Tue 27 November 2007 - My filing system
I have a filing system which works well on computers, but is hopeless for real life. Everything goes into a big pile.
It’s the GMail principle. In GMail you archive everything in a big “pile”, then search for it later when you need to find it again.
On my work email, I now do the same thing. Once actioned, everything goes into an Inbox Archive in Outlook, then I use Windows Desktop Search to find things later. (My work email is where this has worked best; I’ve actually got my Inbox down to less than 15 items.)
In my home email, I do that too, but the email is in Thunderbird, and searching is using Google Desktop Search.
For my home paper correspondence, everything once actioned goes in a big pile. Uhhh okay, it’s not easy to find again. So about once a year I sort through it all and it gets filed (into smaller piles) or chucked in the recycling.
Even my laundry now goes into a big pile when dry. Once a week I sort through it all and file it. Finding stuff in there when it’s overdue for sorting isn’t easy, I must admit. There’s no Google Laundry Search available, dammit.