172 | Stop Searching for Files - Create a Naming System That Works

Tracy Hoth: Welcome back to the Organized Coach Podcast. Okay, today we're going to talk about something that is so common. Everyone tells me about this. I experienced this. Have you ever searched for a file and couldn't find it? First of all, you can't find it. Uh, you're finding all this other stuff. You know you have the file, why can it show up in a search? Or maybe you find the name screenshot or maybe one that says final updated or final title draft all in caps or use this one. So all the different file names that you have and old files, when you've updated something, all those might come up or nothing might come up. And it's so, uh, frustrating most people and I was in the same boat until I did this research and created a file naming convention for my business quite a while ago. And I have a free download for you to use that teaches you how to make your file naming formula. It's a cheat sheet and I have some little bonuses on there that I'll tell you about. But the truth is that most people just never learn. They've never been taught how to actually name things they're not sure. Do you use a dash or an underscore? Do you use versions? Do you put your name in there? Do you put a date on every file? So we're going to talk about all the file naming conventions that you need to know to keep your computer computer organized. But also it's not just about being organized. It's about reducing decisions, making search work better, and helping the future. You find what you need in seconds. And having a naming convention is what is going to help you do those three things. Okay, let's get into the episode.

Tracy Hoth: Are you ready to work less, feel more organized and productive? Stay streamline repetitive tasks and implement systems that allow your coaching business to run smoothly even without you. If so, you're in the right place. Welcome to the Organized Coach Podcast. Your go to source for practical tips and solutions. I'm your host, Tracy Hoth, professional organizer, certified life coach, simplifying expert, and most of all, down to earth fellow coach just like you. No matter if you think you're missing the organizing gene, have ADHD or just love anything organizing, I'm here to help you become an organized coach with a business that works for you. Pull up a seat and let's get started.

Tracy Hoth: A file naming convention. That's what we're going to talk about today. And it's not just to be organized for organized sake. It's about saving time, making your search work better, and helping the future you being so kind to that future you. So that person can find things in seconds Instead of spending 10 minutes clicking around your computer and wondering where you put something. So today I'm going to walk you through the simple file naming system that I use and I teach this to my clients. This information is in Organized Coach Academy and you can get a free download. That is my file Naming Formula cheat sheet, and that is available@simplysquaredaway.com fnfc for file naming Formula Cheat Sheet. Okay, you can go there and download that and have that. It also includes an sop, a, uh, standard operating procedure for you and your team to use so that you all are naming files the same. By the end of this episode, you'll know exactly how to name your files so they're easier to find, easier to share, easier for your team to use, and so you have less time being frustrated, less time being so angry because you can't find something. Now, I do want to say that if you can do this, 80% of the time, if you can search for a file and find it quickly, 80% of the time you're doing good. There's often times when you're not going to be able to do it perfectly. For some reason, something doesn't come up in a search or like what happens. We don't follow our own rules. And when we make a file, we don't name it and home it. We don't put it in the home and name it immediately or rename it. And so of course we're not going to be able to find it if we haven't done that. So I just want you to know that you don't have to be perfect at this. But if you can do it, 80% of the time, you're going to relieve all that pressure from your mind, from your brain. You're going to reduce decision fatigue. So that is our goal. Most people think that their problem is the folders on their computer. Like they need to organize their file structure, which I 100% want you to do. I think that is super important. But if you're going to search because your files in your folder system isn't organized, the problem comes with the name of the file because you can't find it when you search for it. So when's the last time you carefully, uh, clicked through folder after folder to find a file? And this just happened to me recently. I went all over and it was because one of the keywords was left out of the file name. It wasn't finding the file that I needed, which, which I added the keyword that I thought of to the file. So what's key is using keywords that you think of that you would search for. If you're ever wondering, just say, what would I search for if I was trying to find this? And make sure those words are in there. We use search so much that it is so important that we have keywords in our file system. Search has kind of become our filing cabinet. And that's why it's easier to have something digital than it is paper, because you can search for it and find it instead of it being in a giant pile if you haven't done your filing or if your filing system doesn't work. So the problem is that search is only as good as the file names that we give it. If your files are named notes, webinar draft, new document, untitled. How many people have documents that are untitled? Then search is not going to be able to help you. The best thing to do is to create a file naming system. A convention is what we call it file naming convention to make the future you work less to make their life easier. So it does take some consistency to begin with. One of the first things you should do is to think about or think of the future. When we save a file, we usually think about today. We know exactly what we're working on. We know exactly. And you can probably catch yourself doing this. You think, oh, I'll just set it here, I'll just put it here for a minute and I'll put it away later, or I'll move it later. But that later doesn't happen. And then we can't even remember what the file was. And so it's so important when you're working to think about the future you, the goal isn't to name the file for you right now because you're in the moment, you're thinking about it, you know what it is. The goal is to name the file for the future you that is not going to remember what you were thinking in that moment. So if you're looking for an email sequence or a sales page copy or uh, what was my thing? I was looking for file return address labels. And I don't know what I was thinking. But why didn't I have return address labels all in the file name so that it would come up in a search? So if I named a file sales page or If I named PI, uh, file oca for organized coach academy sales page draft v2, that would come up a lot better. One gives you information and one creates confusion. Confusion. So you think of the future, you, they want the information, they don't want confusion. So let's talk about the formula. I like to think of a file name as answering a few basic questions. What is this? Who or what is it related to? When was it created? And I don't do a lot of versions. I tend to replace the version that I had. But if you are a company, uh, or have a company that is often has many versions, then you might have to use versions. So those are the questions. What is this? Who or what is it related to? When was it created and what version is this? So you don't need all of those pieces every time. But those are the building blocks of a great file name. So what I think of when I think of naming files is if my computer was going to put everything in alphabetical order or in an order, what would I want it, uh, to be ordered with? The first thing for me is what the program that this document is involved with. So everything I save that has to do with Organized Life Academy starts with ola. Because if everything was going to get put in alphabetical order on my computer, I want everything related to that program to be in the same chunk. Then I do date. Because if it's in alphabetical order, all the things in Organized Life Academy would be together and then everything would be in date order. And I do year first four numbers for the year, Dash, month, two numbers for the month dash date, two numbers for the date. Now I don't always use the day because a lot of times it doesn't really matter the day, but I will always have the month and the year. So it would say OLA and then the year and then the month and then the title of what the document is or any keywords that I would think to search for. So when you look at names, when I look at my files on my computer, I can tell exactly what the file is before I even open it up. I see what program it's with, I see the date on it and then I can see the name. So some of the things for Organized Life Academy that I would have are the months presentation. I do a new workshop and presentation for every month. So it would be OLA 2026 dash zero six. I had to look at the month for the date of June for the month of June. Dash workshop.

Tracy Hoth: Dash.

Tracy Hoth: What dash is dash? Your dash question. Because June's workshop was what is your question? So notice how easy that is. Then the next thing I would end up saving is the planning call. So it would say Ola Dash 20 planning call replay. So I know exactly what that file is. For my podcast, I put the podcast number first, because if all the files were in alphabetical order, I would want them all in order of the podcast number. And then I put the title. And the great thing is, for any graphic that I have, I do the same thing. I put the podcast number and the title. I don't really need the date. I can look and see what date it was. It's more around the podcast is around the number of the podcast. I can have the exact same title. It's just a different file type. And so I can use that same title on both of those things. All the content for that podcast can have the entire title and the number on it. I just opened my Google Drive and was looking at personal files just to give some personal examples. And, and I use the group that it's for first. So, same type of thing. If I volunteer for a group or it has to do with family, I always put that term first. Then I put the date because I want it to be in order of all the things that have to do with each other. So my volunteer project, I put the acronym for that volunteer project at the very beginning because. Because it'll all be in order then for that project. If we're going on a trip and I have different documents that I've downloaded, I put the city, and then I'll put the date, and then I'll put the keywords to the document, things related to the family, I usually put the person's name first so that all those things I just, in my brain, I just can see it. Everything's going to be grouped by what it has to do with. So I like doing it like that. Now there isn't a right or wrong way. If it makes sense in your brain, do it the way it makes sense in your brain. So when you look back at the questions, who or what is it related to? Is the first thing that my file convention, uh, answers. That would be the program or the group or the family member that it's related to, when was it created? Then I put the date, what is this? Then I put all the keywords or the title of the document, and then if I have versions, if you're making a lot of different versions, you would put the version after that. Or even if you're in a bigger company, you would put the initials of the person making it after that. And again, why do you do this? Because your computer is going to automatically sort it in order And I want it to sort by group and then by date, and then the keywords are in there so that it helps in a search. Now that we have kind of the formula, there are of course exceptions. So not every file needs a date. If a file is a living document that you'll update over time, the date might not add much value to the top. So, for example, something to do with your brand or curriculum that you have for a program or an SOP that you have created, or a team handbook. Like, the date isn't as important in that document, and so you might not want to have a date for that. Those files already have a really clear purpose and you would be searching for brand colors or brand headshot or something like that versus having a date on it. But some of them, you might add a date. The question to ask is, does the date help me identify or find this file later? Does the date matter or will it help me when the computer is putting everything in order, and if the answer is yes, then use a date. And if not, leave it out. When it comes to version numbers, stop using final, final, final, final, really final, final. Use this one final in all caps. Instead you can use version numbers because again, when your computer is pulling up all the files. So for example, organize Coach Academy sales page, OCA sales page, and then you might have V1, and if you get the next version, it might be v2, and then the next version might be approved. And it's really simple. So when it's your computer's pulling up all the things, if you searched OCA sales page, you're going to see V1, V2 approved. So it's simple and it's really clear. There's no guessing. You're not having everybody put in some other different term for final or next version or whatever. Now let's take a look beyond personal organization. Imagine you hire a virtual assistant or an obm, but maybe a podcast manager. Would they know what your file names mean? Would they be able to find what they need without asking you? One of the signs of an organized CEO is creating systems that don't rely on your memory. So when your team follows the same naming convention, everything becomes easier. So all the files become searchable. You're probably using a shared drive that they have access to, and everybody's naming things the same way. And projects become easier to manage, onboarding becomes smoother, communication improves, because your business becomes less dependent on you remembering where everything is. And this is where you'll notice. And this is what I've seen helping other Businesses get organized is that the bottleneck is there when the business owner has to know where everything is, but nobody else can find it. So they're all reaching out to them, asking where files are. And so that's one of the big things if you're about to hire someone, if you have someone on your team, is to get the file naming convention, the SOP set up. So everybody names files the same way, and everybody can find what they need when they need it. So here's a few rules for naming files. If you remember nothing else from this episode, uh, remember these four, five rules. Number one, be consistent. Consistency beats perfection every time. So what do you need to be consistent about? Well, of course, the way you name files, but also that every time you put something onto your computer, you take one second and you say, does this have a name? Have I named this file according to my own convention or formula? Number two, be descriptive. The file name should tell you what it is before you even open it. So put as many keywords as you need to the title of the document, what it is. Add extra words that you think that in the future you might search for that would help describe what this document is. Number three, use dates when they add value if it's going to help you see everything. So when I open things up for Organized Life Academy, every single thing is in order by month. And that's how I run the program. It's month to month, so I want the date in there because it's going to separate everything and order it by date. Number four, use version numbers. Don't use final and all the other options for improve next version. All those things use version numbers V1, V2, B3, and number 5, name the files for future. You always ask yourself, would I know exactly what this file is six months from now? If the answer is no, then you need to rename it. You can also ask yourself, does this follow my formula, my naming convention? Have I named this file according to my formula? So I don't want you to spend eight hours going back and reorganizing and renaming all your files. I want you to start today and build a habit going forward. So maybe today, go find. Maybe they're all on your desktop. Find 10 documents on your desktop and rename them and then move them to your folder system, your folder foundation, your file structure, into their homes. So find 10 files, rename them, and move them, um, to the correct home. Then maybe Tomorrow you do 10 more, maybe the next day you do 10 more. But as you create new files, practice using Your naming convention consistently. So these small actions done consistently are going to create organized systems. And that's going forward. I often am in a hurry and I download something and I don't rename it. And I think, notice the thought that yours, what your thought is, oh, I'll do this in a minute. Oh, I'm just going to do this really fast. I'll come back to this whenever I think that I know. No, Tracy, take one second and do this, uh, thing. Stop and name the file. So, as we wrap up, here's what I want you to remember. The file naming convention isn't really about the file names. It's about reducing that friction that you have or that you will have. I just talked to someone and he was saying there's so much I cannot find files that I need. I'm wasting so much time having a file naming convention. A file naming formula is about making the search work for you. It's about creating a business that runs on systems instead of your memory of you being able to find it. So every clear file name is a gift. Think of it as a gift to your future self and your team members. And every time you can find what you need in seconds instead of minutes or hours, you create a more calm, little more confidence, a little more capacity in your business. So if you'd like the exact framework that I use to teach my clients, you can go grab my free file naming formula cheat sheet@simplysquaredaway.com fnfc and I have it all written out so you can see examples of how to do it, how not to do it, and different examples of how it would be helpful. Plus, there's the bonus of the file naming convention sop. So you have the actual document, you have an sop, you can, um, edit it, and then you have that for your business all set up. It's a simple resource that will help you implement everything we talked about today. Thank you all for listening. Go name, rename one file or name one file today, and I will see you next week.

Tracy Hoth: Wait.

Tracy Hoth: If you're finding this podcast useful, you

Tracy Hoth: must check out the Organized Coach Academy.

Tracy Hoth: It's my course where I walk you

Tracy Hoth: through every step to get your business organized, to get yourself organized, to save money and time to prepare to hire

Tracy Hoth: someone to do all the things that

Tracy Hoth: you want to do in your business with ease. Check that out@simplysquaredaway.com OCA Also, another. Sure, you've heard this a million times,

Tracy Hoth: but I would love it.

Tracy Hoth: It's my way of knowing that you're enjoying the podcast. If you leave a written review, I have lots of freebies for you.

Tracy Hoth: They're linked in the show notes.

Tracy Hoth: You can find them in my bio on Instagram tracyho. And until next week, have a beautiful day.