For home office organizing, use a simple file system that is easy to maintain -- Take Action, Read, Trash, Hold 30 Days, To File
Filing is still the best form for organizing paper. The secret to home office filing system is to have one that is easy and simple to maintain. Bills, homework, notes, newspaper and magazine articles, church and club announcements, coupons and all the paper within a home needs a place to reside. Putting together a complex filing system (numeric, geographic or chronological) like those found in libraries or in records management principles isn't necessary. In a home office the main objective is to handle a piece of paper a minimum number of times in the easiest way that is compatible with your style of thinking. This means developing a system that's usable and doesn't set up an "I'll get to it later" mindset, or a procrastination cycle.
Think in five easy categories. - Take Action, Read, Trash, Hold 30 Days and To File. All paper clutter can fit into one of these classifications. To get ideas for organizers, file folders and to see what other products you can use, take a trip to your local office products store. Look at colored folders and binders and hanging folders. You don't have to use standard office products; wicker baskets are attractive and functional repositories for filing papers in the above categories. Whatever you use, make sure a standard 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper fits in it easily without curling up at the sides. Be creative. Use anything that is appealing to your eye. Decorative shopping bags work. They're big, colorful, whimsical and they can hold papers of various sizes.
Once you have your file folder, baskets or whatever you are going to use to store your papers in you are ready to start. Set aside time to do this. A whole morning or afternoon will get the job done 100%. That is what you are aiming for -- handling paper the least amount of times and in the quickest way possible. Items to have on hand for the initial organizing project - cardboard box or trashcan, scissors, paper clips, stapler and highlighters. Gather up all the loose papers on the desk, chair, from the floor, bookshelves and anywhere else you've stashed paper, even from the desk drawers. Sort them into piles on the floors. Take Action, Read, Trash, Hold 30 Days and To File. Above the pile, place whatever it is you've chosen to keep your paper contained.
Go through each paper. As you read highlight important information then place it in whatever you've chosen to hold papers.
Guidelines for What Goes Where
Take Action - Anything piece of paper that has something on it that requires your attention within the next two weeks. Examples, letters, bills to be paid, any paper asking you to perform some action (sign, respond, call, confirm) doctor appointment reminders, school permission slips, sales announcements on products you intend to purchase
Read - any paper, catalogue, announcement, newsletter or magazine that might contain information you are interested in. If you've set aside a whole afternoon or morning to get your home office organized, clip out the articles and put them into the READ folder rather than keeping the entire magazine, newspaper or newsletter.
Trash - Anything that is more than six months old and requires no action from you. This includes magazines, newsletters, weekly, monthly announcements. If you haven't had to address the issue yet, chances are you won't. Get rid of it! If you feel you have to keep it, place it in To File.
Hold 30 Days - Place papers requiring action within the next 30 days. Bills to be paid, announcement of events you want to attend
To File - Once you have gone through the READ material and you have decided to keep material for future reference, place it in To File. Review this folder every three months. Ask yourself, "Do I still need this? Am I still interested in this?" If the answer is no, get rid of the paper. If the answer is yes, file it.
Long Term Filing System - Again a simple filing system is what you are striving for. Something easy to maintain and unique to the way you think. An A-B-C alphabetical system is logical and easy to maintain.
One can also use keywords for a particular subject, i.e., advertising, business tools, business organizations, customers, health/wellness, inventory, misc. reference, money matters, potential markets, places to visit, projects/current, projects/future, stress busters, web sites. For these subject files, it's best to use standard file folders, ones that can maintain quite a bit of material. Hanging file folders with box bottoms are very efficient and durable. Also, an a-b-c accordion style sorter is a great tool to place 'To File' items. It expands and with two bookends placed at each end or if it's housed in a bottom desk file drawer, it's easily accessible.
If you're looking for a home office filing system that demands keeping more than 100 file folders, consider purchasing a filing cabinet and handing folders. Label them according to your subject material either in an a-b-c method or a keyword system.
Remember, for any filing system to work, it must be easy to maintain and information must be easily retrievable. Always ask yourself which method would encourage you to keep up with the paper tiger by maintaining an a-b-c filing system or a keyword filing system.
