up:: [[MOC My digital garden]] related:: [[Sprints]] ... before I got mad at myself for over architecting # Why we need folders (although we were tought not to) > [!Info] TL;DR - the key takeaways > use sprints to split work into managable packets > > after done with the sprint decide what the next sprint needs to accomplish > > we try to **Avoid** **Thing**-Folders at any cost: **never do** *Car* > name everything that is a process or an action accordingly > *buying new car* is not the same as *insurance documents for car* > one is an action to take a project, the other is a thing > even the last one would better be *filing insurance docs for car A* > give yourselve a reminder of whats happening inside the folder. > *Thing*-Folders are misleading. Let's dive into it... # What is important to the file structure? To find out about folders we have to ask the questions: Can you see easily what you have to work on? Can you quickly sort away documents no longer necessary? # Why we use folders? - folders are the root of file management since the beginning of digital systems - we are all trained to think in folders - > easy to understand - universal for all systems - tool agnostic - future proof # What is the main goal of using folder We need to be able to quickly find our files. # Why do I still rely on folders? My journey that led to PKM was the necessity to file huge amounts of accounting files, HR files etc for my dental office. **How do you files digital files along physical ones? And find them again...?** We used Dropbox later a specialized Document Management System. The Problem remains the same. How to file them In the search for a solution I found a book on Filing Documents in digital systems. The Solution: "A filing Plan" > [!image]- ![[Aktenplan 1.png]] So there is strict rules how to file. >[!Question]- What was the takeaway? > [!Quote] However there was one big takeaway > File in **processes/actions** *not in topics* > [!Quote] Nick Milo > There is thing notes and statement notes. And this is what stuck with me. And it is a very helpful lesson to learn. Our brain works better in actions than in abstract topics. >[!warning] Don't do this >Car >[!Correct] Do this > - Buy new car > - repair car after accident > - pay car insurance bills As we can clearly see those three actions don't fit well into the same category of *car*. # The Art of agile projects - For many of us projects are no big things to accomplish. We don't have to plan projects over 1000s of files. This is the complexity of a big company project and nothing we usually face. - Life changes - things change along the journey - a fixed plan is deemed to fail - don't over-construct - Design thinking - working in iterations We are mostly working on "ad hoc"-projects = Small scope projects. So the best solution for small scopes is working in an agile form. Agile and scrum are software related methodologies. they can be adapted to our daily lifes. Weekly sprints or bi-weekly sprints are suitable for private projects as well as small business projects. The leading attribute is time or the sprint. What I learned when looking into BASB: Most things in life are projects. The rest is longterm: wishes, wants, archives, memories We usually dont work here, we work in projects. In working on my folders during this workshop i realized that PARA Projects Areas Resources Archive is simple divided in 2 categories of information 1. I need it now 2. I need it someday So I combined my Areas, Resources and Archive into the Library I also felt the need to add a personal folder for self development and exploration (touchstone, values etc) [[folder Structure LYT11 Showcase]] Now I want to go into the Project folders # Folder Concept We use folders with parenthesis () to have them sorted up. We store files in here that are Meta or externals like forms We use one folder for results. We work in sprint folders or since we have linking capabilities in Obsidian you can work with "Sprint MOCs" Last we create a Project MOC = PMOC for the overall description I also create a query file for tasks = TMOC We then work in sprints to complete tasks. Every sprint done is moved to the "zzArchive" folder (zz for sorting to the end of the list). So usually it is the sprint we work on or maybe the next sprint, when we add files or tasks to the next sprint file. But we don't work in multiple sprints at once. Why is this helpful? Sprints allow us to easily adapt to new situations. We clearly see when the sprint is done and what we achived. We can then plan the next sprint and work on things the we have time for. In BASB Tiago Forte talks about "Hemmingway Bridges": a methodology to end work in a way that we know where to continue when we resume our work. The sprints help us to divide work into smaller portions and easily continue or work on what time allows us. I am a dentist. So i typically work in the operatory and not at my desk. Times between patients rage from 3 to 10 minutes. So my office work must be divided into smaller steps and I need to quickly find the point where I left off. I can also imagine that people with **ADHD** can profit from a working style that allows for smaller chunks of work and a form of working that allows to persue what fits you at the moment. So my Showcase Folder looks like this - P23 prepare Showcase Lyt11 for 29.06.2023 - (Control Documents) - here I have a note from Keaton's email - external Info we need to comply with (laws, term sheets etc) - (Knowledge Documents) - Forms to use - Pictures - Sprint 1 25.06.2023 - first outline of my showcase - screenshots and images I want to use - Sprint 3 29.06.2023 - Final draft - all attachment files going along - zzArchive - Sprint 2 27.06.2023 So basically you pull work you need for the next sprint into the next Sprint folder and move the rest to zzArchive as it is not needed anymore For me this was helpful in many ways. A good example is - P23 - Filing Taxes for 2022 company one - Email from my accountant on what he needs additionally - Tasklist created from the email of my accountant - Sprint 1 - A bunch of PDFs - got a new email what came up now - Sprint 2 - other files needed. - some information to my accountant So here the work is heavily filebased. And I have the files in the Archive in the end. I don't need them for reference. Most of the time, after the tax form and attachments are mailed, I am done. And I never need to look into it again. But when P23 - Filing Taxes for 2023 will be due I can check all my old tasklists and prepare in a better way or hand the list to my assistant to prepare ahead of time. So we utilize information from old projects even when they reside in the Archive. I plan on using more Tags to pull those up much quicker in the future. ## Sources The books I read are German. It is an expert on filing digitally for minicipal adminsitration and government. But also companies. Steinbrecher, Wolf; Müll-Schnurr, Martina. Prozessorientierte Ablage (German Edition) (S.34). Gabler Verlag. Kindle-Version. Fischbach, Jan; Steinbrecher, Wolf. Projektablage: Wie aus einer lästigen Pflicht eine mächtige Plattform für Zusammenarbeit wird (German Edition) . leanpub.com. Kindle-Version. Steinbrecher, Wolf; Fischbach, Jan. Praxisbuch Informationsmanagement: Wissen im Unternehmen teilen. Guter Umgang mit Dokumenten, E-Mails, Aufgaben und Meetings (German Edition) (S.16). leanpub.com. Kindle-Version. Agile Einführung der E-Akte mit Scrum (German Edition) (S.427-428). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Kindle-Version.