51: What Are Naming Conventions and Do You Need Them?
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Welcome to episode 51 of Permission to be Messy. I'm your host, JoAnn Krall and today I'm talking all about naming conventions and whether or not you need to use them. This came up because last week I did a series of live videos around information organization for your paper and your digital files.
And I used the term naming conventions, and I got a lot of people asking me what that actually means. And I forget that can be a jargon thing so I wanted to talk about what they are and whether or not you should use them. And if they're right for you, how to set them up.
So first naming conventions refer to a set of rules and guidelines used for naming files, folders, and then it can be used in computer stuff too but specifically I'm talking about when you're organizing your digital files and your folders.
Now a lot of people will say that following consistent naming convention is essential for organization, clarity, and collaboration, which I would agree in the collaboration sense, but if you're just working with your own files, it. It isn't necessarily essential.
So what a naming conventions usually include. Sometimes they will include like the name of a project. They might include the date. They might include a version, but say, if we were talking about photos, you may have, the date, the photo is taken the occasion and the people that were in it in your naming convention. so you can see where this could get a little bit out of hand if you're not already organized. And I find that a lot of people will start to, they'll say, oh, somebody said I have to do naming conventions and they'll start a process and then they'll realize halfway through that, they are rethinking the way that it would want to be named. And then they stop and they get all messed up. So here we go right now, permission to be messy. If you've started with naming conventions and you wanted to switch to a different way to do it, don't worry about the past files that you created only go forward with what you want to do going forward because you'll still be able to find things and everything doesn't have to be perfect and matched.
I personally do not use naming conventions. I do however, make sure that my files are named and they're named in a way that makes sense to me now. Yes. If somebody had to take over my computer and figure things out, it might take them a little bit, but they would be able to figure things out based on the way I've named things. But I'm a big believer that when you're naming files or you're naming folders, that you want to make sure that the name makes sense to you almost the first thing you think of so that you don't have to think now, where did I put that? What did I name it? Go with your instinct when you're naming things. And if you aren't using very descriptive naming conventions then you probably want to be using a filing system of some sort to make sure that, and we're talking digital files for this, to make sure that you're not trying to sift through a bunch of files. At least with a filing folder structure if you haven't named something super clearly at least, you know, what's in the right folder and you would know where to go.
If you decide that you do want to use naming conventions, really know yourself, know if you're going to be able to keep up with it.
So here's some tips on setting up naming conventions. The first thing you want to do. Is you want to understand your needs. So if you're thinking of implementing this. I would say, don't worry about any of the old files just yet start implementing, going forward. Because, if you start implementing right away and you get, like I said, you get partway through and you decide you don't want to do it.
You wouldn't have wanted to take all those old files and edited them only to find it's not going to work for you. So make sure that you have a starting point. Implement and then make sure it's working for you. You need to understand what you need to have in your naming convention. Again, like I said, project names, dates, versions. Maybe there's some sort of category or any relevant details that you need a file to have.
Now, if you're collaborating with people, you want to be sure that your descriptive and clear. But again, if it's just for you, you want to make sure it's the first thing that comes to your mind so that you're not having to retrain your brain to think of things. I use this example of when I have, and I'm thinking of my paper files, it would apply to digital as well. But for example, my cell phone, when I think of my cell phone, I do not think of a T and T I think cell phone, but when I think of my internet provider, I might think of Verizon as opposed to internet.
That helps me. move more quickly than to think. what did I call it?
Another thing you want to make sure as you're doing consistent formatting so that it's easier to scan files. And again, this is do you prefer to start with the date or the name of the project? So think about that. In fact I would have you do all these steps before I would have you even start implementing. Choosing that formatting. Choosing the way you want your date to be formatted. Whether you want to have numbers as your versions or letters. And then I would encourage you to limit the length. Try to keep your naming convention small, be as concise as you possibly can.
So, those are just some tips when you're thinking about naming conventions, but also really the main message I want to get to you today is you don't have to do them they can be really helpful, but know yourself.
So I would love to hear from you, if you do use naming conventions, if they're successful for you. If you don't use them because they're not successful for you or maybe you've tried them and they didn't work, but you really want them to work. I would love to hear from you. as always, I have my contact information in the show notes .
You can email me, but also you can book a free strategy call with me. There's no obligation. It's a 15 minute call where you can ask me anything. And again, I'll put the link to my Facebook page where you can watch those videos. And if you don't have Facebook, I'll actually put the link to the replay page that I had for my offer. My offer has expired, but, the actual videos are there as well. So I would put that. And as always, I'm wishing you much progress.
Peace. Purpose and the permission to be messy. Thanks for listening.
