Organizing Documents: Part 1 – Sorting

I have a simple 4-step approach for organizing documents:

1. Create folders for each category
2. Sort all files into the appropriate folders
3. Groom files one folder at a time
4. Designate frequently used files for easy access

In this post I’ll focus on the first two steps: naming your folders and sorting documents. Sorting your files before grooming will allow you to focus on cleaning up one folder at a time. It will also give you a better sense for duplicate or unnecessary files in each category.

Step 1: Creating folder categories

Your folder names are based on document topics. For personal documents you can customize them based on your lifestyle and hobbies. You can categorize professional documents based on project, team, or service.

Here are example folder names for personal documents:

• Finance and Home – receipts, tax documents, bank statements, rental or mortgage agreements, health history, and insurance documents
• Career / Education – resumes, transcripts, job applications, workbooks, and educational resources
• Hobby – named after whatever hobby you have, such as Writing or Travel

Create no more than 5 folders to start. Also create a folder called “Unknown”, which you’ll use temporarily until you groom your documents. The reason I recommend starting with 5 folders (plus “Unknown”) is because the average human can hold about 7 objects in working memory. That means most people can remember 5-9 items in a list before needing to write it down. Remembering all the folder names will make it easier when you sort files in the next step.

Step 2: Sorting files

The next step is to sort your files into the appropriate folders. The key to sorting is to avoid overthinking it. Trust your instinct and move the file immediately once you think of a folder name. If you followed the 5-folder rule then you will have an easier time remembering all the names by memory, cutting down the time you need to make a decision.

Give yourself a very short time limit per file; I use 3-5 seconds. If you exceed the time limit then move the file to the Unknown folder to reassess later.

You may have some documents intended to preserve memories. For example, you could scan or photograph a letter from a family member. You should store such documents as Photos and keep them in your photo system rather than your file system.

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In the next post I’ll go over the last two steps: grooming your files and identifying your frequently used documents. In the meantime, let me know how your sorting goes! What did you use for your folder names? How long did it take you to sort your files? Comment below or let me know on social media.

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