How To Manage Your Workflow With The Finder

That’s an old adage, but in my experience as a Macintosh trainer, I am convinced that the fact that the Finder is always there and that you never actually launch it causes Mac users to ignore how powerful a piece of software it really is. I’m going to suggest a couple of tips that I have used to organize my work with the Finder.

Use the Desktop as a desktop.
If you were working on a project or task without a computer, one of the first things you might do is clear your desktop or workspace and layout all of the files and materials you need to complete your project. Apple’s idea in creating the Macintosh Desktop space was to create a computer metaphor for people’s actual desktop. They expected people to use the virtual desktop in much the same way they used their physical desktop. They also used the folder and document icons as a metaphor for the file folders and papers people worked with.

Unfortunately, many people use their Macintosh Desktop for what I call “HyperPile”. My wife’s MacMini has the most cluttered desktop you’ll ever see. She has every possible slot filled with the icon of some file or other, and many of them have totally unintelligible names. However, that”s the same way she organizes her actual desktop and filing system. I’m never quite sure where a folder is supposed to be put in the file cabinet.

Organize Your Work with the Desktop and the Sidebar

1. Begin by clearing off your Desktop. Create the folders you need to properly collect your files just as you would with real file folders. After you have gathered and organized your documents, click on your user name in the Sidebar of any Finder window and store them in the Documents folder that was created when you first configured your Mac.
2. Decide what one or two projects you want to work on and either create or drag the folders with the appropriate files onto your Desktop. the reason you want the files you are using for your current work on the Desktop is because in any Finder window, including an Open dialog window for an application, the Desktop is only a key combination away. Simply type Command + Shift + D, and you will be taken instantly to the Desktop .
3. Finally, drag the icon for the folders on your Desktop onto the Sidebar of any open Finder window. This will create an Alias for these folders. You can also drag the icon for any applications you will be using for the project into the Toolbar or the Sidebar and create aliases for them as well. I usually put applications in the Toolbar and files and folders in the Sidebar. Now all the folders, files, and applications are only a click away in any Finder window.
4. When it’s time to work on a new project,

• • drag the Aliases from the Toolbar and Sidebar onto the Desktop to remove them (poof),
  • put your completed project’s files and folders away in your documents folder where they belong,
  • repeat steps 1 through 3 for your next project.

Follow these simple tips for organizing your workflow, and I promise you will spend less time looking for stuff and more time working productively on things that will make your business more profitable.