Over the years, I kinda built my own system — stuck with it too. Even the folder numbers like 10 for Personal, 30 for Work, and 99 for Archive are pretty much the same.
Now, see, as a journalist I use the other numbers a bit different.
Biggest difference? I added emojis to the folders so I can tell ’em apart quicker — I’m a visual kinda fella, you know?
Emoji can be really helpful as visual distinction. I've shied away from them in my own system because they could cause some syncing issues across systems, and instead would use custom colour folder icons for my main setup.
I'd be curious to know what your top-level folders are related to journalism.
What is there to regret 60 having its own space. There has to be space for games.??? Really nice piece - has made me wonder if some of my start-stop is because 1. I haven't everything linked up 2. its not comprehesive... Food for thought. Thanks for sharing.
You may enjoy the Johnny Decimal system for inspiration. What I like is having a simplified number of top level folders, as I find it helps me cut through the noise and be able to see related sub folders in better context.
Over the years, I kinda built my own system — stuck with it too. Even the folder numbers like 10 for Personal, 30 for Work, and 99 for Archive are pretty much the same.
Now, see, as a journalist I use the other numbers a bit different.
Biggest difference? I added emojis to the folders so I can tell ’em apart quicker — I’m a visual kinda fella, you know?
Emoji can be really helpful as visual distinction. I've shied away from them in my own system because they could cause some syncing issues across systems, and instead would use custom colour folder icons for my main setup.
I'd be curious to know what your top-level folders are related to journalism.
Here’s how I’ve gone and set up my top-level folders:
10 Personal 🔒
20 Finances 💵
30 Inbox Media releases and documents 📥 (from politics, authorities, associations and companies from the agricultural sector) & newsletters
40 Reserve folder
50 My reports ✏️(within the folder not from 01-09, but sorted by date)
60 Travel organization 🚂 (booking.com, tickets for planes and trains)
65 Organization & tools ⚙️
66 My social media, substack & public relations 📣
70 Clients 📌 (newspapers, magazines, radio & TV)
80 Presentations & panel discussions 🎤
90 Apps, software and AI #️⃣
99 Archive 🗄️
What is there to regret 60 having its own space. There has to be space for games.??? Really nice piece - has made me wonder if some of my start-stop is because 1. I haven't everything linked up 2. its not comprehesive... Food for thought. Thanks for sharing.
The numbers system is so helpful! I feel like I'm always creating new, random folders, so having 8 main areas would simplify everything.
Definitely adding a META section as a I refine my process.
You may enjoy the Johnny Decimal system for inspiration. What I like is having a simplified number of top level folders, as I find it helps me cut through the noise and be able to see related sub folders in better context.
I will check it out!