The Ultimate Guide to File Organization: 5 Systems You Must Know 

Did you do a video on this? I think I watched a video and have been trying to find it again.

I've also added a script to the script library to convert an Excalidraw drawing into a folder note.

I fully agree that one size does not fit all. When you have few files to manage, anything works. Using objects/topics to organize is indeed the most natural approach. The good thing with today's tools is they provide the flexibility to evolve your system as the number of documents increase.

I am trying to set up my sistems (I keep job and personal separate) and what I struggle the most with is how to combine folders structure with tags/metadata/labes. I have to use a dimension/variable for folder filing, leaving all the other "dimensions" on the tags. I know the folder is unique/exclusive for a note, while tags may be different on the same notes... but I can't figure this out.

@@randalfmajere7239 Can you clarify? What do you mean by "dimension/variable"? You say, "I know the folder is unique/exclusive for a note." How does a "note" relate to a "folder" in your mind/system? A note/comment can be added to a specific file (or each file). Can you provide an example for further discussion?

@@jimgrant1776 hi Jim and thx for your quick reply. I am at the beginning of my sistems: a task manager sys for my job and a PKM for my personal. At the beginning of my research I only knew folder-based filing system, then I came across Lucas Prigge explaining Tick Tick app as task manager (ToDoist syle) and discovered the power of tags/links (a query of 2 sec to know, for example: what tasks that are ready to be worked, can I do now that I am at home, in 15minutes I have?). Now: I am trying to setup Microsoft ToDo as my job task manager mixing foders (to put tasks in) and hashtags to label these tasks... but I cannot figure out how to mix them. Parameter or dimensions may be: client/customer, project-type, project-status-progress, time-consuming, ready-to-be-processed (NextAction in GTD) or waiting.... for which category/dimension should I use folders? For which shoud I use tags/labels?

It's amazing what you can pack into a filename. Some, like Niklas Luhmann has taken it to extremes (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WtKeeDYA_2I.html). I use folders in a similar way as you use prefixes. When I create a new file I write out the path. e.g. I would write [[People/Harry Orenstein]] or [[Work/Company/Projects/my fun new project]]. Incidentally if I were to click this link, this will create a new file in the folder specified, but for me the ontology implied by the path is more important. Obsidian does a good job of finding files when I start typing following a "[[", thus this approach works well in Obsidian. In a windows file system, listing folder trees and sorting / filtering all files within a subtree is not so straight forward, in that situation a flat file structure is definitely better.

@@VisualPKM I do not use Roam or Obsidian anymore 'though I still pay subscription to Roam (you have reminded me to cancel it). I need Atomic notes and for this I have used and use Napkin and Google Keep. Both are fit for purpose and, to my mind, Google Keep is the unsung hero of PKM because it is fully integrated into the Google Universe and each Google Keep note has a unique path (identifier) and can combine images and (unformatted) text (and links to other files or resources not integrated into Keep - like MP4s). Napkin is virtually the only Atomic Note PKM built for review - with all other products your digital knowledge is just that - gathering digital dust until you retrieve it from your digital archive!

symlinks are a wonder and sorely missed from Windows... shortcuts just don't work as efficiently. Would be great to have something like symlinks implemented in Obsidian - kind of an alternative way to create aliases, where the alias can also be in a different namespace.

you use 4-5 tags per topic, or you have 4-5 tags in total?

@@VisualPKM per note so i can easyly abtract my thinking.

Thanks for subscribing! I use my own Excalidraw Script for the presentation. More on it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HhRHFhWkmCk.html and here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mQ2eLk_0TV4.html

I don't think you can mess things up. PKM is first and foremost "Personal" which means that what works for me may not work for you... and the only way to find out what works for me, is through trial and error and reflection. The after action review process is a good practice to help you learn and develop your PKM. In an oversimplified nutshell I implement LATCH with multiple components. - Location: I use geo-tags and the Mapview plugin, but depending on your use case, you could also create folders for different locations - Alphabet: is simply the file name and file path (namespace) that I can search in alphabetical order using Obsidian quick switcher and file explorer - Time: My primary representation of time in my system is via the linking to the Daily Note. Again, depending on your use case you could create folders or tags based on dates. I tried playing with hierarchical tags for dates (i.e. #2023/03/19) but did not find it helpful. - Category: I use tags for this. I apply tags at page level, and tags drive the template for the page. If you think of folders as a namespace, you could also categorize with folders, like the example in the video "People/Family/Immediate Family/name of person". - Hierarchy: Richard Wurman's original interpretation of hierarchy is to sort things from small to large, from light to heavy, cheap to expensive, etc. I interpret the term differently and think of hierarchy as the parent-child and lateral link relationships in between my notes. I implement hierarchy with links.

@@VisualPKM You are amazing and brilliant. The world is a better place because of you! Thank you for helping me and so many others!

Another encouragement to “just get started”-I have a “brown field” situation like Zsolt having started 10+ years ago with no particular organization system, learned what didn’t work for me over time, and am still evolving and experimenting with new methods and remixes. No system is perfect in every way and ultimately your goal is probably to create and form connections more than worry about filing upfront. In retrospect I have regret for when I let analysis paralysis slow me down, and few regrets about making a mess after I let go and trusted that the tools are good enough now to find my stuff if I get sloppy 😅 The good news is that it’s easier than ever to retroactively apply/adjust structure if it’s important to you to “fix” your content before you settled on a system: with Obsidian at least, you can reorganize without breaking links; the graph view, backlinks, and unlinked mentions help to discover emergent structure; and additional plug-ins (some of them from Zsolt) aid in (re)organizing in new ways, again without breaking links. Happy creating 😊

Thanks for sharing! I think Tiago's idea with the Archive folder is to combine his active project list and his project folder into one. In other words, he does not have a separate active projects list like suggested in GTD by David Allen, but by regularly archiving projects Tiago aims to keep only his active projects in his projects folder. For me having a list is less friction than moving files from Projects to Archives (this causes issues not only with project subfolders that I exclude from Obsidian Sync and would need to reconfigure sync when I move the folder, but also with projects synced from GitHub and others). Moving folders from place to place has all sorts of unintended consequences. As for using links as tags, what you are saying matches the Roam Research design. In Roam tag vs. link is just a stylistic difference, in the end everything is a link. In my own system I use tags to typify documents, i.e. the tag drive the template I use (a person, a book, a video, a meeting note, etc.). I don't use tags to signal workflow state. And I have a similar approach to Zettelkasten. All my ZK notes are in my ZK folder - flat.

I suggest you try the canvas feature of Obsidian - it may work for you.

The English is fine.

@@dougsanderson5265 you are right , I have listened again , this time it sounds good.

Thanks! The presentation was created with Excalidraw in Obsidian.md and the presentation done with the slideshow script: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JwgtCrIVeEU.html

The cross referencing between systems, i.e. out side of Obsidian like email, or even paper files is a huge advantage of the Johnny Decimal system. If your categories exceed 10, it might be because your areas are two broad. But nothing is stopping you from using a hexadecimal scale, i.e. after category 29, comes 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, etc. Luhmann also used an "extended Johnny Decimal system". Luhmann alternated between numbers and letters to track forks in his chain of notes. I recommend browsing the Luhmann archives just to explore his numbering system: niklas-luhmann-archiv.de/bestand/zettelkasten/zettel/ZK_1_NB_12-14e8i_V

Gracias!

Excalidraw plugin in Obsidian.md

Links are in the video description. I use the Excalidraw-Obsidian plugin for the visualizations.

Numbering of folders is an underrated/underutilized approach. Your approach for using numbers to organize by importance is a good one.

I've been numbering for years. It's made my ability to find things much better. For directories I still rely on alphabetical, contacts, project folders, etc. I used to use the "1. Photos" format which works wonders and is easier if you have more than 10 folders, but upgraded to the "[ 1 ] Photos" format because it's more pronounced and feels more akin to a menu system. I also change the icons for each folder, putting the .ico file in said folder in case I need it again.

I did that during post processing in the video editor.

@@VisualPKM thanks. this "feature" would be the only missing part to replace Powerpoint with Excalidraw, in my perspective.

@@ChenXibo It would be technically not difficult to create such a feature, but the UI to prepare the presentation is difficult. Already, drawing the arrow for the slide sequence is messy when you reach a presentation of over 10-20 slides.

Obsidian-Excalidraw 1.8.2 - The Slideshow Script ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HhRHFhWkmCk.html

Thanks for sharing your approach! I find your focus on Acquisition, Synthesis, and Integration intriguing. It's always great to explore different methodologies for organizing knowledge. Appreciate you sharing your insights!

These were created with the Excalidraw plugin in Obsidian.md

Sönke Ahrens mentions a similar idea in How to Take Smart Notes. He argues that forgetting is a strategic skill. The objective is not to remember everything, since that would lead to paralysis, rather to strategically select the few nuggets we want to keep and remember.

Which part of the introduction?

@@VisualPKM Exactly in the beginning. Ignoring the actual topic, it sounded like these old ads for medicine or wonder devices, an universal panacea. But I enjoyed the content :)

Great video! Looking forward for to see your system!

Samsung Odyssey LC49G95T

Yes - this is an interesting dilemma. Already 10+ years ago people were telling me to use tags and views instead of folders in Sharepoint (just an example). 10 years have passed and I am still thankful I have my folders and can synchronize sharepoint libraries with onedrive into a folder structure on my local device. Tags and links are important to create different views, however I still find a primary tree structure indispensable. This might just be showing that I am getting old(er) and less flexible to change :)

@@VisualPKM Yes, I'm getting older too, know the problem :-). Using tags is super simple in KDE environment on my Linux machines and I think since Win7 windows file Explorer has nearly identical feature. I don't use this feature at my work on Windows though, since we store data in cloud and I try to tag them there. I too use folder structure, it doesn't interfere with tagging at all. We'll see what future brings. Some of my friends asked me why I tag photos, when Google Photos can find anything even without tags. And indeed, if I type "tractor" into search in the Photo Gallery on my phone, it finds all photos with our little tractor. Same way it works with people (including kids as they grow), places, objects,... Amazing. I want to start a little project, that would use Tensor Flow (AI) to analyze files and automatically tag them. But time is scarce and haven't started, though thinking about it like two or three years.

I think this is one of those challenges where there is no single obvious right solution. We all have to come up with our own designs that fit our needs the best. I personally like to keep my attachments in a subfolder of the note where I first encountered it, then reference it in future works.

@@VisualPKM to my mind if you use something then Google Keep combines the Atomic Note (written word) with any other "information" or "digital resources" that you will be using as part of your process of creation. No duplicate files needed! If I use, say, something in Napkin it would gain the prefix [`n] in the file name etc

PARA’s literally structured perfectly for such a use case though. Working on a current historical pursuit? Pop that puppy in Projects. It could find itself in its own folder in Areas later on, or it could eventually go straight to Resources. When it’s no longer of any relevant interest to you, it goes into your Archives folder.

I agree that PARA is an illogical method. Our brains think more in terms of topics than whether information is a resource or 'archived'. It makes more sense to invert PARA: All your folders (applies to notes also) are named by topic (this replaces 'Areas' concept), with the root of each folder being the Project area by default. Inside each folder, you can create 'Resources' and 'Archive' folders. Personally, I like the idea of keeping the root of each topic folder for the most relevant and important files - the finished products or latest unfinished version, with everything else put into an '00_extras' subfolder, which can be further divided into 'resources', 'z_other_file_formats', 'z_old_files' (archive) etc. My objective is that other people could easily find value by browsing my files - thinking of my mortality. Confession: I'm not using any knowledge management system that could leave me stuck if the developers stop working on it. Here's one example: D:\jim\02_documents\computers\knowledge-management\my-pkm-methodology-v2.pdf Where an old version would be: D:\jim\02_documents\computers\knowledge-management\z_old_versions\my-pkm-methodology-v1.pdf And an image used in that PDF would be: D:\jim\02_documents\computers\knowledge-management\00_extras\images\diagram_01.png Although I suspect that there is no end of how much tweaking of systems could be done - as long as we can find what we're looking for in a timely manner, our current system is probably okay.

Well... I won't deny, I do prefer large displays and ideally multiple. However, Obsidian, Excalidraw and even ExcaliBrain work well on just a laptop screen. Annie Murhpy Paul in Extended Mind makes an argument for larger screen real-estate, because that adds a spacial reference to information which improves our thinking. Not only that you know where to look to find certain type of information, but also the physical movement of turning adds to how we think and focus. This trading desk setup is a nice example, though a bit over the top even for my liking: www.globalnerdy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/trading-desk-multiple-monitors-thumb.jpg :)

@@VisualPKM ... I want... www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/ksc-20160426-ph_dng0001_0002.jpg : ))))))

You mean systems instead of system?

@@VisualPKM Shouldn't it be "5 Systems You Must Know" instead of "5 Systems You Must To Know"?

@@nicotine1844 I didn't even notice the "To" :)... only noticed it was 5 system(without the s) you must know... anyway, thanks, cleaned it up.

IMO, the simplest method is to combine the hierarchical with mass-dump methods. All your folders/notes are named by topic, apart from two of them. One is your dump - call it inbox/unsorted/unfinished/temporary or similar (avoid calling it 'temporary' if you care about leaving your files to others after your death as a legacy - they might just delete the folder/notebook entirely). The second is your To-Do list (this applies to notes not PC folders - you don't need a separate top-level folder for your to-do list). Don't clutter your To-Do list with research/solutions - link to the relevant notebook/folder instead. The To-Do list is where you keep track of what files/notes you're currently working - no need for the PARA method. Back to folders on a drive: Your top level folders should be broad enough that you only have 10 to 20 - as few as possible (e.g. 00_inbox, 01_documents, 02_audio, 03_pictures, 04_video, 05_3D_models, 06_settings_backup, 07_software, 08_compilations, 09_work). Pictures and videos could be one folder. Pictures that are for insertion into documents can be in the documents folder. Even if you're not using integrated knowledge management software, your note app's categories should be the same as your folders in 'documents' folder. A few common categories would be people, health, finances, legal, important org contacts, travel & transport, disaster-planning, psychology, helping others, shopping, computing & tech, humour & trivia. Separate information into the main product (if there is one) and everything else. For example, let's say you were going to create an infographic/leaflet about a healthy diet. You'll have dozens of sources, old versions, multiple file formats, graphics to insert, plan.txt and so on. So, let's say your leaflet is D:\username\01_documents\health\diet\healthy-diet-v3.pdf. Put everything else into sub-folders of 'diet'. Sub-folders might be 'old', 'images', 'research', 'other-formats' etc. To tidy it up even further, put all those folders into '00_extras' folder inside 'diet' folder. (This might mean that you have a hierarchy tree more than 5 levels deep for some files - that's fine because you've reduced searching time, tagging time, and time renaming files.)

@@Jimmywatches sounds good thank you very much for your detailed response. Your response makes more sense, thanks

Thanks. I understand. This is a difficult one... as I am not sure what to do about this. Filtering won't solve this. Maybe a different microphone setup... Since this video I did change my microphone... can you check a more recent video to see if the is still a problem?

@@VisualPKM Microphones, or just training yourself. If you're like many people, you may have more saliva when you speak. You could try recording when you haven't recently drunk or had food. Compressing audio and keeping the microphone too close, or recording in ways that pick up all tiny room sounds will also add to the mouth sounds. I'll take a listen to some others soon. the content is great but when I listen, especially with headphones on, I can't concentrate. This won't be an issue for others. Thank you for the response!