Filing papers

Further to my earlier post, I would be interested to know how people file papers and other useful information. By category? By project? By author? Or all electronically to enable keyword searching?

Comment posted by jae’than (from vox)
is not at all an acceptable answer?
I can see 6 mostly full notesbooks from where Im sitting…
perhaps I could say that they are organized biographically…
but I dont find that very useful…

would you write out the post explaining your numbering system?
it would allow me to pretend once again that Im going
to be the sort of person.

Comment posted by Phil Wilson (from vox)
Well then, without prying too much, may I ask what you write in your notebooks: do you have a notebook per subject, or . . . what? When I was at school and university (I still am at university but on the other side of the chalk face) I had notebooks for each course, but real life doesn’t seem to have courses. Nor a syllabus, although some may disagree.The page numbering system is an eight-digit code yymmddnn where yy=last two digits of the year (at the time of writing, 06); mm=Gregorian month number (currently 11); dd=day of the month (today is the 28th, so 28); and nn=page number for that day (first page of work is 01, second 02, and so on). I write this number in four rows of two columns in a top corner of each page. Since I work in a notebook I alternately write in the top left and top right corner – whichever is on the outside edge. As an example, today’s fifth page of work would be coded 06 11 28 05The neat thing about this system is that it allows for very easy filing and finding of notes because the year number is the first thing you see, then the month and so on. Also, unless you’re intending to still be working a century from now, and/or producing more than 100 pages of notes a day (the hundredth can be “00″), there’s no risk of duplicating the code.

Comment posted by jae’than (from vox)
thanks phil,

though now that I’ve re-read your original post I feel foolish for asking…

I buy notebooks because I think Im going to write in them…

I buy new ones so Im not reminded how little I’ve written…

As for what’s in them

right now I have a seperate one for work (which is terrible)

and one for writing (which is terrible)

Can I ask what your doc thesis was?

Comment posted by Alena Roo (from vox)
Hi Phil, have you heard about David Allen’s book Getting Things Done? It’s been all the rage for quite some time now, and the basics of this productivity cult an be found here. I used some of the techniques from the book but my information is mostly stored on my desktop computer and synchronized to my Palm, so I don’t file much paper.

Comment posted by Phil Wilson (from vox)
jae’than, it sounds like we buy notebooks for the same reasons, although lately I’ve become adept at filling them with content of marginally less value than white space.

My PhD was in mathematics, more specifically applied maths, even more specifically in fluid mechanics, and to be very specific, in the compressible and turbulent flow of air through slightly curved pipes. It doesn’t sound too rivetting, but the maths was pretty technical and good fun to do.

I’ll have to be terribly English now and rather shyly ask “And what is it you do?”

As for you writing terribly, I’ll have to let my inner positivist shine through and say that I don’t believe you because I see no evidence for it.

Comment posted by Phil Wilson (from vox)
Hi Alena. I have indeed heard of Allen’s book, and read it cover to cover about a year ago. I made the mistake of trying to implement a lot of his ideas at around the time my son was born, with the expected outcome – failure. But I found his 43 folders idea really useful, and that’s one thing that has stuck. Your synchronised system sounds good, and certainly ensures backups. I couldn’t rely only on enotes because a lot of my work is doodles, scribbled equations, and so on. Sometimes the stuff I cross out is more valuable (it later transpires) than the stuff I didn’t. The result is a lot of paper which needs to be kept. But how?

Thanks for your comments!

Comment posted by jae’than (from vox)
you should understand Phil
that Canadians aren’t allowed to be proud of anything…

I thought for awhile that I wanted to be a photojournalist…
then tried it out in a place more serious that I should have
and decided that it wasn’t for me. (though I have been reconsidering that lately)
So I went to school with aim of becoming a philosophy professor.
It’s difficult to say if that was ever my real plan,
but it continues to be my fake one. (fake plan = what you tell your grandparents)

Besides that
Im married to a lovely girl
and work at a small pipeline company.
One which deserves more time than I have
and that other that requires it.

and you?
how old is your son?
how long have you been married?
I mean all these specific questions
to ask for the general story.

Comment posted by Phil Wilson (from vox)
Alena, I have another comment about using Allen’s system. I think it depends on what one uses one’s filing system for. He recommends a separate folder for every single item, even if it is a single sheet of paper. This is useful if one only wants the filing system to be for reference. But I’ve been clearing out my files lately ahead of another change of countries, and found a load of great material I’d forgotten I had. There must be a better way! Any ideas? Anyone?

Comment posted by Phil Wilson (from vox)
jae’than, thanks for your story, it’s very interesting. Pride can be dangerous, but perhaps Canada is similar to the UK, my home country, in denying people the right to be honest about themselves. I think the two extremes of boastfulness and false modesty are pernicious. Having an honest opinion of oneself is a high ideal which no-one I know has achieved, but I can imagine that such a person would be genuinely modest and acknowledgement of their own strengths would not be seen as pride. I tend towards an arrogant pride: if I achieve the above, I’ll let you know.Good luck with the fake plan, it sounds better than most people’s real plans. Grandparents are like the embodiment of our consciences, don’t you think? Before them, we show our true hopes.Thanks for your interest in my general story. Since 2003 I’ve been married to a Japanese girl I met in 1997 in our second year as an undergraduate in London. Our son was born in February this year.