What Is Your Simple Lightroom Workflow for Organizing Photos?

I’m curious how other Lightroom users keep their photo libraries organized over time.

My regular work is in medical billing, where keeping information organized and easy to find is important, so I tend to appreciate simple systems that make it easier to manage a large amount of information. I’ve been wondering how Lightroom users approach the same idea with their photo collections.

Do you organize everything primarily with albums, folders, ratings, keywords, or a combination of different methods?

I’m especially interested in simple workflows that work well when the library keeps growing. It would be helpful to hear how others avoid ending up with thousands of photos that are difficult to search through later.

What Lightroom organization method has worked best for you?