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What happened to the paperless office? We generate more paper now than weever didbefore the advent of the computer! A computer's hard drive can get just ascluttered asany other part of the office. With seemingly limitless storage capacity,it's easy to createpiles of files on your computer. This section will help you file yourdocuments morelogically and find them more easily.

1. Use directories and subdirectories. The first step in creating yourelectronic filingsystem is to create the structure. Let's say you had a filing cabinet whereyou storedyour paper files. If every folder were labeled "My Documents," you wouldn'tfindanything. Microsoft automatically sets up a folder titled "My Documents,"where youcan save your documents. If you save EVERYTHING under this directory, youwillnever be able to find what you need. Just like your paper files, you shouldsave yourcomputer documents into folders, sometimes called directories andsubdirectories.

2. Set up your filing system. The most important thing is to point allyour saved files intoONE main directory. You won't believe how incredibly easy it is to dobackups: yousimply burn one directory to a CD. I don't use the "My Documents" directory(although you can, with subfolders). In Windows Explorer, I created adirectory calledc://a_laura under my c: drive. If you put the letter "a" in front of yourname with anunderscore, it will always be the FIRST directory in the folder list, makingsaves faster.Under your main directory, create subfolders with the main categories ofdocumentsyou save. Don't worry about the TYPE of document (word processing,spreadsheet,database, etc.), just think about the category. For example, I use thefollowingsubdirectories:

a_laura/business
a_laura/personal
a_laura/school

Then within each subdirectory, I create additional folders.Under my business directory, I use:

c://a_laura/business/articles...Associations, Backups,Book, Clipart, Contracts, Courses, Keynotes, Marketing,Media, Newsletters, Policies, Postcards, Products,Promotional, Templates, Websites

Many of the above then have additional subdirectories. Some folders go eightsubfoldersdeep.

3. Save documents in the correct location. Each time I create a document,regardless ofthe program it was created in, I save it in the appropriate directory. Youwill haveWord documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations all in thesamedirectory, which doesn't matter because the correct files display when youopen a filefrom the correct software program. Select "File," "Save As," and use the"up" arrowuntil you locate the correct directory. Change your saving preferences inWord under"Tools," "Options," "File Locations." When you save a new document, it willautomatically go to the correct directory location.

4. Create naming conventions for your files. Now that you've located thecorrectdirectory, you have to give it a name that will make it easy to find later.I savecontracts in the format YYMMDD CLIENT PROGRAM. I would save a contract underc://a_laura/business/contracts/2003. All the contracts within that directorywouldbe listed in chronological order. When I first started using computers, theywere allDOS-based (now I'm feeling my age). I used to have to name files with eightletters.Thank heavens for Windows! Now we have a 255-character capability for filenames,so go ahead and make the name as long as you want! The bigger the name, themorelikely you will be able to find it again using a keyword search. Askyourself, "If I wantthis file again, what words or phrases would I think of first?"

5. Find what you need. If your directory system hits a snag, don'tdespair! You can stillfind that file you created using the "Search" feature of your operatingsystem. If I'mout of town and John needs to quickly locate a file to send to a client, hecan go to theStart Menu, Search, files or folders, select a_laura, and type in any wordshe thinkswould describe the document, and it's there! We also have a printout of myfiledirectory, so he can quickly locate files in Windows Explorer as well.

My colleagues and clients are always amazed when we're on the phonetogether and theyrequest a piece of information, I can locate it in seconds. It's easy tocreate documents andsave them. The big trick is retrieving them again. Using the five steps Idescribed above,you will be able to find the files you want, when you want them, in 30seconds or less.

Make it a productive day!