Thursday, April 15, 2010






I made a compilation of tips that I found online and some of my own tips on: how to keep your files organized on your computer.

And remember: Organization is the key to your success.

1. Don't store everything on your desktop. This is a big mistake that a lot of people make. Many people don't even actually know that there are alternative places to save their files, or they are worried they won't be able to find the files again when they need them. You can have a special folder for all your pictures inside your computer or you can get an external hard drive, which also serves as a backup in case your computer gets toasted.

2. Begin to save documents in your "My Documents" folder. This is a place is meant, obviously, for you to save your documents in. Using your "My Documents" will free up space on your desktop, and it will also allow your computer to run faster as it is really not meant to save all those files on your desktop.

3. Create sub-folders in your "My Documents" folder. I have a folder only for pictures and inside I have subfolders for each year. Inside each year I have 12 folders; one for each month. That way every time I take digital pictures and I want to transfer them to my computer I go directly to the month they belong and dump them all there. When I have time I can go through them and pick the ones I like the most but for the meantime they are all organized in specific folders, that way I don’t have to be looking for, lets say, a Christmas picture somewhere in a place with hundreds of other stuff. I know I will find it in the year and month I want.

4. Practice saving some test documents into your newly created folders. After saving some test documents, attempt to close out of them and then locate your folder again, and open the documents back up. That way you get familiar with the way this works and you’ll know where everything is.

5. Now begin to implement your changes and transfer any files already saved in various places into your folders. You will probably be surprised at how much more organized you will be.

6. If you have extra time, go though your pictures (one month at a time) and delete all the bad ones, for example out of focus ones, moved ones, terrible ones, black ones etc. Now that we have the digital technology we can snap up to 200 pictures in a few minutes (if you don’t believe look at my camera when my son uses it) so it is important to get rid of all the bad ones and make space for the good ones. Also while you are going through your pictures you can make another sub folder inside each month and call it “The best of …” for example, and pick your favorite photos of each month and put them in that folder. You’ll be amazed that suddenly 456 pictures turn to be 15 best ones. Now it’s easier to take them to print, make digital scrapbooks or resize them and send them over email.

HAPPY CLEANING!!

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