File structure
by someone with ADD and perfectionism
Whats worse than paper clutter? Right, digital clutter. Organising it is a huge challenge, and especially in accordance to low-tech requirements, simplicity/applicability, readability, reliability, and functionality it is difficult if not almost impossible.
I searched the web for solutions that could work for me but I did not found one. Many people either tend to create too many subdirectories, or use weird categories for their files that one forgets whenever they shut down their computer.
So here are my strategies.
File Naming conditions
I name my files according to ISO 8601 standard:
yyyy-mm-dd, followed by name of the file and a suffix that represents its subcategory:
2021-12-03_lcu-analysis-canada-2004-2010_EDU.pdf
Folder structure
It is important to have a folder structure that relies on the file naming condition and that does not go to deep. I try not having to go lower than three layers of folders to reach the file I am looking for (exceptions are: Pictures, Music). This is especially hard for raw/dependency data (such as shapefiles for QGIS and such) or images, but it has to be done.
- On my main workstation, I use a single folder (Documents) for all files that are not Games, temporary files or Downloads.
- This folder contains all things I need: be
- I keep a seperate folder for my university named hscloud that is synced on sciebo – a non-commercial cloud service by german universities.
documents/
hscloud/
inbox /
downloads/
- Inbox: this is like a todo list, it contains everything I have to currently work on. In case of files that are linked to my studies in some kind, it is linked to hscloud. After finishing/reviewing, the files are sorted into specific folders)
- Downloads: a temporary folder, everything is cleared after a reboot
- Inside hscloud, I subcategorise the following:
kasten ↴
*zettelkasten files*
bsc ↴
B1/
[...]
B6/
B7 ↴
uebung ↴
01 ↴
work ↴
raw/
results/
02/
skript ↴
*.tex
build/
fwpb ↴
mug111/
research ↴
medical-geography_subtopic/
The folders are categorised by university courses and subordinated modules (bsc for B. Sc, msc for M. Sc., fwpb for studium fundamentale). Modules are not fully written out, but instead utilise the module identifier defined by institutes that provide the courses.
Documents
- Documents is structured as followed:
work ↴
project1/
project2/
permanent ↴
www ↴
(ssg, src etc.)
finance ↴
_homebank.xhb
receipts/
bank/
archive ↴
2020/
2021 ↴
presentations/
text/
[...]
library ↴
music ↴
artist ↴
album/
movies ↴
(no real structure, just alphabetically)
pictures ↴
wallpaper/
photography ↴
2019/
2020 ↴
09_Pomerania ↴
raws/
edits/
2021/
graphics ↴
scientific/
non-scientific/
external ↴
graphics/
gallery/
(these can be historical images, but are mostly just inspiration and aesthetically pleasing)
historical/
(here it can be subdivided in cities etc.)
literature ↴ (here goes epubs and pdfs)
scientific/
non-scientific