- [Instructor] If it takes you more than three clicks to find the file you're looking for,
you are doing it wrong. In this video, I'm going to show you an easy system to manage all your files and folders so you can spend less time looking and more time doing. (stinging sound) This video is sponsored by RoboForm, the next generation password manager.
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To get started, click the link in the description and get 30% off your RoboForm subscription. Branches are great when it comes to trees, but branches are not what you're looking for when it comes to managing all of your files.
How many times have you gone down a rabbit hole clicking here and then in here, and I think it's in this folder, and maybe this folder? Hmm. Nope, not what I was looking for.
Not only will multiple branches and subfolders waste your time, but it wastes your effort as you have to manage so many different levels and so many different naming conventions.
Well, let me show you two different methods which are easy to apply and can guarantee that you get to the file you're looking for in three clicks or less.
Now, the first method that we're going to look at is called the three level method where we are going to force ourselves to never go more than three levels deep.
That way we can structure our files and structure our folders in a much more meaningful way. Here we are looking at the top level in my example and what is most important is that your top level is very, very lean. What do I mean by that?
We want to have as few folders as possible or as necessary here at our top level.
So in my example, I have only four folders, and I would recommend that you try
and keep this to about five folders maximum in total. Of course, we will have many more folders within these folders, but the importance of having a very lean top level
is that you can get directly to where you need to be or want to be in just a few seconds, rather than looking at a very long list of subheadings. So here we have four listed as admin, clients, projects, and topics.
And I would argue that most small business owners, entrepreneurs, or solopreneurs can get away with just these four folders. Admin is going to include things such as accounting, legal, taxes, maybe budgeting, and other administrative tasks that we do on a regular basis.
Clients is fairly straightforward. If you are working with customers or clients directly, here is where you can keep your list of clients and of course the different tasks or specific projects that are related to them. Now, this is not going to replace a CRM system,
but this is where you can store information specific to those customers or clients.
What differentiates clients from projects? Well, projects are going to be things that are more related to your business in this example, or perhaps to multiple clients at once. So if I click on this here, you can see such things as developing an online course, creating a new proposal process, and maybe redesigning my website.
And then last but not least, we have a folder called topics. And within this topics category, I have folders such as feedback surveys, presentations, and social media ideas. None of these are necessarily projects. These are things that I need to come back to once in a while. Maybe some of them may turn into or influence other projects, but I like to categorize them as topics. The one thing that I would recommend you don't do ever is to create an other folder, because a folder that is
titled as other tends to be a catchall for everything else, almost like a junk drawer in your home, a place where you just throw things without putting much thought into it.
So let's dive into some of these folders a little deeper to see how we've kept the three level method rule. First, with admin, I've already shown you some of the examples here. This is our second level down.
And if I click on my taxes, what makes the most sense is to break out my taxes by year. So this would be my third level or last click here within 2022 is where I would find all of my documents, all of my perhaps receipts, other things related to that particular tax year.
Going back to our top level, let's click on clients. I'm going to select the Papermill Publishing company. And here I have my last third level where I've broken out the different things related to this client.
So here are perhaps the ad campaigns that I am working with them on. Here are the invoices that I have sent or will be sending. And here are perhaps our collection of meeting notes.
So if I was to click on this, this is where I would find all of those meeting notes. So again, the purpose of the three level method is that we keep our structure nice and lean, keeping yourself to a maximum of three different levels so that you can quickly and easily find the things that you're looking for, but also know where to place things or where to save things in the future.
Now, the second method that we're going to take a look at is referred to as the ABC method. And for this example, I'm going to be using my file structure here within my Windows PC.
So here you can see on the left hand side, we have some of the standard menu options including the desktop, downloads, and documents. But I choose to sync all of my files
with my Dropbox account. And when I go to expand my Dropbox account, what you will notice is that the top level is really just the alphabet. Yes, A, B, C, all the way to Z.
Everything here, one folder for each letter of the alphabet. That's the reason why it's called the ABC method. And unlike the three level method, which we just looked at,
we don't want to limit ourselves to just three or five folders at the top level. We want to group files and folders by name only. Therefore, we don't have to worry about
if something is necessarily personal or professional. We want to focus on what is the theme, therefore, the reason for having each and every letter represented here. So for example, if I click on the letter B folder, you will see that everything within it starts with the letter B.
I have things including banking information, blog resources, branding, budget, and a folder containing information about business cards. You'll notice right away that very few of these things, if any, are related.
That's because the purpose here is to go directly to the folder or the resource that you are looking for. I want to look at banking information. Well, I know that starts with B. I can go directly there by clicking on the B folder.
If I continue and click on my S folder, here again
you can see a number of folders starting with the letter S including my surveys, including my sponsorships, things related to social media and my sales cycle. So although none of these are directly related with one another, I can quickly and easily get to them in only two clicks this time.
First on the letter that I need, and then next on the folder that I'm looking for. In this case, let's click on surveys. And now I can see all of my survey information. Now, of course you may not need every single letter in the alphabet.
In my folder structure, you can see that I have nothing in my J, N, X, or Z folder and I've been using this system a little more than seven years. But I would still recommend that you create a folder at the top level for each and every letter in the alphabet.
Now, a common question that I often receive when it comes to using and applying the ABC method is what if I think of the wrong name or the wrong title?
So for example, here you can see I have a folder called surveys within my S folder.
But if I jump to my F folder, I also have a folder called feedback.
What if I'm looking for feedback, but I initially think of surveys? Are these two different locations that will have similar information? Well, that's not the case. I have survey information that I have collected over the years, whereas my feedback folder contains testimonials
from people, mostly from speaking engagements that I've been involved in. And even if I was to go to the F folder first, I can quickly and easily go to my surveys folder in just two quick clicks.
The idea here is that we are so lean that we do not have multiple branches, nothing more than three levels down, so we can quickly and easily find the file that we're looking for. And I would argue that you will actually find it quicker even if you jumped to the wrong folder first by using the ABC method rather
than if you used a complicated branch structure which brought you four or five levels deep.
Now, of course, in both cases most likely the fastest way to find the file you're looking for is to use the search bar at the top of your screen.
But often it can be easier for us to think about the area that we are looking for either here in the three level method or by the name of the folder as we just saw in the ABC method.
Now, if you're looking for even more ways to stop wasting time and to simplify your software,
you are going to love Streamline Academy. Within Streamline Academy, I show you how to get more out of your technology so you can get more done and enjoy less stress.
To learn more and to get instant access, click the link on the screen now.
