Yes, I've been thinking about file management problem for a while too now. Most of my files belong in multiple directories. Right now I have to make multiple l

Yes, I've been thinking about file management problem for a while too now. Most of my files belong in multiple directories. Right now I have to make multiple links in multiple directories and I hate it every time I have to do it. Because of the nature of the info I deal with, sometimes I forget all relevant directories. This problem is akin to tagging a blog post. I think that analogy could be used to solve this problem. Though the idea of a central file manager doesn't excite me, one solution would be to have a database handle all your file transactions. This could ask you to tag a file every time you create a new one or edit+close an old one. You, as a user, will never actually see the folder list unless the GUI was designed to facilitate this. Another issue is directory structure. Traditionally, I've organized directories based on categories but I don't remember how I classified the file if I go looking for it a year later. And what when a file belongs in multiple directories? These days, I've gotten rid of multiple directories and instead opt for a particular naming convention like category_subCategory_fileName . Not only does this reduce my cognitive load to figure out/remember where I stored the file but it also allows for faster access since I can user the keyboard to quickly scroll down to the category_ and do a visual inspection of sub categories and filenames. This works very well for me. This technique doesn't work as well through command line though. I need to keep tabbing and sometime the tab returns to many results to parse through - directories are perfect for CLI. I LOVE the Mac Preview, its a must have. When it comes to software design, I still use multiple directories instead of categories but thats only because all my tools facilitate the use of directories.