Clean up your computer’s chaos in three passes. First, a 5-minute mess audit. Then you get a simple folder taxonomy, a date-first naming convention, and a phased cleanup checklist with a 25-minute sort timer.
Step 1 — The 5-Minute Mess Audit
Open your computer, look around, answer honestly. Rough estimates are fine.
Your Mess Score
0
Your Folder Taxonomy
Every file you own goes in exactly one of these four buckets. No exceptions, no new top-level folders.
What goes where
The golden rule: if a file doesn’t have a home yet, it goes in 00-Inbox. Never on the desktop. Never in Downloads. The Inbox is the only acceptable “I’ll deal with it later” spot.
File-Naming Convention
Date-first naming means your files sort themselves chronologically everywhere — any OS, any cloud drive, any search.
Date first, always YYYY-MM-DD — never MM-DD-YY (it won’t sort).
Lowercase, dashes instead of spaces (client-proposal, not Client Proposal FINAL).
No words like final, new, or updated — use _v1, _v2 version numbers.
Topic beats type: name it what it is (tax-return-2025), not what program made it (document1).
The 3-Pass Cleanup Plan
Don’t try to organize everything in one sitting. Three passes, one at a time.
Pass 1 — Today
Sweep Everything into the Inbox
Create 00-Inbox. Drag everything from your desktop, Downloads, and every “misc” folder into it. No sorting, no deciding — just sweep. Goal: a clean desktop and empty Downloads by the end of today.
Pass 2 — This Week
Sort in 25-Minute Passes
Open 00-Inbox, start the timer, and sort as many files as you can into Active, Reference, or Archive — renaming each one with the date-first convention. When the timer ends, stop. Do 1–2 passes per day until the Inbox is empty.
25:00
Pass 3 — Day 90
Archive Anything Untouched
Anything still sitting in 00-Inbox after 90 days goes straight to 30-Archive. You haven’t needed it in three months — you won’t miss it, and now it’s out of your way but still findable.
Cleanup Progress
Go Deeper with the Book
Digital Minimalism Made Simple by Kimani Upshur, M.Ed. goes further — decluttering your digital life, taming notifications, and building a calmer relationship with your devices.