The simple art of filing The simple art of filing (January 20, 2006)

By Donna Davies

Is your idea of where you are financially a guess or is it based in fact? If the former, you need a better system for filing your papers.

The simplest and best way to store papers is in hanging files in a filing cabinet. Hanging files are better than manila folders because they move easily on metal edges within a file drawer, making the process of filing and retrieving papers much easier.

For a college student just finishing school, a portable filing cabinet will suffice, but a family of four will need a two-drawer cabinet at the least. Find a metal or wooden cabinet; cardboard filing cabinets don't allow the hanging files to move back and forth smoothly. It is easy to find secondhand cabinets at thrift stores, used office furniture stores and in the classifieds. Once acquired, place the cabinet right in or next to your desk.

Hanging files are easily labeled with vinyl tabs made especially for them. All tabs should be placed on just one side, so your eyes can quickly slide down a straight line of titles to find the file you need. Although it is fine to write the labels by hand, you may want to type them on the computer using a template (such as the Avery template for labels No. 8167).

Inside a hanging file, you can make further divisions using manila folders -- for instance, each person in your family can have a manila folder, clearly marked with their name, tucked inside the "Medical/Dental" hanging file. Each car you own can have a separate manila folder within "Car Maintenance" or "Car Insurance."

If a folder becomes overstuffed with necessary papers -- for example, with financial papers or school information -- consider creating a binder for that category, especially if you refer to those papers often. Organize the binder into meaningful sections separated by heavy-duty tabbed binder dividers.

The simplest way to set up your filing system is alphabetically. When creating your files, consider the title of the file -- title it as you most often think of it. Just about everyone needs a file for the following:
Bank Statements Benefits Bills to Pay Car Insurance Car Maintenance Cell Phone/Telephones Charities Credit Cards Credit Reports Documents Home Improvements Home Insurance Life Insurance Magazines/Memberships Medical/Dental Mutual Funds Receipts Resumes/Transcripts Social Security Stocks/Bonds Taxes, current year Wills/Trusts

Think how convenient it would be to say to a representative of a nonprofit agency who calls you some evening, "I'm looking at my record (in the hanging file called "Charities") and I see I have already given $50 this year." Or how convenient it would be to check your record (in the hanging file called "Magazines") to see when you subscribed and know you can recycle the solicitation for renewing your subscription that you received today.

People normally have a few projects going on at one time. For these, label temporary hanging files with each project name and file them in your drawers, keeping all the related papers together vertically and freeing up your desktop. A clear desktop will encourage your productivity and creativity. Conversely, a crowded, cluttered desktop will overwhelm you and stop you in your tracks.

On the next level, you may use your filing cabinet as a personal directional device and set up hanging files for that next job you are dreaming of ("Dream Job") or that next trip you are planning ("Tahiti"). They say if you can visualize your next step, you will achieve it. So start thinking big with a tool that's as close as your file cabinet.
Donna Davies has been working as a professional organizer in Mountain View for five years. She can be reached at (650) 969-3697 or ddavies78@sbcglobal.net

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