simple as "cd ./[01] Example" in PowerShell will not allow tab completion AND return an error unless the "-LiteralPath" parameter was specified).

However, if you interact purely via GUI it is visually pleasing and convenient. Just my two cents!

[jokinglimitreached]

One thing missing is an 'inbox' folder, where new files are put, until you decide whether they are junk or gold. Then keep the good files by organizing them, others stay there until you need storage space, then delete

[fidget]

Try number folders in increments of 10. This allows you to insert new folders you need to add anywhere in the hierarchy.

[AirdropAchiever]

Hi Jeff,

I've been a silent viewer of your content for quite a while and truly admire your work. Your productivity tips are incredibly insightful, and your professionalism combined with a dose of humor makes your videos truly engaging. Your dedication to your viewers is truly commendable - seeing how you respond to each comment inspired me to post my first YouTube comment ever!

I wanted to suggest a topic for a potential future video: a comprehensive guide on organizing and storing all types of files - personal media, work assets, useful files, archives, etc. across multiple devices and both in the cloud and on-device storage. I believe many of us grapple with managing our digital assets effectively, especially when it's spread out over multiple devices and storage mediums. Your clear and practical advice would be incredibly valuable in navigating this.

Keep up the fantastic work!

[SylvieMacNeil]

Great tips!! setting that up now. recommend a L0 dumping folder "[98] To Sort Later". I always have one of these in folders and in e-notebooks so I avoid leaving files where they are just because I'm not yet sure where they fit. Have a calendar reminder to deal with it weakly. thanks for this, Jeff!

[iamthekaverik]

I love this tutorial - didn't know there were other organization geeks out here.

My top 10 Windows file shortcuts

1. Alt-Enter = File/Folder details/properties
2. F2 = Rename
3. Ctrl-Shift-N = New Folder
4. Ctrl-N = Open
5. Alt-UpArrow = Move a folder up
6. Alt-LeftArrow = Folder Back
7. Alt-RightArrow = Folder Forward (after having gone back)
8. Alt-P = Preview file
9. Tab (while renaming) = Immediately save current name and start renaming next file
... Shift-Tab for previous file (wraps round if you're on the first file)
10. Ctrl-Space = Select current folder (hold Ctrl to navigate with arrows without selecting to you can skip select files in-between)
... makes more sense when you try it out
11. Right-MouseBtn-Drag = pops up a menu in the drag destination to let you do operations like Cut, Make-Shortcut, etc
(LM-Drag immediately copies)

---

To Jeff:

TY for the drive shortcuts, esp N


title-rework suggestion:
"This Simple Google Drive File Management System Changed My Life!"
if you want to maintain your tone

or

"📁Simple Life-Changing G-Drive File Management System."
if you like using emojis & staying closer to the 40-char title recommendation

// I imagine it'll be more targeted,
tho I do get that you also mentioned some mac & windows stuff

---

thanks for the fire video

[babybirdhome]

Having already come up with _most_ of this independently over years and years of not doing things this way, these are all quite sound starting points for a sensible and manageable organization methodology (from someone who is inherently not organized and lacks organization skills). These are all great advice, and will take you years of frustration to come up with on your own - might as well start early and then you’ll have plenty of time to refine this into an even better system instead of reinventing the wheel.

[RandyHanley]

One thing to keep in mind (if you use something like SharePoint), is the overall URL path name has limits that can eventually be hit if you're adding more and more characters (that go directories deep). In that case, it's often better to rely on the meta data in the file attributes, rather than adding it to the file name, in my opinion.

[cosname]

Additional tip to this, use archive in sections by naming it with some period of life that is happening. Easy to reference on the long run

[michaelfied]

Hope you're doing great! I've been browsing through quite a few videos lately and, wow, when I stumbled upon yours, it was like a breath of fresh air! I'm genuinely impressed by your unique perspective and the way you structure your folders. It just makes so much sense. Honestly, your content is like finding a treasure trove of valuable insights. Really appreciate you sharing it with us. Keep up the awesome work, and thanks a ton! 🌟👍

[liaaaan]

Great to have you back in the Google eco-system again Jeff!
One keyboard shortcut I used daily is "." for sharing a file or folder.

[tyrsia]

I envy your ability to come up with a solution and then be able to methodically explain it in a video. I can do the first part but the second part always comes out as a jumble. It has made training others at work challenging, and its something I usually delegate if possible. Do you have any tips on teaching complex tasks?

[terribels]

It's nice to see a how-to video without an actual product being endorsed (except for the physical part; that one is understandable since its a sponsor). Usually there's an app or a software, and then show how it works. Here, the process can be used in ANY type of file management software. Thank you for this!

[lewismassie]

As a windows user, I have used Everything for a while and it's pretty damn good. It can pull a lot of file types and it's blazing fast (once it's built a file map). If I can't find something through the explorer I have eventually done so through Everything

[DavidM]

Your date prefix is how I've done it for certain files for years. However, I do put in a space between the yyyy mm dd as it makes it far easier to read at a glance. One other thing that I do is consolidate PDF files for things like bank, credit card statements, and investment account statements so that each year's bank statements are in a single PDF file; same for credit card statements, etc. I need to track down individual transactions occasionally and this saves a huge amount of time going through 12 statements per year. If your PDF bank statements are "secured" by the bank, just print them to a PDF app and it will create a new, unsecured PDF although it will be larger. They can now be consolidated into a single file and can also be marked up.

[AllWiseElvis]

Fast, simple, effective, everything I've asked for. Good job man.

[dondave]

I have this same system but I dump the 2-digit in favor of 3-digit. I only go as deep as 3 level on the file system directoty structure, because sometimes you will need to copy a folder with already a deep directory structure (i.e. backups) and there are OS and apps that has file system that doesn't accept paths that are too long. The 3-digit solves this by trying to put folders as close to the first directory and use that extra number for granualar organization. Don't limit your self to as few top folder, you will ran an issue in the long run because not all category will present itself. You will probabaly will have some interest in the future or have some other furure carreer. You are also forced to manage your file using deep subdirectory. You can reserve the 100s to big categories, then the 10s to sub category. Then increment the directory name by 10 so you can insert something in the future. I also have 999 but I called it miscellaneous where I can drop temporary files and files that need to be sorted out by category. My archive is always 000. I also use this style sorting out some things. Like bookmarks and spotify playlist to name a few.