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when I first entered the workforce this
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is how my file management looked like
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and since then I've tried everything
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from bro it doesn't matter if it's messy
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just search for it man all the way to
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have you heard of the Johnny Decimal
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System okay so first you just need to
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memorize this totally not complicated
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numbering structure and then you have to
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Define your categories and wait where
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are you going and I found the correct
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answer to be a healthy balance between
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form how neatly organized everything is
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and function how to name your files so
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you can quickly search for the
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information you're looking for so in
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this video we'll first go over the
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simple framework I use to organize and
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name my files then dive into five
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specific file management tips that I
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found to be absolute game changers let's
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get started from a file hierarchy
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standpoint I limit the number of folder
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levels to a maximum of five meaning the
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sixth level can only be files and
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documents no more folders but each level
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can have up to 99 folders so five levels
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deep 99 folders wide for example this is
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what I see at level zero in my Google
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Drive we'll go over why I chose these in
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a bit this is level one level two level
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three
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level four and level five and files
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obviously you don't need to have five
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levels but more than five we tend to
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just get lost the reason each level can
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have up to 99 folders is simply because
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of the numbering zero one all the way to
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99 but as you can see I rarely go above
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zero nine the folders I access most
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frequently have lower numbers zero one
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zero two zero three because they're
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closer to the top right and 99 is always
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reserved for an archive folder I throw
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outdated or inactive files into coming
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back up to level zero the zero one
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folder has all my personal stuff zero
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two work related zero three our
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documents are reference on a regular
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basis for example a gym membership card
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I plot on my phone or templates I use
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every single week the zero four quick
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share folder is something I came up with
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myself and it works like this let's say
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I have a planning Deck with confidential
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information meant only for myself but a
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colleague needs a few slides from the
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same deck instead of creating a new file
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copy pasting the slides over and then
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sharing what I would do is simply select
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the slide my colleague needs file make a
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copy select the slides and save this new
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file in the zero four quick share folder
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before sharing it with my colleague so
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basically zero four Quick Share is a
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temporary catch-all folder this way the
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confidential slides are kept safe the
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original folder is not cluttered with a
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duplicate and I don't have to constantly
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annoy my colleague to make a copy so I
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can delete the duplicate because it's
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already organized in my quick share
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folder I have a backups folder at level
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0 making it super convenient for me to
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drag and drop files I know I should back
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up on a regular basis and last but not
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least the 99 archive folder files are
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probably never use again but I just
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can't bring myself to delete moving on
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to how I name folders and documents
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there are two ways I go about this I
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either include a date or leave it to be
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sorted alphabetically going right into
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date naming examples for some documents
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the year is enough 2025 budget
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spreadsheet if you want to be more
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specific we can add a quarter 2025 q1 Q
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ubr quarterly Business Review while more
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level down add a month 2025 May monthly
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presentation with director and the most
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granular
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2025-0505 inbox zero training for the
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sales team as you can see the date
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naming convention depends on the type of
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file as a rule of thumb including just a
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year or a quarter makes a file more
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searchable I think we talked about it in
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the Q3 presentation let me quickly
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search for it versus the more granular
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you go with the month and date the more
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you need to know where the parent folder
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is so you can find the specific file for
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example I run a lot of workshops and
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although I don't remember the date for
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each one I know they're all within my
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Jeff's sharings folder another example
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is for invoices and receipts you're not
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going to search for an individual one
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but you should know exactly where they
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are for all folders and files that are
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not time related and are equally
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important so no zero one zero two zero
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three I leave them to be sorted
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alphabetically but the rule is to be
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consistent in your naming so the
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documents are as searchable as possible
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for example most of my files have one of
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the following keywords doc meeting notes
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working tricks briefing slides and form
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so 90 of the time if I put the project
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name and one of the keywords I end up
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finding the exact file a viewer in mind
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Matthew he's awesome has a slightly more
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complicated naming convention but it
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works for him because he follows the
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same structure for all his files he
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knows PM represents a file type zero one
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stands for the main file and if this
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were 0 4 it would mean it's a
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presentation file so there's no right or
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wrong way to do this as we decode our
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digital space I also want to talk about
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the products I've been using from Oki
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wood to declutter my physical space they
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are sponsoring this video but I would
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have talked about them anyways mainly
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thanks to their latest magsafe lineup I
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absolutely love their shelf Mount I have
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two because you can basically clip them
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on anywhere with an edge and hide the
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cables underneath the surface I have one
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right by the front door along with the
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Apple watch stand so super convenient
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obviously and I have one right on my
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desk so I can have my phone close by
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without it taking up desk space it also
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doesn't hurt that all their products are
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FSC certified meaning the wood is
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sourced from sustainably managed force
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and it guarantees that no other
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materials are getting accidentally mixed
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into the final product but for now back
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to the digital world the first and most
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game-changing file management tip comes
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from David Allen organized information
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by where you will use it not by where
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you found it for example if you own
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multiple projects at work you should not
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have a separate folder for all your
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project meeting notes even though it
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looks super nice and tidy instead you
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should have the project a meeting notes
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document within the project a folder
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itself because that's where you're most
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likely to use it you open the project
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folder and all related documents are
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inside right and second this makes it
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super easy for you to share the entire
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project folder with someone else file
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organization tip number two make use of
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a file manager's native features for
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Google Drive this means I can use search
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operators like type presentation to
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quickly search for Google slide files or
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if that's not your thing perform a basic
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search then use the filter chips down
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here to quickly narrow your search
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results Pro tip to quickly find a file
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you know was shared with you go to the
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shared me tab and under the people chip
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input the owner's name or email because
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we generally remember the person who
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shared the file with us for Mac users I
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highly recommend installing Alfred or
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raycast they're both free out of an
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entire tutorial on how to use Alfred for
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Windows users I've never tried these but
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I heard everything listery and walks are
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all great file management apps sticking
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with Google drive though tip number
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three is attaching a keyword to a file
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or folder for example someone shared
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this folder with me so I can't change a
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name to whatever I want but I can press
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D to bring up the details tab scroll all
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the way down and add a keyword in the
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description field here now if I search
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for this keyword grad and Power
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only a few results show up if I research
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for Empower which is part of the name of
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the folder a lot more results show up
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thumbs up if you didn't know this before
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Pro tip number one I love keyboard
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shortcuts and the two I use the most in
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Google Drive is PE to preview a file
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without opening it and N to rename the
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file instead of right click rename Pro
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tip number two Mac users can bring up
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the details view for follow folder by
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pressing command I and you can add a
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keyword in the comments field here and
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now you can search for it directly using
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Alfred raycast or Spotlight I'm sure
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there's something similar for Windows as
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well Windows users let me know in the
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comments file management tip number four
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ruthlessly prioritize which folders to
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star or flag for all platforms there's a
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way for you to Star file so you can
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access it quickly from the sidebar in
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order for a file to make it on here it's
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Gotta pass three tests first I need to
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use it every single day second is
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something I need to quickly access on my
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phone since there's a start tab there as
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well and third I can only have 5 5 Star
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files maximum at any given time because
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if everything is start nothing to start
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file organization tip number five know
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when to create a shortcut whenever a
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follow folder is shared with you on a
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cloud storage platform like so you
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should immediately take one of three
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actions make a copy add a shortcut to
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the original file or do nothing doing
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nothing is the most common action to
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take if the file is just a one-off
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request you go into the file and put
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something for your colleague then forget
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about it you make a copy of the file if
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you either want to use it as a template
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or to reference it in the future but you
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have to remember all new edits made to
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the original file will not show in your
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copy which brings us to the action we
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should all take more often add a
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shortcut to illustrate imagine your
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manager creates a one-on-one meeting
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notes document and shares access with
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you you want to immediately create a
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shortcut because this allows you to
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organize a file any way you want under
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your own file management system without
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moving the document from its own
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original location your manager has
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organized it their way you have it your
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way and the arrow icon here makes it
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clear that this is a shortcut as you can
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see there is no perfect file management
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system but two things I can confidently
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leave you with first over optimizing
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leads to decrease productivity so don't
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overthink it second pick one system one
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naming convention and stick to it if you
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enjoyed these tips you might like this
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video on my top productivity tips for
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work see you on the next video in the
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meantime
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have a great one
