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I think this is very much true with the five external hard disks with me.
Which hard disk has the file I need now? I remember having saved it somewhere, but where?
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At least you can use FileLocator or similar to find it.
It's more complicated in the shed!
Andy
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Agree.
Maybe I should have used my bookshelf example. Sometimes I find it difficult to the find the needed book. I have more about a 1000 books in my personal collection.
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What? You don't file them alphabetically? Insert a book; rearrange all the other books to make room.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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My books are in five different languages - English, Sanskrit, Kannada, Tamil, Hindi.
And on different subjects - Indian Philosophy, Mathematics, Programming, Engineering, Physics. Since my library room is small in size, the books sometimes get mixed up, and it takes an effort to search. Some of the books are stacked vertically so that a book at the bottom of the pile gets hidden.
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Certainly one must have sections. You need more "art" books. 
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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Gerry Schmitz wrote: Certainly one must have sections
Not by definition. Modern automated libraries tend store everything in complete chaos. When a book is returned, it is put into the first empty folder, in cases with a lot of numbered folders, of the appropriate size. This process includes scanning a bar code of the case, the folder and the book, and this is entered into a search index in the library, before the robot drives the case back to its shelf.
Whenever someone later asks for the book, the library catalog provides the bar code for the book. This code is looked up in the search index, and the robot is sent out to retrieve the correct case. At the sorting table, a camera scans the folder bar code tags for the one in the index, and a mechanical arm lifts the book from the folder. The folder is now free for any other returned book, and the index entry for the book being removed is removed from the index.
The National Library of Norway maintains a library of about two million volumes this way, mostly older books that are not any longer found in smaller libraries spread across the country. Users can browse the catalogs of this central depot library from any public library, or their own PCs, and order the book to be delivered to their local library. The library has an absolute time limit of 24 hours from the order is entered to the book is on the road, but during working hours the delay is usually no more than a couple hours (waiting for the pickup truck to arrive).
Of course the library catalog has sections. They may have an "art" section, listing the book. Another section may be "French books", and the book is listed there as well. And maybe in the "antique books" section as well.
That is the great thing about it. I have copied my huge movie / music library to the PC (still fighting with the copy protection on some BD/DVDs, but most I can handle). I all the time have these questions like 'Is this a blues or a rock album? Where shall I put it?' Or, 'How did I classify that Nina Simone song - blues, soul, rock?' The Explorer 'Find file' helps a bit, but my archive is so huge that it is slow. I can only search on directory/file name; other properties are not searchable (MP3 tags are almost non-existent in my archive, and when present, they are often highly debatable.)
So I have a database index design ready for implementation, for looking up on music/movies on more or less arbitrary criteria. The directory structure of my music/movie disk would mean nothing for the search; the files might as well be located in a single huge flat directory, named by a serial number to avoid naming clashes (I have heard rumors that NTFS can have performance problems with tens of thousands of files in a single directory, though). That would give me the option to make all the sections I like, more or less like hashtags.
If I get around to creating the index/search system, there is the "minor" task remaining: Going through every single BD/DVD/CD/vinyl cover to enter all the information into the index - performers, composers, alternate titles, ... Only some of it can be extracted automatically. Maybe that is why I am so hesitant to implement the index system 
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Physical storage and organization are different things. As a former librarian I can tell you that there's a whole field of cataloging devoted to this sort of organization, and it has evolved over centuries. Technology has moved this sort of thing from physical card catalogs to databases and changed how the physical material can be delivered, but the process of organizing the material (cataloging) hasn't really changed much.
Books etc. are cataloged into specific subjects in order to make it easy to find all available material on a specific subject, but they are also cross-referenced so that they can be discovered when looking for related subjects. It's similar to a primary-to-foreign-key relationship.
But what really matters is the organization of the information, how it is physically stored is just a matter of convenience like you say. So, for example, you can classify an early rock album as rock, but cross-reference that to blues as well. That makes the database design pretty simple, the hard part is coming up with the categories you need and deciding what goes where. There's a lot of grunt work in cataloging.
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I looked at this problem when I wrote SnipAssist (PineTreeJoe.com). The problem with most code reuse is having it but not finding it. To solve this problem, I used three parts for a snippet. An administrative part, a description and the actual text to reuse. All three parts can be searched together or separately. The search returns a list of snippets. As libraries get larger, the descriptive part gets more important.
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There is a very simple way to find it: Buy another, identical set. Then you'll find the first one the next day.
(And for the next time you need it: Store the two sets in different places. That increases your chance of finding one of them.)
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Thats thing with Lidl, bakery and tools! I must confess to doing that more than once, That will be useful one day, One day comes tool is ???, botch it and scarper.
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I do that with code: write a routine (again) that I already wrote previously while "in the zone".
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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I find that as I get older the "zone" becomes ever more fragile.
Anything over about three months old (on a good day) and I can't even remember that I wrote it, let alone where it is!
Andy
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I started woodworking about 2 years ago in earnest.
Watched a lot of YouTube Wood Worker content creators.
They all talk about loosing their tape measure WHAT ? ?
That is not going to happen to me. It is only half a two car garage
WRONG oh so much not true
One Work Bench 72" by 35"
One Table Saw 60" by 36" Top
One Assembly Table 5' by 30"
One Tool Bench 4' by 25"
Too Many Places to Hide is the issue
I don't like the pocket clip on the 16' Tape Measure
Spend more time looking for the Tape Measure than I care to admit
OH and the 6 inch Machinist Ruler Great Hide & Seek player
I believe in a place for everything and everything in it's place
Believe it or NOT Taught to us in High School Wood Working Class Thank You Mr. Frank
One YouTube guy has 48 Tape Measures I think he has an Obsession
OR more money than common sense
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When you give up searching and decide to buy another tool to replace the first, after you've used it, you'll find the first one in your shed when you go to put the second one away...
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Strangely, I have now completed both of the jobs that I wanted to do with the drills but, more than 24 hours later the drills still haven't surfaced.
Sod's law is broken, or more likely just lurking.
Andy
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That's because you expected them to turn up after you'd finished, so by Sod's law,...
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C:\> dir /s filename.ext
Software Zen: delete this;
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But, doesn't work for content. And how would I remember the file name!?
Andy
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Remote controls are famous for vanishing into another dimension only to be reborn after you have replaced them. Just happened last Friday, I swear. Had to replace 2 different remotes, TV and Roku.
Old ones haven't been been found so still in another dimension.
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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Do you suppose it's the same dimension that socks go to from the dryer? 🤔
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That's a known theory yet to be proven. However, if my remote returns with a funny smell ....
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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Was thinking of an 'innovative idea'. Now that everything is smart, why don't they introduce a 'Beep Remote' button on the TV set, which when pressed, causes the remote to beep from wherever it is, within a certain radius. Or, is such a thing already present?
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That has existed for years.
I think actually for decades.
It can be used for other things also.
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This describes my entire life.
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