Probably the number one item that clients want me to help them fix in either their home or their office is paper and filing. It seems that paper, and keeping track of the pieces we wish to keep, is a struggle even for the most organized.
Most people struggle over the structure of the filing system. “If I file something in here, I never know where it is and can never find it again.”
My advice to clients is that there is no perfect filing system. There are good commercial systems, (e.g. Paper Tiger), there are common systems (alphabetized) often used in corporate settings and then there are the rest of us.
It is important that you pick a structure that works for you. If you organize visually, try using coloured files. If you are tend to talk to yourself and are auditorily oriented, try using file headings like “Keep this for Income Tax Time” or “Things I keep to refer back to”. Sound corny? Who cares? If it works for you, that’s all that matter.
Archive for Filing – Page 2
The best way to keep paper from accumulating is to keep it out of the house.
When you receive the mail, get into the habit of sorting and reading the loose material right over the recycling bin. That way you can throw the unnecessary fliers, brochures and promotional items along with all the envelopes right into the bin as you sort through them and open the mail. The pile of paper will immediately decrease in size and you are left with paper that really in which you are really interested.
Do you have hot files in your office?
Hot files are the ones that either you are working on everyday because of their importance or contain the key To Do items because of their relevance.
Often when a hot file system has not been set up, people tend to keep the key files out on their desk. Eventually a whole bunch of files are on their desk and a few get moved to the credenza. Then there are a whole bunch on the credenza and a few get moved to the floor… you get the picture. You may be looking at that phenomena in your own office or that of your key director/manager. Try this strategy:
- Pick a separate colour file folder for your hot files. Pick a hot one that will grab your attention.
- Clear out of the things in/on and around your desk the key projects on which you are focussing.
- Find either a desk top file vertical file holder or pick one of the side drawers of your desk and empty it out.
- Put the files in the coloured folders and label them accordingly then file them in the spot you have chosen.
- This is the new home of your hot files and you will find them there, in prime real estate, each time you need them.
For entrepreneurs, small business owners and those of us with home based businesses keeping work and personal life separate becomes a significant challenge. With only one filing cabinet, business and personal files have no choice but to co-habit. If your office is the corner of the family room, tax time may find you with receipts all over the dining room table while you sort, add and prepare for your annual tax submission. Even if you have a large corner office, you may find that there is some information that always gets handled from your office and therefore you keep those files stored at the office.
When tax time is over, or the big project is complete, whichever is your reason for extending beyond your “office”, it is important to develop boundaries and borders that separate work life from personal life. Working animals, such as sheep herding or seeing eye dogs, have defined cues that tell them when it is time to play and when it is time to work – the harness for example. Without these cues and without clear separation the animals become confused as when they are working and when they are just playing.
The same is true for the rest of us although thank goodness we don’t have to wear a harness to tell us when we are at work. Wtihout this clear distinction, however, our lives become imbalanced, productivity decreases and destress time disappears. Here are some tips for home based workers to help maintain boundaries and borders:
- Start by designating an office. No matter how small or large, ensure that the space is preserved for your business work space.
- Separate your files by using a different colour label or file folder for personal and business files. Ideally, use different file drawers.
- Schedule your time so you know when you are “on the clock” and “off the clock”. The timing of the work day is less important than the designation of the working hours.
- Use specific cues to tell you when you are at work. This could be a coffee mug that is reserved for work hours, a pair of shoes that you “go to work in”.
- If you are working on a big project that requires spilling onto “non office” home space, try designating a large basket to house the project work during non work hours rather than allowing it to takeover the living room completely.
If you are struggling with paper on your desk – or anywhere in your office – the biggest contributing factor may be that you are still storing your active work files horizontally rather than vertically.
Paper likes to be stored horizontally, it won’t argue with you. But you will end up with a lot of paper cuts, headaches and lost documents if you are housing files on your desk and credenza in piles. Everytime you go looking for something you have to sort through the whole pile because a document that is horizontal with something on top of it can not be identified. A file folder that is stacked horizontally in the middle of other folders is very hard to identify.
Instead, identify half a dozen files that represent the bulk of your day to day work. Organize the files vertically in a desk top file holder with the labels clearly identified. Using a file label on the file tab makes the label easier to read and easier to reuse. You might try using a specific coloured file folder for these half dozen or so files so that they can always be easily identified when lying around your office.
Sitting in their file holder either on your desk or credenza will make them easy to see, easy to access and reduce the need for sorting through lots of paper – paper cuts and bandages.
Colour can be a quick and easy way to help with your paper issues. Many clients complain to me that they can get paper into files initially but when they start using the files (projects, meeting agendas etc) the files pile up and the paper starts getting lost. Eventually their desk or credenza becomes a messy pile of files and paper and those familiar feelings of overwhelm and frustration creep in.
Despite our best attempts at limiting the number of documents that are printed, it seems that paper is here to stay – at least for the meantime. Try using coloured files to help with high level decision making, storage and retrieval of paper. For example, if you run a home based business, consider using one colour for personal files and another for business. In a corporate environement, consider one colour for project files and another for operational day to day activities. If your company uses manila folders for environmental reasons, use coloured file labels to help with storage and retrieval.
It is helpful to limit the number of colours and use colour for high level sorting. Too many colour choices can increase organizing challenges especially for individuals who are easily distracted or have difficulty focussing.
Colour can be a quick and easy way to organize anything from toys to files. When we organize we sort (small, medium, large widgets) pattern (like things together) and decide (keep, sell, toss). The same is true for storage and retrieval activity; looking for a spice (sort by alphabet?), filing paper (sort and pattern this year, last year, food, rent, utilities etc) and making decisions at every step.
Coloured boxes, baskets, labels or other storage tools provide an easy first sorting mechanism. Each child could be assigned a colour for their toys (John gets the blue toy bucket) sports gear (Jane’s labels, bag and towel are blue) or items on the calendar.
It is helpful to limit the number of colours to a minimum of choices. Use colour for high level choices. For example, if you run a home based business, try using one colour to sort between business and personal files (business is blue, personal is green). Too many colour choices can increase organizing challenges especially for individuals who are easily distracted and have difficulty focussing.
I am often told by clients that they can manage to keep one but not both of their information filing systems up to date. Either the paper files are comprehensive and up to date or the e-files are organized and up to date. Often clients find they can’t keep them both organized.
A good rule of thumb is to try and mirror your e-file structure to your paper file structure. Give your brain a break and make the sorting process as easy as possible for both electronic and paper files by using just one structure.
Then remember to schedule a regular if not frequent purge.
Q and A: Paper
This is the first of what will become a regular feature on the Wellrich Blog: a Question and Answer column. I often receive questions from clients. Many of the questions are very similar. I will post here some of the more common, interesting or helpful for your benefit. If you have questions you would like answered, send them to me at [email protected].
Q: I can’t keep track of all of the paper that comes into the house- mail, school papers, etc. If I try to put things away I forget about them and miss things, and if I leave them out I can’t find anything. What do you suggest? I currently have stacks of paper in various places, things on my bulletin board, and the really important things stuck into my planner. Cherri, Toronto
A: “How do I handle the paper?” is the most common question most professional organizers receive from their organizing clients.
Step 1 – The first step to correcting the solution is to get all the paper in one place so that it can be weeded out. Schools are notorious for sending second and third copies of forms to be signed if they haven’t shown up by the due date. Pull is all together in one big pile and let’s go.
Step 2 – Go through and throw out (recycle) all the duplicates, envelopes and junk mail. What you have left is the material that you really need to address.
Step 3 – Set up a date sensitive/hot file type folder for handling birthday invitaitions, Kiwanis dates, doctors appointments or anything else that stale dates. This can be as simple as (my favourite) an alligator hook holding the date sorted papers hung on a hook in the kitchen, or as complicated as a 31 day accordion file used as a bring forward file.
Step 4 – Set up a reference material holder. This could be (my favourite) an accordion file labeled by subject (church, teacher, ballet studio, music teacher) or a binder with dividers using the same titles. File the paper related to these subjects as reference for when you need it. If it doesn’t contain reference, toss it.
Step 5 – Set up a filing system for day to day items such as statements that you still receive in hard copy. Get into the habit of keeping only the minimum required e.g. one year of statements, latest bill, total year to date etc.
Step 6 – Set up a mail station with a separate slot for every member of your family. This could be as simple as a cereal box cut like a paper tray (get the kids to decorate their own), plastic stacking paper trays, wall hanging shoe holders or anything else you can imagine. Go vertical! Label each members slot and make sure that when the mail comes in, it gets sorted. This is a good “chore” for a grade 3 student.
Step 7 – Give your kids a folder – plastic, 2 pocket, which they can choose the colour and decorate. Have them use this folder for everything that comes home for you. They bring it home and put it in your mail slot. You take out the contents, sign the forms and put it back in their slot. They check the slot each morning before school.
It will take a while for your family to buy into all of this but persevere. They will catch on and the kids will love not being nagged at school for the forms which used to be always late. Kids also like having their own mail slot. It makes them feel important and on an equal footing to older siblings/parents at least in this one department.
