Over these past months, our home computers and laptops have become our offices and classrooms. Hence, they mean even more to us now than they did before. It also means that we use them more regularly and for longer periods. As a result, we seem to pile up tons of work files on our desktops and download folders. Well, that's a rookie mistake.

An organized computer is the key to your professionalism, efficiency, and productivity. So take your time to clean up and categorize all your computer files, works, and media that you store in your computer. Keeping it neat and clean will help you focus on your work without distracting or losing time on unnecessary stuff, like going through untitled docs. So let's see the top five rules on organizing the desktop, files, and works.

Desktop

First and foremost, don’t ever store files on your desktop. Keep it as the rule of thumb that your desktop should be free of any clutter, unrecognizable files, works, etc. Your desktop represents how you treat your computer and demonstrates how well you are organized in general. So nothing seems more like a big red flag than a cluttered desktop with no order or any attempt of organization. Keep there only icons of the programs you frequently use. As for the rest, it's best to find your files a more convenient permanent home.

Clear your downloads

There is nothing wrong with keeping files in your downloads for a few minutes after you have just downloaded them. Everything after that is just bad taste. You have to redistribute all your files to where they belong. First of all, you won’t believe how much stuff you can find in your downloads if you never clean it. Basically, it is your entire computer/search history in one place. Do you want that? Secondly, keeping stuff in the download folder is simply inconvenient. It’s just not the best way to store things. So make a habit of categorizing the files you have just downloaded right after they got to your computer.

Create a certain structure

Any attempt to categorize things needs a plan. First, think of the best ways to store and organize things on your computer. Then, create a system that can meet all your needs. For example, if you use your computer for both work and personal purposes, see how you can separate those two activities. You can have two desktops for both purposes or separate your storage places into two.

A common mistake here is to create lots of folders and just stuff all your computer files and icons there. This is not a standard we can encourage. Even though you end up with a clear desktop, you still lack structure and organization on your computer. Hence, you still struggle whenever you need to find anything, especially in an emergency. Also, you still have no idea where to put any new files that appear on your computer. Thus, you are doomed to repeat the same cycle all over again. You'll wait till your desktop is full, create a folder, and dump everything there. This will not work.

Instead, you should think of a standard that will help you organize your desktop.

Also, don't forget about title names when coming up with your method. Overall, make a habit of labeling every file you have on your computer. Such a habit will serve you as a great advantage in keeping everything organized. So whenever you are looking for an essay, a work file, a saved paperhelp review, or else, you can always find it.

Clean up

Another common mistake here is to keep on collecting clutter even after you have come up with a storing pattern. So often, people decide on the method and start sorting things out, moving files to the right folders, disks, etc. However, first, you need to see the nature of those docs. Don't save files that you have no interest in keeping. It's best if you take enough time to review every untitled document and delete everything you no longer need.

Stick with it

Last but not least, once you have organized files on your computer, try to stick to it. Maintaining the order, you have set for yourself is, probably, the most important rule of all. You have to make an effort to keep things as they are once you have worked so hard to make an order. Remember, it's much harder to bring things back in order than maintaining that order on a daily basis. You only need a few minutes a day to keep everything organized. On the other hand, it can take hours trying to put every file where it belongs. So try to create a routine here of keeping order and stick to it.