It seems like each new season brings a new pile of mess to my house. The beginning of fall is when I'm tripping over boogie boards as I'm trying to pack book bags. Eventually, I'll either make a space for the boogie boards or just stuff them somewhere to be dealt with later, like next summer when it's time to pull them out again.
The same has been true of my filing system on my work computer. People have peeked over my shoulder and cringed. Like a cluttered house will slow down your life by keeping you constantly tripping over things and looking for misplaced items, a cluttered computer will bog down your efficiency. It will affect your effectiveness as you try to navigate through spontaneous file structure or the system trips over itself trying to run programs.
There are several effective ways to clean up, clear out, and quicken up your computer.
You can find lots of instructions online available through a quick search. However you should make sure you feel comfortable with making the changes because if done carelessly there is the chance you could permanently remove things that you didn't intend to delete.
Once the closets are clean it's time to reorganize the clutter. Pay attention to the way you set up your file structure. You need to produce a consistent, logical system of classifications for files and directories. Set the rule for naming your files and stick to it. Make sure that the language you use is easy to understand so you or someone who may have to use them can easily navigate through the file structure.
If I were filing away my kids' summer clothes in their closets it would be something like:
clothing\summer\size7\bathing-suits\green-flame.jpg
Whatever you chose just be consistent to the point where it's annoyingly easy to find what you need when you need it. It will free up your memory, your mind and your time. If only it were so easy to get my house cleaned up.
By Heather Fairchild - Heather is amultimedia developer, business owner, and work-from-home mom.
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