Go with what's simplest for you and your office. It's a good idea to have a miscellaneous pile for all those files you don't know what else to do with. There's a good chance you have files you don't need anymore. As you're sorting through everything, throw out everything you don't need. Don't get overly excited or afraid of this part of the organization process. Know what files are important and which ones aren't, then act accordingly.
If you aren't sure, ask someone who knows. You may find your piles significantly smaller than expected if you get rid of all those un-needed papers. Now it's time to decide how you want to file your papers. There are lots of options to choose from. Here are only a few of your options:. Hanging files work great in filing cabinets with pull out drawers. These keep all your files organized and easy to find.
Finding what you want will be a cinch, thanks to study folders and easy-to-read tabs. Depending on how you've grouped your files, you may need to divide each drawer into sections. This is easy--simply add some divider tabs, and you're good! While finding what you want may not be as quick, this system works just as well. Find yourself a storage tower of drawers that aren't too deep. Many of these tips came straight from our Facebook group of Office Managers!
See what nuggets of wisdom our community has to offer and jump into the conversation. Join the group here. People have been color coding since office paperwork—and the office filing systems to organize it—became a fact of life decades ago. Color coding will inspire you to sort files into sensible categories, find files quickly, and add some fun to the filing process. This organizational technique is the perfect way to turn piles of paper into orderly packages that are predictable in the best possible way.
Best of all, color coding works on both physical and digital files, and if you need to organize both types of files, you can easily use the same color coding system for each.
Review the categories with your teams and executives. When you color code a mountain of paper, you turn a haphazard mass of information into chunks that you and your brain can easily sort when you need to find something specific. When you digitize files, you essentially creating a paperless filing system. Many people find it much easier to organize a digital filing system over a paper filing system after every paper file has been converted to a digital format.
If you choose to digitize your files, you will need to start by scanning and converting your old files, a process that can be time- and labor-intensive. Special thanks for Francisco from our Facebook Group for outlining these pointers! This is especially important if you handle documents that, if lost, could pose a huge detriment to customers, clients, or other business operations. Instead of flipping through folders and stacks while risking papercuts and headaches, a digital system will allow you to search a few keywords or sort files into an alphabetical list and easily find what you want.
Digital systems also make it easy to add new files and even share filing responsibilities across teams. The setup requires a lot of work, but the time and stress you save afterwards is well worth it. This may seem like a cheat, but one of the best ways to organize an office filing system is to reduce the files you need to organize.
Discarding old files keeps your system clean, organized, and relevant. It also saves you time keeping the system in working order, and helps you avoid wasting time organizing files no one will ever need again. If the files you need to organize are relevant only to specific departments, ask a person in each of those groups to organize their files while you create an overarching file management structure.
By asking the people who will understand—and need to access—the files to take on part of the organizing process, you ensure your system will work. Pros: Names are less ambiguous than other categories, such as industry or product type. Cons: It can be confusing if the client or company changes their name. It can be difficult to remember when you worked on a certain project at a glance.
Best for: Organizations with large amounts of files tied to time periods, like a financial services business. Best for: Organizations with lots of cross-departmental collaboration—for example, a project manager, writer, and graphic designer work together on every project. Cons: It can be hard to find related projects unless you include that in the file naming structure.
Pros: Each team knows where to find their files, so searching is faster. Cons: When departments do collaborate, it can be confusing deciding where to save files. Ideally, your file names should be detailed enough that you know exactly what they are at a glance. Start with the broadest category at the beginning of the file name, like the year or department, and then get more specific.
Whatever you decide, just be consistent. Work together with features like chat, file sharing, and video calling. Establish a system for version control. Another option is to establish a clear order of file name endings and ask the whole organization to stick to it.
This is useful if you want a separate file to mark each stage of a process, but it does lead to more files. Give the client a time limit on revisions, if possible, to avoid a never-ending revision cycle. There are several ways to organize images, such as by year, event, project, or department.
If your business attends a lot of events, consider creating folders for each event type, such as each conference. Just like with your other files, decide on an image naming convention and stick to it.
Keep a basket, box, or container near your filing cabinet to temporarily store papers. You can then file several items at a time, instead of piecemeal. You may also want to set up a nearby recycling bin or a shredder with a container to make it easy to properly dispose of old, or outdated papers. Get into the habit of filing papers on a regular basis. You can file papers at the end of the day, week, or month. The most important thing is to make sure that you work is consistent. You can turn filling papers into a productive task at any time of the day you so choose, start your day off with some filing, do a spot of filing before lunch, or save filing for whenever you need to take a break from your desk, stretch your legs, or give your mind a rest from work that requires deep thought and concentration.
How about you? What do you find is the most difficult thing about keeping a filing cabinet organized? Join in the conversation and leave a comment below! Want help organizing that filing cabinet? If you want help decluttering and organizing your filing cabinet, I offer professional organizing services and organizing mindset coaching. Click here to learn more about how to work with me. Get organized the easy-peasy way!
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In as little as 15 minutes a day, you can have less clutter in your home, feel in control of your stuff, easily find items when you need them, and build solid organization habits that will last a lifetime. Organize items without having to buy or worry about the latest storage container, method, or tool. Enjoy a neat, tidy, organized home that makes you feel deliciously in control of your belongings…and your life!
I also like to purge utility bill receipts each year. I once discovered I had up to five years of statements filed. That leads to a new filing challenge of creating the folders on my desktop computer to file at each email notification. Keep things light and manageable on the paper end by setting a small goal to file 10 items each day, or as much as you can within a ten minute period. You could also set filters in your email so your statements go into the right folder; no manual filing necessary!
Hi Barbie, thanks for your comment. It certainly sounds like you have a organization plan for your filing cabinet! Hope that helps!
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