Having a reliable system for storing electronic files is essential for easy retrieval of information later. A simple system I love, and use for all of my electronic files comes from Mike Song's very smart book on managing email, "The Hamster Revolution."

For email and documents on most people's computers, the acronym COTA will give you all of the primary folders you need. COTA stands for Clients, Associations, Products and Administrative. Once you have created your primary folders, you can populate them with the appropriate related sub folders.

• Clients
  Create folders for your clients (clients can be those you serve within your organization) use this folder to hold communications to and from your clients.
• Output
  This primary folder is used for products or projects you are responsible for generating; anything you create that goes out into the world.
• Teams
  Use this folder for groups you are affiliated with, including teams and work groups in your office or business, and groups external to your business.
• Administrative
  This folder can hold information related to the business of your job or business, such as marketing, finances, website, etc. You can also have a folder for personal business in the admin folder.