So, you know how I’ve been writing a blog every day for NaBloPoMo? In addition to the things I’ve learned about myself and the process, I’ve discovered a not so nice side effect. On day 25, I noticed that my desktop (PC) was cluttered with 100+ icons, most of them photos that I’ve taken. How did that happen???

I’m in the habit of categorizing my icons and documents into particular folders on my desktop on a regular basis, but I didn’t do that for a few days (not sure why…) Another drawback – the picture of the pretty flower from my garden that lives as the background on my desktop was difficult to see.

I decided it was time to get it back! I read an article in a magazine recently about the crazy things that some people do to win back the loves of their lives. Well, I didn’t do anything crazy to win back my desktop, but the article inspired me to get it done.

STEP 1 – SORT & PURGE. Ok, so does this sound familiar or what? My clients will all tell you that this is what we do together on projects, whether we’re working on organizing their shoes, photographs, or paperwork. Any clients out there wanna vouch for me? There was no difference here except I worked solo on my project. Here’s what I did:

(1) Deleted unused or duplicate icons

(2) Collected like icons together

STEP 2 – CATEGORIZE AND FOLDERIZE. With the hard part over, I put the remaining icons into existing categories when possible (see below for the main ones). I normally keep only the folders that I use frequently on my desktop. I really meant it when I said I had a system. I just fell off track for a bit.

• D. Allison Lee LLC

• Organize to Revitalize! Blog

• Client Reports

• Clients

• Budgets

• Photos

• 2008 Taxes

There are a couple of “To Do” documents on my desktop that are “stand alone,” i.e., not in a folder. I keep them there so I don’t forget to work on them. For instance, I have to write a recommendation letter for someone. The .pdf has to live on my desktop or I’ll forget about it. Yep, you got it, I’m a visual learner.

The next thing I did was to set up my folders in a way that appeals to me and lets me find the files I’m looking for quickly. Here’s how I do it:

This groups everything first by the different file types (e.g., .doc, .xls, .pdf, .jpg, etc.) and then in alphabetical order. I usually remember a document by it’s type first. Names can sometimes escape me so I look for the type and then scan for a specific word (or two) to help me find my file.

I make just one slight change when for my “Clients” folder.

This time, the documents are grouped by name first and then in alpha order. I always remember clients’ names, so this works better than organizing by file types. Then, I switch back to my typical view for each individual client folder so that I can see various file types that are specific to each client. Btw, I almost always choose thumbnails for viewing my icons, just a personal preference.

Open Folder –> View|Thumbnails

So, I’ve closed the books on two projects. My desktop is now clutter free. Much nicer, isn’t it? …and NaBloPoMo is over. It’s a great way to end day 30.

Update: My desktop looks a bit different these days.  More on that later. ~Deb, 8.17.10

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