My File Folder Structure for Organization
I am a big fan of second brain systems such as Evernote, notion and Obsidian. But I found a common thread that really helps in any system you choose, is a general file folder structure that you can easily drill down to find files and notes you are looking for. This is my latest iteration and my go to for setting up in a new environment.
- 01-Daily Notes
- 03-28-2025
- 03-27-2025
- 03-26-2025
- Archive
- 02-Projects
- Paint the kitchen
- Wedding planning
- Build website for dog grooming
- Archive
- 03-Issues
- Bank statement incorrect
- Water heater went bad
- Endpoint failed on sever X
- Archive
- 04-Reference
- House
- Car
- Math
- Fitness
- Work
- Archive
This is very simplistic, and easy to remember. I have been using this for years now with anything that allows file folder setup. For more context on these, I will break down how I think about each top level folder.
Daily Notes where I store text files with random note taking each day. The goal is to process my important daily notes into the other folders for reference later. The Projects folder follows the ruleset from the GTD system, any task that has multiple steps gets made into a project. This folder will include other folders and at times will be just a simple text file. This folder is great for a quick view of active ongoing projects I have, anything resolved or canceled I will move into the archive folder.
Issues is actually a new addition for me, I have found this to be very useful for my job when a bug pops up and I need to troubleshoot. I will typically start in my daily notes then record all the relevant notes into one issue file that will help me refer back if needed. The Reference folder I have used for a long time and is very helpful along with a good search engine to find notes needed for later. I typically try to identify larger patterns of notes that I see may need its own bucket, each will be a folder of individual notes, I will archive any that I don’t see as relevant anymore.
This system has served me well, I am still iterating on it, and will most likely have new features in the future. I am always on the lookout for how others structure their notetaking. Being able to refer back to old ideas and important information quickly is invaluable. Hope this is helpful to someone.