1000 Flowers for the Planet - #112 Manage Your Computer Files

1000 Flowers for the Planet - #112 Manage Your Computer Files

It is so easy to let the files on your computer get out of hand. We create a document / spreadsheet / database / presentation, give it a name and save it to the hard drive – then we forget about it ... for years and years and years. Eventually we have a hard drive containing a lot of useless data, and the larger our hard drives become, the less inspiring it is to cull the dead stuff.

By managing your computer files and creating some order to the system you choose to use, everything will be uncluttered and easy to retrieve. Finding things easily and quickly means you save your valuable time and become efficient.

I was looking at my own file manager the other day and thought to myself, “what a nightmare this would be for my daughter to deal with if I carked it (Aussie slang for ‘died’) tomorrow!” Electronic files are just like paper files in a filing cabinet and need to be deleted now and then. If you’re like me, you’ll find several weird documents you forgot you had and can well do without. Enjoy that ‘delete’ button and declutter your computer.

And how does this help the planet? Having fewer files may improve the running of your computer causing you to rethink the need to get a bigger one and put the old one into landfill. Becoming more efficient and using the computer as a ‘tool’ will enable you to do what you need to do, then turn it off to go and do something more interesting, thereby using fewer resources, less electricity, more money in your pocket and the option to do something good for your health.