Have you ever spent a chunk of your work day searching through the clutter on your computer’s desktop or racking your brain trying to remember where you saved a file?
If so, you might need to organize your digital office.
“Time is our most precious resource,” says Jan Lehman, executive coach and productivity consultant. “Organization is a pivotal strategy to eliminate wasted time in business today.” In a fast-paced workplace where distractions can get in the way of focus, creating a more organized environment drives productivity and ultimately revenue.
We talked to three members of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO), including board member Lehman, to get their tips on how to keep your digital disarray at bay so that you can bring your best self to work.
Create a digital filing system.
When you don’t have a filing system, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, with folders scattered across your desktop in no order; duplicate documents saved in multiple locations; and files tucked away in hard-to-navigate-to locations. “Create folders and sub-folders for your digital files, by date or topic, just as you would for paper files,” recommends Susie Hayman, NAPO president and owner of In Your Bizness. “Be cautious of creating too many layers of sub-folders.”
The easiest way to find files is to have a naming standard that you always follow, which allows you to leverage search to locate documents instead of walking through a traditional folder hierarchy. “File names should include enough information so that the file can be located, identified, and retrieved independent of the folder where the original file lives,” recommends Heather Cocozza, organizing and productivity consultant at Cocozza Organizing + Design. “However, the goal is to balance brevity with usability, keeping the file names concise and repeating some information for clarity and findability without repeating the entire folder pathway.”
Other tips: Try to create a file name that includes the title, date, and version number — and consider starting with the date if that’s if it’s significant to the sorting order; use underscores (_) as a separator between naming elements instead of a space; and create a list of commonly used acronyms or abbreviations to use in your file names.
Keep your desktop tidy.
An organized desktop can help you work more efficiently and keep your mind clear — so be discriminating about what you save on it. “Only use your desktop for shortcuts to folders or as a temporary space for files while you are working on them,” says Hayman.
Those shortcuts could be to folders or files stored both on your computer or tablet and in the cloud, as well to as apps that you use or reference on a regular basis, Hayman adds. And remember: The documents on your desktop are usually not part of your cloud. Be sure to save a backup so that you don’t risk losing important information if your computer crashes.
Tame your inbox.
Because of the sheer volume of emails exchanged these days, it’s a good idea to use technology to help automate some of the organization that would otherwise be done manually. “Create folders, categorized just as you would for a paper file …. Set up rules or filters in your email program that will automatically send specific emails to specific folders,“ suggests Hayman.
Schedule times throughout the day to check your email, preferably when you have time to process them, Hayman suggests. “Respond to emails that don’t take much time and make decisions about what to keep and delete. Delete what you can immediately. For those emails you need to act on, leave them in your inbox and flag them until you have time to deal with them.”
Create a macro-plan for your team.
“In this highly collaborative world teamwork has become the norm. So you can’t just look at your own preferences [and] needs,” says Lehman. That’s why it’s important to create an efficient and effective strategy for your entire team to organize information, communicate, and collaborate. “Email no longer works as our main tool,” Lehman adds. Instead, explore using a project management software or other tool designed to help store and disseminate information among teams.
Once you decide on a tool that works for your team, think carefully about how it will be used. “It’s important to set up guidelines [and] rules to be clear for yourself and others you collaborate with on where certain information is stored.” Ultimately, this macro-plan translates to less time searching for information and increases accountability.