New User to Alfred. Interested in learning about productive work flows and filing system.

[dov-ber]

Hi all, 

 

I am new to use Alfred and I am on a Mac Monterey OS. I am new to this idea of organising my files and I would like to learn what is the best practice so far in being able to search your stuff. 

 

I am currently using Sharepoint, but the wiki cannot be searched. Then I went to use Notion, but uploading video files takes a long time. I am assuming that using Macs tag system will help me find my work easier. So I am just wondering could anyone share any tips or work flows to get things started? I was wondering is there a work flow, that tags things downloaded and filter it into the appropriate folder? Just wondering. 

[Vero]

@dov-ber Your post is a very broad topic so you might find that more specific questions get you more answers. Are you referring to workflows when talking about Notion, or just using Notion generally?

 

If you're keen to discover Alfred features and workflows, a good place to start is our Guides & Tutorials page:

https://www.alfredapp.com/help/guides-and-tutorials/

 

You'll also find lots of tips on the blog (both in the guides section and the tips & tricks for shorter tips):

https://www.alfredapp.com/blog/

 

If you ask more specific questions here, I'm sure you'll get some answers

 

Cheers,
Vero

[dov-ber]

@Vero - Thank you for your reply. I was talking about notion as an example, but I what I wanted to do is to learn how to use Alfred properly in the sense of being able to search anything within my Mac or iCloud Drive as efficiently as possible. 

 

I have been traditionally using tags to label the files but I find it onerous sometimes as I understand Alfred can search via the command tags and things pops up. As such, I was wondering what would be the best practice to organise files so that Alfred can search for them efficiently. I have adhd so I lose things readily. 

 

Secondly, concerning workflows, (I am new to automation) and I would like to ask, is there any useful automations that you can recommend to complement in my organisation so things can be searched more efficiently? 

 

Kind regards. 

[vitor]

On 5/12/2022 at 6:00 AM, dov-ber said:

the best practice to organise files

 

There is none. Which is why there are so many ways and apps to do it. The best way to organise files is the best way which works for you. Some people have files scattered all around but tag them well, while others never tag but use meticulous folder hierarchies. It also greatly depends on the types of files you regularly deal with—searching for PDFs can be easier than searching for images because we can search by the contents of the former.

I organise my files hierarchically because that’s how computers work. It’s the most robust way to ensure your organisation won’t be messed up when you need to move them around. That matters to me because when I upgrade macOS, I mostly do fresh installs. On the same vein, I wouldn’t trust any app to dictate my organisation, especially not a VC-backed company which can be sold or be discontinued at the most inconvenient of times.

Alfred—by contrast—works with the system, it doesn’t impose a methodology. I organise my files in folders with a sensical hierarchy. When I need something, I search for it in Alfred by the file’s name or some directory where it should be in and drill down until I find it. The files which aren’t organised or that I’m working on tend to be on the Desktop or the Downloads folder, so I built RecentlyAdded to quickly reach those. Finally, I have a couple of File Filters for common targeted searches.