The Digital Declutter Challenge is winding down. So far we have worked on clearing, ordering and resting from our many electronic devices. As with all organizing projects, true success comes in creating systems that you maintain over time.
Today we will begin a habit that will help manage your digital life: using a naming convention.
A naming convention is a method for labeling and identifying your digital files. If you work in an office, you may already be familiar with this idea; many companies require employees to name documents in a specific fashion to ensure uniformity across the firm. In simple terms, a naming convention is a set of rules for the way you consistently name all of your documents. Naming conventions provide just enough detail to help you easily find the file you need.
There is no single “right” or “wrong” naming convention, but when I work with clients, I suggest a couple of best practices.
1. Avoid special symbols
Computers sometimes incorrectly interpret symbols (e.g. *, % , !) as instructions, rather than labels. Periods are a good symbol if you want to separate elements of a file’s name.
2. Put dates at the beginning of files names
It may seem unnecessary to put a date in the name of a document because there is a date associated with each file. However, dating documents is a good habit because it results in your files automatically sorting themselves inside your folders.
For example, let’s say you set the agenda for a PTO Group that meets once a month. Rather than call the document “PTO agenda for January 28 2017,” put the date up front by naming it “2017.01.28.PTO.Agenda.”
3. Be specific
Often we name documents broadly, rendering us unable to recognize a document from its name. Take the time to include keywords that will help you recall exactly what the file contains, including categories and types of content.
For instance, rather than “meeting minutes,” name your file “2017.01.28.ABCSchool.Fundraising.Minutes.”
4. Be consistent
Once you start to name all of your documents in the same way, you will quickly find that you have a much better idea of what files you have. In addition, well-named files are more searchable, because your search criteria can be more specific.
A NOTE ON EXECUTION…
When I work with clients on any project, I always suggest we start with what is current before we go back and review belongings that are old, inside drawers or stashed in boxes. For example, while there may be file drawers full of paper in the basement, it is more important to begin by sorting the stack on the desk and creating a system for the paper that is and will be coming in.
Begin by getting your new system up and running. Once you are working efficiently, go back and review the older material. In other words, don’t worry about how you have named your documents in the past. Begin today by naming each new file you create or download in a timely, specific and consistent manner.
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Have you been using a naming convention? Is this a new idea or one that you’ve been following for years?
What great advice for naming files, especially the date method as I sue this very often with my design clients when I am working on logos or more as with different rounds sometimes occur on different dates. So this just helps me differentiate this when I check back in all honesty.
Janine Huldie recently posted…How to Get Rid of A Migraine in 5 Easy Steps
Exactly, and then you can easily go back and find the one you want. For files that will have multiple versions, you can also add something like “2017.1.27.Palmerlogo.v1” or something like that.
Great advice, Seana! I love that you use a period “.” to separate both the date and words in your file names. I often see paperless gurus use the hyphen “-” to separate the date (“2017-01-27”) and the underscore “_” to separate the name from the date (“2017-01-27_SeanaRocks”). Any thoughts on that? My Fujitsu Scansnap defaults to hyphens in the date but I would love to change that and use periods for both date and name…so much easier! I know that, in the end, consistency is key…
I agree that this is basically a matter of personal preference. I find the periods easier to use an access than the hyphens. Also, sometimes I forget to hit the shift key and then the hyphens and underscores get mixed up. Either is great, as long as you do yourself a favor and use the same notation all the time. I love your “Seana Rocks”… thanks for that Cary!
The special symbols can really be a problem with photo naming, and even in WordPress if you’re trying to make a snippet to describe your post. It will look like a big old mess in Pinterest!
Tamara recently posted…I’m Going To Disney World, Part 1
Aha… I didn’t know about that on Pinterest. I am learning from everyone’s comments!!!
O-oh, I never thought about putting the date at the start of a file name. Brilliant! And since my brain works chronologically, it’s especially brilliant for me.
Susan recently posted…Organizing for Your Lifestyle Giveaway
And then all of your files are beautifully sorted. Once I started this, I couldn’t go back.
One of my greatest time savers is the search function on my computer. Having detailed file names helps me locate files more efficiently. I love the tip to put the dates at the beginning of the file name and to start with the year. Now if I could only remember to rename my picture files when I download them. Thanks for the great challenge, Sena.
Oh yes, Jamie… renaming picture files. I am not very good about that either. I should add that to next year’s challenge!
This format is great for file names: 2017.01.28.PTO.Agenda. I have used it for my photos. I may try it also for my blogs instead of creating a folder for each post. Then, I can get away from creating folders for each post. So annoying. Thanks for sharing.
Sabrina Quairoli recently posted…Easy and Simple Ways To Save Time This Year
It works great for blogs! I’ve loved the system since I put it in place… tidier and easier to find things.
You are right Seana, being specific when naming a file, can save considerable amounts of time, especially if you have a lot of file for the same thing.
Jill Robson recently posted…The best ways to part with items you have purged.
Exactly, Jill. You can be descriptive, but if you create many similar documents, it quickly gets confused.
I used to have a folder for each client on my hard drive. Sometimes it would be broken down into subfolders, but even then, it tended to get out of control at times.
Now I create a folder for each project which starts with the clients name, then the date, then the name of the project, e.g. Seana 2017-01 Website updates. Once the project is complete, I can archive the folder, but it’s easy to find it again later if I need to.
Janet Barclay recently posted…How to Raise Brand Awareness through SEO
Wonderful system, prioritizing the file information in the way that makes sense for you. Now you can put your finger on exactly what you need!
Love the date idea as part of the file name! It would make searching and categorizing files so much easier! Love this challenge and appreciate all the wonderful tips and ideas to make our digital world more organized.
Liana George recently posted…All the Decluttering Tools You Need to Get the Clutter Gone!
I so appreciate the support and input from my fellow organizers who are solving digital problems every day. I’ve learned a lot myself this month:)
I have to admit that while I’m pretty good at naming my files so that I can find them again, I’m not always consistent with HOW I name them. Sometimes there’s a date and sometimes not. But what I am good about it “filing” them in an appropriate, logical (to me) folder so that I can easily find what I need. And then there’s the search feature which I use sometimes too if the file isn’t where I think it should be.
But particularly if you’re starting from scratch, it’s a great suggestion that you had to come up with a consistent naming convention.
Linda Samuels recently posted…3 Words to Quickly Energize Your Fresh Start
Organizers tend to be very good about filing documents in folders in logical ways. I love the search function as well, but sometimes I find that I’ve named documents in a very similar fashion so that the search function yields multiple results. A fellow organizer got me onto the idea of putting the year first, and then the month. I love how the files just automatically sort themselves with this technique. That said, any consistent format that makes sense to the user is the best one!
I definitely need these tips!! Just in time for a new year of fresh files!!
I love that you can just start using a new convention at any point. You may go back and rename old files, but you may not, and either is okay. It is just a smart thing to start and continue with into the future. Can’t believe it is almost February already!!
I love your point about starting with what’s current when dealing with files. No need to overwhelm yourself with the backlog initially, just start with what’s in front of you!
Files become “out of date” quickly, so if you just start today, the majority of your relevant files will be properly named within a few months.
You are probably using Mac? I am not sure this is still an issue, but when working in Windows it might not be advisable to use periods in file names. The program suffixes, e.g. .jpg are always preceded by a period in Windows, and when you want to easily see the file format, the extra periods might be confusing. Also, for URLs, there might be a problem. I prefer the underscore for easy reading, e.g. 2017-02-07_my_picture_file_01.jpg This naming convention will never break a URL, which might be the case with periods or spaces.
Love the idea of the underscores. A couple of people have suggested that. I can see that it would be good for avoiding possible interruptions with the URL. Thanks for the comment!