File management - it’s what all the cool kids are talking about
I know it’s not, but hear me out - I promise, it’s not as dull as you think.
Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash
Urgh, that sinking feeling when you go to find a file, and it’s not where you thought. That video you recorded a couple of years ago, that early podcast interview that never got released, that photo where everyone was looking at the camera… lost forever in the files and files on your computer, or was it on the old laptop, or that hard drive that didn’t survive a coffee spill?
I know that file management isn’t the most exciting subject in the world, but we’ve all lost valuable files and with good file management, that feeling can be vanishingly rare.
In my job, I generate a lot of computer files - clients send me recordings on Dropbox, Google Drive, We Transfer, and I make edit projects, drafts, and documents galore. Even when I was employed by other companies, I frequently joined a project to find a spreadsheet, a hard drive and a mess of files to tidy up. So with all this experience of creating and managing file systems, here are my top tips. I can’t promised you’ll never lose a file again, but you’ll certainly waste less time looking for them.
Start here
If your files are a mess, the best thing you can do is resolve to start labelling and filing properly now. Don’t waste time going back through all your old files.
Start with the new ones you’re creating every day. That way you’re not adding to the backlog, while you clean it up.
Keep it simple
Yes, it looks fancy if all your files are numbered up to the eyeballs, with underscores galore, but if you’re not going to remember the code, and you’re not going to be consistent, it’s not worth it. Instead, keep your file names to the basics.
If you’re recording a podcast with a guest, title your files with the name of the guest and a brief description, ie. Emily Crosby Interview Guest Mic, or Emily Crosby Intro. Remember that you’re trying to label your files with a term that you’ll want to search in the future.
Do it now
If you’re taking photos on your phone, or recording through Zoom, the files you download will often start out named with a string of numbers. As soon as your file has downloaded, rename it with something more memorable. At the very least, make sure you file it in a properly named folder. Take it from someone who has waded through thousands of numbered photos looking for a single image of a loaf of sourdough!
Choose one place
If you’re starting a new project with colleagues or an outside client, pick one sharing tool and stick to it. If everyone is comfortable with Google Drive, label a new folder, share it with everyone, and make sure everything goes there. Confusion starts when everyone has their own favourite sharing app, and you’re never too sure where to find the latest files.
Back it up
You’re naming your files properly, they’re filed in easy to find folders, now it’s time to check that you’re backing up. The best way to do this is to set up an automatic back up - most operating systems have an option to do this, via cloud storage like OneDrive or iCloud. There are also plenty of options available to buy. The important thing is that regular back ups copy your files in at least one extra place, if not two, if you’ll want to refer to them again.
I’ve recently finished a large file management project for a podcaster with over 400 episodes under his belt. I spent days wading through files from various laptops, cloud drives, and hard drives, gathering production files, transcripts and photos, to make a working archive. He started off with just a handful of episodes and no idea of the monster file mess he would create. Along the way, editors have come and gone, files have been lost and recordings corrupted. We managed to salvage almost all of the material and create a working archive that can be searched and used in the future, but it took actual days of my time to create.
