Digital A-Z Files

[JeffB]

Today I am finishing my mind purge. Providentially, I started cleaning up, and creating piles of what to keep and what to throw away a month ago, before I started GTD again. This was an unintentional good head start.

I forgot this, because it has become such a staple in my life, but the other thing I did when I read GTD initially years ago was to create an A-Z file. When I started using OneDrive last year, I created a digital A-Z, and just scanned everything that could possibly be relevant. It has made my life WAY easier. I have a very minimal paper file, and it continues to shrink in size as time goes by.

For those who are digitally inclined, I suggest that this is a superior method than paper filing if your world is digital. It's literally the same system as a paper A-Z file, with less mess, provides the ability to search, and enables you to reprint documents as needed. (Also, much easier to archive...)

I put this out there with the hopes that if you have a different point of view, you will share. Thanks for sharing your pros and cons on the matter.

 

[Karl Ivar]

Hi!

Interesting to hear. Yes, a digital A-Z file-system is also a great help, I think too. I use both paper and digital, and find it productive to have both systems highly operative, and don´t consider going paperless at all. Often, I find it much more efficient to keep for instance a letter from the tax authorities in in my paper file folder-system, than having to scan it and file it on my computer.

As a digital filing system I haven´t yet decided which system to use. I tend to go from Evernote back to Devonthink and back to Evernote again. It feels as if devonthink will winn the race for me as the main file storing-system. It just feels easier to open documents of all kinds of formats there, and it gives me a more systematic and robust impression- I guess it´s a matter of taste. I almost always work with my laptop, so the syncing-issue isn´t that important for me.

On the other hand- there are documents that are handy to have easy at hand on my iPhone- like travel-documents, project-notes, and other information I need fast available also on my iPhone. For that I plan to use Evernote, and then let Devonthink be the hard archive/for the files I only need on my laptop. Still, I´m not completely happy- It doesn´t give me 100% clear edges. Any suggestions or views on this? Or maybe it doens´t have to be so strict? I´ll try it out and let you know. I know devonthink also has an iPhone-app, but I don´t find that half as elegant as the evernote-version.

Back to the filing-system, I do keep an A-Z system, but I´m experimenting on keeping the folder system not very spesific, and then systemise on a finer level with tags. The downside is that I feel it´s not that easy to find a document manually, compared with a folder-on-folder structure, but then it feels easier to find a documet by searching for it, and it´s also faster to file a document.

 

[Dave Edwards]

I think we all know that A-Z filing systems are critical. I wish I could just have one. I have most of my files in Evernote, yet there are a number of documents which I must keep in their original paper form. So that's another A-Z system.

And we call that progress?

 

[devon.marie]

Back to the filing-system, I do keep an A-Z system, but I´m experimenting on keeping the folder system not very spesific, and then systemise on a finer level with tags. The downside is that I feel it´s not that easy to find a document manually, compared with a folder-on-folder structure, but then it feels easier to find a documet by searching for it, and it´s also faster to file a document.

I have over 7,000 notes in Evernote and extensively use Tags + Search to find them. Let me tell you from my experience - it's wonderful! I use Evernote with a few co-workers, so we have shared Notebooks - If I used Notebooks in an A-Z format, this would not work. But because I use Tags, and tags float on top of the notebook hierarchy, I can have my own organizational system without worrying about which notebook something is in. This is especially handy for Offline notes - I can stick something in my Offline notebook without having to change my organizational system at all.

I do use the A-Z format on my harddrive, however, for files that are harder to store in Evernote than they're worth (like design files, photos, etc.). Well, I do Area of Responsibility > A-Z. It works really well in this instance because tagging is virtually non-existent in file structure.

 

[JeffB]

I think we all know that A-Z filing systems are critical. I wish I could just have one.

Dave, I am with you on that. We are undergoing the biggest change in how information is processed and stored since scrolls gave way to books. I don't want to be in my 60's when the music stops and I don't have a chair to sit in. Better to adapt now. (I am sure there were cranky scroll defenders who thought that books were un-elegant and signaled the end of civilization as they knew it... I suppose they were right!)

chirmer and Karl Iver, you both mentioned tags. My brain doesn't work very well with tags. However, a lot of the task apps use tags as a way to get GTD contexts introduced. This is something I will pay attention to, and adapt if necessary.

I like my scanner and digital A-Z so far. It's working well....

 

[Oogiem]

I tend to go from Evernote back to Devonthink and back to Evernote again. It feels as if devonthink will winn the race for me as the main file storing-system. It just feels easier to open documents of all kinds of formats there, and it gives me a more systematic and robust impression- I guess it´s a matter of taste. I almost always work with my laptop, so the syncing-issue isn´t that important for me.

On the other hand- there are documents that are handy to have easy at hand on my iPhone- like travel-documents, project-notes, and other information I need fast available also on my iPhone. For that I plan to use Evernote, and then let Devonthink be the hard archive/for the files I only need on my laptop. Still, I´m not completely happy- It doesn´t give me 100% clear edges. Any suggestions or views on this? Or maybe it doens´t have to be so strict?

I use DEVONThink for everything, (cloud based systems are a noon starter for me and even now that Evernote has local stuff it's not nearly as robust as DT) but I separate the "General_File_Cabinet" A-Z database from the "Oogie's_Notebook" database that I sync with my phone and iPad. That way I don't have to learn and remember 2 main packages and I get the stuff I want on my phone there and the stuff I only need while on my main machines readily available as well. I also have a database that is in DT and is indexed from my finder file cabinet folder.

For me the clear edges need to be in terms of how many software packages I use and what I have tolearn and keep updated on.