Final rant: I feel that so many of my ideas and projects get stuck just because my laptop is a mess, I have files all over the place, and an organizing system that has a lot of room for improvement and I use only inconsistently. I don't know exactly how or where to start improving this. I'm also afraid that organizing could be a very long project in of itself. HELP!  Thanks a lot!
i try to put a keyword in the name of the thing, and then add a distinctive keymash (ajoi3rre0) to make sure it doesn't collide. if it's text and need to find it, i can also search by contents. just type distinctive string you know is in there, in quotes.