Knowing how to construct a good search query is a key skill these days, and not just when it comes to Google.
A powerful search engine almost negates the need for a classification system in your email inbox or even on your hard drive. Because if you can find and open the precise file you’re looking for in a couple of quick keystrokes, why worry about a carefully nested file structure? I spent years thinking about how best to organise my files and folders until Quicksilver came along. (And there are plenty of other powerful utility applications out there too.)
I was reminded of this a few months ago when I came across a post by Merlin Mann, in which he suggested that people stop obsessing about organising their email and focus instead on whether to trash it or archive it. Simple as that, one of two options: trash or archive. ProfHacker similarly summed it up with the catchphrase “Don’t file. Search.”
This approach certainly appeals to the side of me that’s always suspected tidying up was a waste of time. Peel back the layers of social convention, concerns about first impressions and most powerfully of all, what my mother would say, and you’ll find I secretly believe that the floor really is the best place for everything. At least then I always know exactly where to look when I lose something.
Anyone have any other utility software they can recommend?
Photo credit: My Reference Files, Tim Morgan’s photostream on Flickr
About the author
Sarah Dillon is a qualified, accredited and experienced professional translator originally from Co. Clare in Ireland. She specialises in producing English-language texts that don't "sound" like translations, ensuring her clients' message has the desired impact in their overseas market. She is based in Brisbane, Australia and works with corporate clients, small businesses, agencies and nonprofit organisations all over the world. In her spare time, Sarah is also Marketing Director of eCPD Webinars.
Sarah Dillon has written 252 posts for There's Something About Translation.
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I’m very much in favour of “vertical” filing, i.e. trash unless vital.
I use Copernic Desktop Search. I usually store all the documents that I work with on my desktop, and when I am done with them I move them to the “Translations” folder in my Documents – that’s all the filing that I need to do thanks to Copernic. With the exception of spam I never delete any e-mails from my Outlook for the same reason. I do not think that even the most meticulous filing system would be of much use to me, with the tens of thousands documents I translated over the years.
I find Evernote great for notetaking and Spotlight to find anything in my laptop. Nevertheles, inside my archive, I use coded forders (project number+client) to mantain certain unity and to avoid mixing up documents from different projects/clients that may have the same name.
I’m also an Evernote and Spotlight fan… but still use a folder structure of some sorts