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Keeping electronic files under control

Recently, we had an addition to our family. A bouncing baby Fujitsu Scan Snap 510M Scanner. This device is a double sided A4 to PDF scanner, that works perfectly with the Mac. I spent the weekend scanning numerous bits of paper and am slowly emptying my filing cabinets. So the plan will be to have empty file drawers (which I will use to keep stationary and other non-digital essentials). And for that I will gain a huge “burden” of searchable PDFs.

Paper general reference filing

I have used paper filing systems before, and the first successful method I used was that described by David Allen in Getting Things Done. The principles are simple:

1. It has to be as easy to file a document as it is to put it somewhere else
2. One general system in alphabetical order is the quickest way to find material - in an alphabetical system it can be in only a few places.
3. It should be easy enough to file a document that you will file a single page in a folder
4. You can file as much information as you have space for, but it should be reference material only

Since implementing this system, my filed papers have become much more relevant up to date and acessible. I also learnt that one of the essential tools to support a filing system is a paper shredder, as most things don’t need to be kept.

Electronic filing

Electronic filing is easier, but also more complicated than paper filing. I am much more likely to throw out paper, than a digital form or receipt. So the trick is to be able to find the files when you need them. There are multiple filing options and they depend on your personality to some degree.

Option 1 - The Big Basket (Filing by search)

If you are confident with your search program, consider just throwing all your files in one big folder. Hide the folder so that you never need to look at it. Then rely on your search function to find what you are looking for.

Spotlight is bundled with Leopard, and works well. You could consider looking into programs that leverage and improve the search capabilities of Spotlight, like Houdah Spot.

I am not tempted by this option as it scares me a little. I would tweak it by having a different folder for big categories (”work” “personal”). If necessary, this would allow differential backup of different files, and encryption if necessary. For example, you could encrypt your “confidential” file when you were taking your computer on holidays, or having house-sitters.

Option 2 - Control your world with little folders

This option is very similar to paper filing. File each file in a folder where you want it, and remember where it is. This has some advanatages over paper filing, as you can have subfolders. For best results, use the general referecne filing tips as above, and create a specific folder for each file and split them when the file view shows more than one page worth of files on each pages

Option 3 - Tag and search

The Big Basket theory of filing can be improved by file tagging. This can be achieved with a dedicated program like Tag Folders (Free Download). Another free program, Quicksilver, can also tag files and folders.
Quicksilver (Commands; Tutorial).

Option 4 - User interface

Although I love Quicksilver, at this stage, I am not great on the details. So I prefer a digital filing system with a user interface. There are a number of these around, including Yojimbo, Together, Leap and Eaglefiler. All of these programs are about $30 to $50.

I have trialled a number of these, and ended up buying Together, which has the perfect feature set I needed. However, I have been increasingly disappointed with its performance, as it is quite slow and prone to frequent crashes. Disappointingly, I am now looking at other solutions. Yojimbo is polished, but has no capability for setting an “inbox” (e.g. a smart folder for files with no tags). This is a crucial oversight. Although it is not pretty, I am pretty happy with Eaglefiler, which is lightning quick, and has very flexible smart folder structures.

When using these systems, I use the same process as my paper filing:

1. Inbox for every digital document
2. Tag each document to “file it”
3. Keep the tags simple to make it easy to find what you are looking for.

Remember to back up your files

This should go without saying, but you need to set up a reliable backup system for your filing. I back up by time machine every day. I also using filing only for reference material. My working files are kept in my Dropbox, which is dynamically synced to an online server.

What is your preference for digital filing? How do you keep all your information?