Now that we have the little notebook or whatever, it is time to give it some structure. Here is the system I have been using for years and it has proven to work.
The idea is to keep the number of subfolders as small as possible. In the beginning I made the mistake of creating one subfolder after another, thinking that this would be a “perfect” arrangement. I discovered that this led to a complete mess and I had trouble finding what I was looking for because I forgot which subfolder I had put it in. So everything had to be simplified.
Here is the structure: there are seven main folders. In each of them is a sorted array of subfolders. These are the sub-folders where I keep the actual files. Here are my main folders (in top order):
01 — books
02 — tricks
03 — video
04 — performers
05 — scripts
06 — ideas
07 — construction area (undefined material)
A brief explanation may be necessary. I only use seven main folders because I read that the human brain cannot process more than seven pieces of information at once. So I stuck with the mystical number seven.
The folder titles are self-explanatory. The 01 — books have a subfolder structure of folders named after the alphabet. So it will look like this
01 — Books
A -
B -
C -
D -
and so on to Z
The same goes for folders 02, 03 and 04 (of course you can change this as much as you like). So if I have something for the archive, let’s say an ebook with a routine by Tamariz, it goes into 01 — books -> T. I put a copy of it into 01 — tricks. OR it could go to folder 04 — performers -> T. You decide which way you want to go.
You could make some subfolders in the 02 — tricks folder by adding the categories cards, coins, rope, silks, kid show, mentalism if you like. It would look something like this
02 — tricks
Cards
A -
B -
C -
D -
and so on to Z
Coins
A -
B -
C -
D -
and so on to Z
Mentalism
A -
B -
C -
D -
and so on to Z
Stand up
A -
B -
C -
D -
and so on to Z
Comedy
A -
B -
C -
D -
and so on to Z
I use this simple structure to get to any entry with a maximum of three clicks. So if I am looking for the Tamariz trick, I either go to 01 — Tricks -> Cards or (better) I go to 04 — Performers -> T and then I should be able to get the name very quickly.
Even more important than the actual folder structure is the way I name the files. In the beginning I wasn’t very good at this because I didn’t think it was important. Now I have learnt that proper naming can be a real help in organisation.
Tamariz’s ebook would be named like this:
Tamariz, Juan — ebook — name_of_the_publication.pdf
If you come up with a naming system, you will be able to scan what you have and find it in no time. Naming gives a real structure to your archive. It will also make it easier to find things using your computer’s built-in search function.
Tamariz, Juan — ebook — name_of_the_publication.pdf
Tamariz, Juan — ebook — name_of_the_publication.pdf
Tamariz, Juan — DVD — name_of_the_publication.mp4
Tamariz, Juan — DVD — name_of_the_publication.mp4
Tamariz, Juan — trick — name_of_the_publication.pdf
The best thing to do is to start renaming your existing data from the beginning, or every time you move a new file into your archive. For me, it has become a habit to do this when I buy something new for the archive. I change the file name as soon as I download it into the folder.
