How a simple filing system improved my efficiency

When I first started working at Lux Events, I had a few bad organisational habits. Being able to organise and manage a variety of digital content was essential to working as a multimedia designer. I knew it used to annoy a couple of my former colleagues, but it didn’t affect them directly anyway.

After working on a couple of projects at Lux, I sat down with the boss to look at my filing. I think I was more oblivious to it rather than having a nonchalant attitude. He gently suggested that I should look at improving my folder structures. I’m sure I saw a twitch in his eye when we looked at what I’d done on those early projects, but I can’t be certain.

My usual practice was to work from the 1 folder and create a received file with anything I was provided by the client. I’d also have a final or show folder for the content I’d need for an event. If there was a large print requirement, I’d make a file for that too. When the events were bigger, I might attempt to file things a little better. I knew where everything was, but no one else did. It was sporadic and off the cuff.

As things have become more content focused for events, with LED screens on just about everything, it became obvious that a better filing system was required compared to my standard quagmire. I wasn’t just the one dealing with the files, collaboration was essential.

We started with a simple file structure that we’d duplicate for every event as a basis. This helped with projects from the get-go, communication improved, and I didn’t have to rely on recent files to find what I’d been working on. Moreover, as I got used to the filing, I added more options and complexity as it was required. It helped to reduce time wasted searching for what I need, and I haven’t looked back since.

If you were curious, this is what the barebones filing looked like –

00 Show Files

01 Received

02 Working files

03 Approvals

04 Print items

05 Previous Content

06 Visuals

07 Entrants

PS: I always number my files starting with a 0. Eg 01, 02 ,03. Believe me, it makes things easier.