How To Set Up The Best Home Filing System
Consider this circumstance: You immediately need a very important document from your table. You remember setting it down on the table, but just when you need it most, it is nowhere to be found. You find yourself shuffling through hundreds of folders and files and time is running out. Your table looks as if an avalanche has swept over it, making your search that much more difficult. Can you relate? Precisely how long does it take you to shuffle through your files to retrieve an important document?
Examine your home filing system. What approach do you use to file your mail, bills, receipts, and other documents? Do you know what papers to keep and what papers to toss or shred? Sifting through the clutter of an unorganized desk requires much more time, effort, and energy than having a simple and organized home filing system.
The best home filing system is one that not only meets your current needs but also grows to adjust to evolving needs. A home filing system should allocate a place for everything including mail, bills, bank statements, receipts, advertising flyers, etc. It should also put an end to the never-ending struggle to find papers. Assign a specific space in your home – like a large drawer or filing cabinet – to organize paperwork in your home filing system.
Use folders in your home filing system. This will allow you to categorize your papers. You can put all business and financial related documents such as bank statements, receipts, tax returns, etc., in a folder. Other categories should be placed in other folders. For example, personal documents like birth certificates and medical information, should get their own category and folder.
Another suggestion would be to place a document in the top folder that serves as a “map” to guide you to where you placed your files. This will help you be more efficient by allowing you to know exactly where a document is in the folder as opposed to looking through the whole folder of documents. Most importantly, keep your filing system simple. Use categories that are broad enough so that you are not using a folder for only one document – otherwise instead of searching through hundreds of documents you will just end up looking through hundreds of folders.
Most important is that you label everything in your home filing system. This is most helpful to keep you from sifting your way through the chaos. Today you may remember what you put in the folders, but tomorrow you will most likely forget. One you get your home filing system up and running you will be able to access files quickly and easily.
Heidi is a professional organizer, creator of The Fast-Filing Method home filing system, & publisher of Life Made Simple e-Magazine. Heidi energizes her readers’ lives by teaching effective organizational systems to help you accomplish more & GAIN peace of mind! Visit ClearSimpleLiving.com to get a complimentary subscription AND a FREE Home Organization Kit.