Formats and names and organizing, oh my!

Despite what Microsoft, Apple, and particularly Google want you to believe — that is, that there is no need to organize your data when you can just search for it — it's important to employ at least basic levels of structure and organization to maintain your sanity and ensure that you always turn in the right data for each assignment.

The two basic elements of organization are files and folders.

• A file is any collection of data stored as a single element with a unique name: photos, movies, music, the last paper you wrote, or that PDF copy of your last bank statement are all files, as are your apps.
• A folder is a collection of files grouped under one heading. Common folders on your computer or Google Drive include Music, Movies, Pictures, Documents, and Desktop.

As that folder list indicates, typical ways to organize your files are by data type (music, movies, and pictures), by general category (documents), and by location (Desktop). The particular organizational scheme you choose is unimportant — the important part is having one at all. That said, here are some broad suggestions to help you organize, whether it's your computer or your Google Drive:

• Work under Documents as your top-level folder.
• Under that, create separate folders for each class or activity, and store relevant files in the appropriate folder.
• If you want to drill a little further down, create more subfolders as needed inside each class folder. For example, each class contains its own subfolders for each assignment, which contain related readings, notes, and drafts. 
• Maintain a consistent hierarchy for each set of folders, and structure that hierarchy in a logical, navigable way.
• Remember that any organizational scheme beats no organizational scheme, so use what makes sense to you, and makes your files easy to locate. Future you will thank current you for your foresight.

tl;dr If you put things in folders that are logically named and organized, they’re far easier to find. This proves to be even more important when you’re collaborating and your professor/classmate is looking for it. Don’t rely on the Search tool to relocate your files – you should know where your things are being saved.