# Contents
Organizing digital content is a big hassle. A hassle which is not helped by all the proprietary file formats, and different mental states when working on different things. Especially taxing is the difference in the organization-model between classic computers and phones. The latter training you to save things in individual apps, and in more like a pile than a organization system.
The last few years, I have used a approach that has worked quite well for me, both professionally, and at home. I have mostly just blindly followed the luca decimal, which is a combination of PARA and johnny.decimal. I am applying the approaches loosely, and only where I feel it makes sense. Below is some of the structure:
├── 1-Projects
│ ├── 000-ANNET
│ ├── 102-PRJ1
├── 2-Areas
│ ├── 200-finances
│ ├── 201-image_video
│ │ ├── 2017
│ │ └── 2025
│ ├── 203-homelab
│ └── 206-inventory
├── 3-Resources
│ ├── 300-recepies
│ ├── 304-writing
│ ├── 307-apartment
│ ├── 308-hiking
├── 4-Arkiv
│ ├── 401-project-archive
│ ├── 402-area-archive
│ ├── 403-resource-archive
├── index.md
As you can see from the top levels, I mostly follow the para structure. When I archive something, I add the year I archived the directory. Within all of the folders above, I either have a additional .00.XX, or just dates, or just a bunch of random files.
The main goal here, is just that I have references to things. I also organize e-mail the same way, and I tend to organize other things the same way. Generally I will download e-mail as maildir, and store where appropriate in the structure.
# Searching
For most things, I have switched to using plain text. This means I can use ag or fzf to search. Most text is in markdown, latex or html. I have replaced most spreadsheets with csv files and python-scripts, which as a bonus is more scaleable, the negative is that it is less accessible for other family members.I did keep a index for a while, where I associated metadata in plain text. But I have not kept this up to date.
Other than that, this folder is synced to nextcloud, where I can tag files with additional metadata. This allows me to search in that metadata.
For pictures, I have them indexed in PhotoPrism, which makes searching easy.
# PC storage
Lastly, I have concluded that I am tired of worrying about the data that exists on a particular computer. Which is why I now sync my data to the cloud. I have one `_library` directory in my home folder, which contains the structure as described previously. Not everything is synced everywhere, as it is a lot of data.Additionaly I keep a _elibrary, which has some encrypted files, this still follows the same structure and numbering. So if it is related to finances, it would be in 2-Areas/200-finances/
I also keep a _code directory which is separate, but I make sure to keep everything here in a git repository.
As I have written about previously, these are then synced to a server where I have just initialized simple
git init --bare-repositories which I push to using SSH.
I think the most important point is that I set my browsers to ask where they should save downloaded files. And create a cronjob that purges files that are a few days old from the Downloads-directory. This forces me to actively archive files immediately, and give them appropriate names.
# Summary
I realize this became somewhat of a rambling, but I thought it could be useful to have a reference for how I organize things.I think the most important thing is just to be somewhat conscious of giving things sensible names, and using formats that is possible to search and index quickly (IMO, preferably plain text). Trying to stick very strictly to a specific system is probably not the best approach.
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