There are also some tools available to help you work with static files more efficiently.. My favorite so far is
ElementHelper, which detects if new files were added in your elements folder and then turns them into new elements in the manager. Even works for TV's!
And.. It clears the cache if you changed anything in an existing static file, so no need to clear it anymore after every save. Real timesaver!!
And I also just recently found out about this extra:
SE Manager. This also lets you create static files from existing elements. Still has some quirks, but looks very promising!