Nobody talks about names. Everyone talks about systems, methodologies, applications and workflows. But there is a quiet skill that makes everything else work better: naming well the things you save.
A well-named system is a navigable system. A poorly named system is a labyrinth where every search is an adventure with an uncertain outcome.
The problem with inconsistent naming
The problem is usually not that the names are bad when they are given. The problem is that they change over time: you name something one way today and another way tomorrow, and a month later you have three variants of the same concept distributed across the system.
Typical examples:
- “Book - Systems Thinking”, “systems thinking - book”, “Systems Thinking (book)”
- “Project Web Design”, “Web design - project”, “Web 2026”
- “Finance ideas”, “Ideas about finance”, “Finance - ideas”
If you have ever searched for something in your system and had to try three word combinations before finding it, you know exactly what we are talking about.
Principles of good naming
Decide the order first. Names in search systems are sorted alphabetically. Deciding whether the type comes before or the topic comes before has consequences for how your notes appear grouped. There is no single right answer, but you do have to decide and maintain that decision.
Be descriptive, not cryptic. Abbreviations and codes can seem efficient, but in three months you will not remember what “PrF-2025-3” means. A long but clear name always beats a short but opaque one.
Include enough context. The name of a note must make sense without needing to open the note. If your note is called “Ideas”, it serves no purpose.
Use dates with a consistent format. If you include dates in names, always use the same format (YYYY-MM-DD is the most useful because it allows automatic chronological ordering).
Conventions for notes
One possible convention for naming notes is to use a two-part structure: type + topic.
- “Reference - [title or description]”
- “Idea - [brief description]”
- “Project - [project name]”
- “Learning - [lesson or area]”
Another option is to put the topic first and use the type as a separate tag. What matters is choosing and maintaining.
For meeting or conversation notes, including the date helps enormously: “Meeting 2026-03-12 - [context]”.
Conventions for files
For documents, reports and more formal files, a useful convention is:
[YYYY-MM-DD] [Description] [Version or Status]
For example:
2026-03-12 Web Design Proposal v22026-01-15 Team Meeting Notes
The date at the beginning guarantees automatic chronological ordering in any file explorer. The description must be specific enough to distinguish the file from similar ones without needing to open it.
The key is consistency
The specific convention you choose matters less than maintaining it consistently. A system with a mediocre convention applied consistently works much better than one with an excellent convention applied sometimes.
The best way to maintain consistency is to have the convention written somewhere visible: a reference note in your own system, or a card on your desk. Do not trust memory to maintain a convention; trust the system.
In the next chapter we make a distinction that seems subtle but changes a great deal about how you manage your system: the difference between archiving and organising.
