Notes
Last updated: October 20, 2026
Short essays on getting files, photos and documents under control without folders.
Weekly Digital Reset Checklist: Do It in 5 Minutes
A free weekly digital reset checklist you can finish in five minutes: clear screenshots and downloads, save the keepers, then stop when the timer rings.
October 19, 2026
I Gave Up on Notion. What Now? A Calm Exit Plan
Quit Notion without losing what you use. Keep the 5 to 10 pages you open, export them, delete the rest, and let new things file themselves. Free, no card.
October 16, 2026
How to organize freelancer receipts without folders
Shoebox full of receipts? Here is a no folder method for freelancers, what the IRS says to keep, and a ten minute habit. Free to start, no card.
5 min read
How to Rename scan_0042.pdf Files Automatically
Rename scan_0042.pdf files automatically with a copy-ready date, vendor, what name card. Three ways: by hand, with a rename tool, or on drop.
October 11, 2026
How to Search Your Files by Asking in Plain Words
Ask for a file by its kind, when and one detail. Get a copy-and-paste formula, a loosening table and a two-minute test to see if your tool reads scans.
October 8, 2026
How to Find a Receipt or Warranty When You Need It
Receipt gone and the dishwasher quit? Check email, the store's order history and your card statement, then ask what proof they accept. Free, no card.
October 5, 2026
How Long to Keep Receipts, Contracts and Warranties
Not sure what to toss? See how long the IRS says to keep tax records, plus how to keep receipts, contracts and warranties. Free to start, no card.
October 3, 2026
How to Forward Emails Into a Notes App
Forward an email to your notes app's private address and it becomes a note. Steps, the Apple Notes workaround and a fix list for emails that vanish.
October 1, 2026
How to clean up your desktop and have it stay clean
Clearing a messy desktop takes an afternoon. Keeping it clear is a different problem, and it is the one worth solving. Here is how to make it last.
3 min read
What to do with four thousand screenshots
Screenshots are the easiest thing to make and the hardest thing to find later. Here is why, and what actually helps once you have thousands.
3 min read
Leaving Notion: what actually moves, and what does not
Pages, databases, files, comments: some move and some do not. See what a Notion export keeps and where your files go next. Free to start, no card.
4 min read
Why your filing system keeps failing
It is not discipline. It is that every folder structure asks you to make a decision at the worst possible moment. Here is what to do instead.
3 min read
File naming conventions nobody keeps, and what to do instead
Every naming scheme works for two weeks. Here is why, and how to get findable names without maintaining a convention yourself.
3 min read
How to organise receipts and invoices without a spreadsheet
Your receipt spreadsheet will have a gap by March. Skip the data entry, keep each receipt and invoice as it is, and find it at tax time. Free, no card.
3 min read
The downloads folder is not a folder, it is a queue nobody drains
Why the Downloads folder fills with thousands of files, what is safe to delete, and how to stop it happening again without a weekly clean-up.
3 min read
Organising photos of documents: scans, whiteboards and business cards
Photographing paper is the easy half. Making scans, whiteboards and business cards findable a year later is the half that usually gets skipped.
3 min read
A Notion alternative with zero setup, for when you only wanted the notes
Only ever wanted the notes part? Skip the databases. Notes, files and PDFs go in, there is nothing to set up, and you find them by asking. Free, no card.
4 min read
How to find a file when you cannot remember what it is called
Search boxes want a name, but you remember the sender, a phrase or the month. Search by those, or ask in plain words. Free to start, no card.
3 min read
Frequently asked questions
- How do I get files and documents under control without folders?
- Stop deciding where a file goes at the moment you save it. Give files names that say what they are, and rely on search to find them. Why your filing system keeps failing explains the thinking.
- How do I clean up a messy desktop or downloads folder?
- Treat both as queues you empty on a schedule. Delete installers, move the rest somewhere that names and files things, and send new screenshots to a different folder. Start with clean up your desktop and the downloads folder.
- What should I do with thousands of screenshots?
- Delete the temporary ones, then give the rest names that say what they show so the text inside becomes searchable. Naming first and grouping second works better than the reverse. See what to do with four thousand screenshots.
- How do I move my files out of Notion?
- Export your workspace as Markdown and CSV, delete the sections you know are dead, and move the collected files somewhere that names and indexes them. Keep the old workspace open for a month. See leaving Notion.
- What is Stash?
- Stash is a place to dump receipts, files, notes and forwarded emails. It files everything itself and you find it by asking. Free holds 100 things, Pro holds 2,000 for $90 a year, and every feature works on Free. Start free