How to organize data in a computer

This post was inspired by friends who after using my computer did not stop appreciating the way I manage data in it by organizing the data in my own unique manner. I decided to share this approach because I believe it is going to help many new users of the personal computer, especially students and people in the educational sector and in the third world countries who usually ignore some fundamental aspects of computing – being a computer literate is not just about being able to use the computer in doing one thing or the other.
Stick to a directory structure pattern and your file access life would improve. The question is on how efficient your pattern is.

I had very little space on my computer to waste and so I was left with no option but to think of alternative ways of better keeping my own data. Some of the advantages in my system of organizing are:

- easy data retrieval (know exactly where to get a file or folder)
- avoiding duplicates of data
- keeping a professional look across my computer
- escaping from overuse of folders

My desktop is uniquely for shortcuts to most used programs. You will not find unrelated material in the same folder, yet the use of sub folders is not so extensive to temper with usability. There is no need for too many clicks before reaching the file or folder being solicited.

Now the approach I use goes thus. I use the windows operating system (Windows 7) and as such the hard drive is partitioned into drives C: and D: hence I try as much as possible not to store my personal data in drive C: it is highly reserved for the operating system files and other program files. I name my D: drive “5ive”, meaning that after clicking, only five folders and not more would be found. Then under this drive, I create the following five folders

career
education
religion – you sure do have one, it may not matter which one
entrepreneurship – for entrepreneurs
social

To be candid, there is a sixth folder named buffer. It is used for containing data that I may collect from friends on the fly, newly downloaded software, material that I need to do further research on, backups of my data, and similar things.

FIG 1 IMAGE OF FIRST LEVEL FOLDER ORGANIZATION

The names of these folders speak for themselves. The career folder has everything that has to do directly with my career, the education folder has everything that has to do with my education (whether formal or informal, whether am currently schooling or not), and so on. It does not end there! I use sub-solders to categorize further when am inside these main top folders.

Let us take three of the main folders; career, education and religion have three common sub folders which are:

binary
documents
library

Under binary folder, I store every installation files for the software that have to do with my career; examples are notepad installer.exe, FileZilla Setup.exe, xampp installer.exe. Under documents folder, I store every important document to my career such that I obtain files like: scanned copies of my certificates, my curriculum vitae, motivation/cover letters, and documents about companies where I work or want to work.

Under library folder, I store notes that help improve my career. These could include downloads of eBooks, presentations of seminars I attend, video tutorials, documentation of invaluable software in my profession and such as these.

FIG 2 IMAGE OF SECOND LEVEL FOLDER ORGANIZATION

Now let us consider the other two main folders. Main folder entrepreneurship has sub folders with names that lead me directly into the idea that I want to be entrepreneurial about and inside the sub folders, I then put everything that has to do with realizing that project. Main folder social has five sub folders which are:

fun
movie
music
picture
library

I keep funny things under the fun folder, keep movies and short videos under the movie folder, keep music under the music folder, keep pictures under the picture folder, and in the library folder, I put every document that has to do with social life e.g. how to be sociable, why use which social media, relationship issues <<learn them here>>, and much more.

FIG 3 IMAGE OF FOLDER ORG FOR SOCIAL MAIN FOLDER

In conclusion, this is how I manage data on my computer. You may have a better approach but the world will never benefit from it if you do not share it. You can change what was a stumbling block to you into a stepping stone for somebody somewhere.