The underrated craft of naming files

The single most valuable productivity habit is also the cheapest: name your files like a librarian, not like a stranger.

Why this matters today

Lowercase, hyphens, dates in YYYY-MM-DD, a short topic, and a version. That's the whole rulebook.

A good filename is the only documentation that never goes stale.

In practice

Here is the part that turns theory into a habit:

• Start small — a single file, a single page, a single test.
• Measure twice. Trust the numbers, not the vibe.
• Keep an undo path. Reversible decisions buy you courage.

A note on tooling

Every tool on this site runs in your browser unless we say otherwise. That changes the trade-offs: nothing to upload, nothing to retain, nothing to leak. The downside is a small ceiling on file size and a dependency on your device's CPU — both acceptable for most editorial workflows.

Takeaway

A folder of well-named files is a search engine waiting to help.