File Organization Part 2: File Categories

I didn’t realize I would end up making a series about this, but here we are. I have this weird obsession with creating One Classification To Rule Them All. The first part was how I created a file naming system. In this article, I’ll discuss file categories.

[File Organization Part 1: Universal File Naming Scheme]

File Categories

Most, if not all, operating systems give you a pre-determined set of folders to keep your files in. But they all organize files by type. Documents, Photos, Videos, etc. This is a good, basic system, but I’m taking a more lifestyle-based approach. The reason for lifestyle categories is because my goal is universality. Just like my file naming scheme works independent of OS, I want my categories to work for digital and physical things.

These are the categories I came up with:

Home = Recipes, cleaning, etc.

Learn = Database of random information

Play = Stuff for fun

Self = Journal, self-improvement, etc.

Work = Work-related stuff

As an alternative, if filenames start getting too long, we can use abbreviations: Home = [H], Learn = [L], Play = [P], Self = [S], Work = [W].

Home is where I store recipes, cleaning tips (stain removal!), and financial stuff. Learn is an archive of random stuff, basically a miscellaneous category. Play is things you do for leisure, like video games, reading, movies. Self is things you do for self-improvement, like exercise and journaling. Finally, Work is for work stuff. If you’re a student, rename it to School. You can also add more categories if it makes sense for you.

So far I’ve really only been using this system in Apple Notes. iOS has the same organize-by-file-type like Books and Photos. But inside those apps you can add these categories.