Can’t find the manual for your blue tooth, or a client contract? Follow these 3 simple steps when setting up or re-doing your filing system and you’ll be able to find everything you need quickly and easily.
1. Use colored file folders to set up categories, then alphabetize within those categories. That way you’re not looking through all the files to find what you’re looking for.
Examples for home filing system:
a.blue = important/one of a kind documents like passports, social security cards etc.
Examples for office filing system:
a.green = client contracts
2. Create a legend for yourself of what each color represents and what types of things fall into the categories you’ve created. Post that on the outside of filing cabinet or on a cork board where you can easily reference it.
3. Use a label maker or Avery 8066 labels that are removable. By keeping the labels consistent it will allow for you to quickly find what you’re looking for. Many people start out with labels on everything and then start to hand write the label titles which makes it extremely difficult to decipher for even yourself or someone else who might be doing your filing.
Your productivity and efficiency relies on your filing systems.
When you have stacks of papers that have not been filed the difficulty in deciding how to file them, causes frustration.
When you have a poor filing system and you can’t find what you’re looking for, that causes frustration.
Due to that frustration you are losing time and money, I guarantee it.