Filing Dos and Don'ts

Paper clutter seems to be an almost universal problem. Even in this digital world, most of us still have too many papers cluttering up the surfaces in our homes and offices, with more sneaking in every single day. It’s hard to keep up! Setting up a reference filing system requires us to first answer three important questions:

1. What do I need to keep?
2. How long should I keep it?
3. Where can I put it so that I can easily find it again?

The answers to the first two questions can be found in "How Long Should I Keep It" document that is part of the Paper Tamer Bundle you can download for free on this site. The third requires a bit more thought and effort. All reference filing systems require some amount of maintenance, but here are tips to ensure that yours stands the test of time with minimal upkeep. (Note: The Paper Tamer Bundle includes detailed step-by-step instructions on setting up/tweaking your reference filing system.)

The Dos:

• DO go paperless wherever possible. The less paper volume, the less maintenance required. You should still have a system for filing and maintaining your electronic copies, but these are generally much more flexible and require less work.
• DO educate yourself. Know what you really do need to keep and what you don’t. This can not only dramatically reduce the volume of paperwork you are handling, the physical space required for your system, and the time spent maintaining it, but it will make retrieval much faster and easier too.
• DO challenge your assumptions. Many of us older filers are still clinging to an outdated way of doing things. It’s much quicker and easier to obtain copies of old records from outside sources than it used to be if something we need is missing from our own files. A lot of the things we used to keep, particularly when it comes to banking records, are now readily available electronically should we need them. Consider the time/cost of retrieving something from one of these sources versus the time/effort required to maintain them in our own files when trying to decide if you need to keep it or not. Of course, you will always want to double-check with your financial institutions and advisors first before getting rid of important documents.
• DO keep short-term reference papers separate. Papers like this season’s soccer practice schedule, the current school lunch menu, and others that you only need to keep for a few weeks or months should not get hidden away in your long-term reference system where they are likely to just clutter up the folders. I suggest a Short-Term Reference folder added to your QuickSort system (see Paper Tamer Bundle for more on this) as a good holding spot for these items. They will not only be handier to access here but also easier to eliminate when they become outdated.
• DO use hanging folders. Placing each manila folder into its own hanging folder will dramatically improve the usability of your system. No more folders slipping beneath other folders or getting bent or wrinkled. Hanging folders slide open easily and just require less physical effort to fill and to search through. Never underestimate the role convenience (or lack of it) plays in whether or not you complete a dreaded task like filing.
• DO write notes to yourself. If you have documents that could easily get filed in more than one spot and are afraid you won’t remember which place you ultimately decided to put it, write a note to remind yourself where you’ll find it and place the note in the folder you did not use. Alternatively, you can add a note to your index (see below) to help you remember. 
• DO keep it streamlined. You should go through your reference files every 1-2 years at a minimum to remove any papers you no longer need and to clean up anything that is misfiled. The fuller your system, the harder it is to use. Nothing kills a filing system quicker than overstuffed files!
• DO create an index. Much like an index in a book, your filing system should be structured based on how you are likely to search for items later. As much as you may think you’ll remember what categories and sub-categories your system contains, you won’t. Make it easier on yourself by printing out a list of all your folders. Keep this at the front of your system as a quick reference to jog your memory later. This is especially helpful if you have multiple drawers or boxes of files. Be sure to update this index anytime you add/remove/combine folders or make other structural changes to your system.
• DO try to make your system intuitive. A person of average intelligence should be able to retrieve any document from your system without an explanation of the file structure. You never know when such a situation may arise. BTW, that index will help.

The Don’ts:

• DON’T maintain duplicate files for the same type of papers. While it’s okay to keep personal files in a separate spot from work files, or to maintain archive files (the ones you have to keep really long term but will probably never need to access...like old taxes) that are separate from regular reference files, you should not have two separate sets of files for the same type of papers. This will only increase the number of places you need to look for something and likely create confusion.
• DON’T over-organize your files. Yes, there is such a thing as being too organized. The goal should be to make finding what you need relatively quick and easy, not to have everything perfect. If a file folder contains less than 10 documents and you know you may or may not ever need to find one of them again, do you really need to spend any extra time putting them each in sequential order? Probably not. If, on the other hand, you are likely to have to find the exact invoice in the middle of a meeting without fumbling around, maybe so. Always consider whether or not the time you are investing in that particular step is likely to yield dividends later.
• DON’T keep empty folders you don’t need. Once you realize you no longer need it. Get rid of it to keep your system streamlined.

With a little bit of thought and effort, coupled with these simple guidelines, setting up a reference filing system that stands the test of time will be easy peasy.

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