What do you need to have a really effective and high quality home filing system? Well there are only 5 steps and you should be up and running in no time.
A fresh start
Start with a completely empty filing cabinet or box system. Insert a number of the hanging file folders into the cabinet or box.
For a professional and organized look, we suggest you colour coordinate your filing folders, by either using only one colour for all folders or using one colour for each high level category. There are five major categories, so if you use different colours for each major category.
You can be very creative in making your labels. These you can either print in colour coordinated colours for each major category or even print or write them in a fancy font. Let your imagination go. However, ensure that the labels are readable; else if you can't find what you're looking for, you may very quickly stop your filing efforts and be back with your pile of unfiled items.
Enable your labels
Now, start by making labels and sticking them on the file folder inserts or write your labels onto the file folders. Ensure that the labels are in a prominent viewing area, i.e. right at the top of your folder, so that you can easily find any folder you are looking for.
Here you can be very creative in how you create or write your labels, as long as you ensure that it is readable. This will ensure that you can find whatever folder you are looking for, very easily.
Fill 'em up
Once you have labeled all your file folder inserts, the next step is to insert these into the hanging file folders. As a start do not add more than 5 inserts into each hanging file folder.
For certain categories, you may require more space than others. As you begin to do your filing you will notice that certain hanging file folders are getting very full. In this case, all you will have to do is to insert another hanging file folder in behind the one that is full and move the back file insert or two into the new hanging file folder. Please ensure that you still keep everything in alphabetical order to allow finding your filed items quickly and effectively.
Please remember that certain categories may be containing more information than others and therefore will occupy the whole of a hanging file folder, where as others may be able to fit five file inserts into a hanging file folder.
The most important thing to member is that you must always keep your filing inserts in alphabetical order, else finding anything is going to become a nightmare and near impossible.
Now for the real thing
When your file inserts have been labeled and inserted into hanging file folders, the actual filing is about to start. A suggestion is to gather all the items you want to file and place them in one place near the filing cabinet / boxes. This will make it easier and quicker to get your filing complete.
A first the mountain of paper may seem to be impossible to finish, but do be discourage. Set aside only 30 minutes or an hour at a time to do your filing and soon your "to be filed" pile will disappear.
As you start to file, take one item at a time and decide if it really needs to be filed or can it be discarded. If you cannot decide immediately, do not file it. Put it aside and when all filing and discarding has been completed, come back to this pile and review. Hopefully by then you have a better idea if the item should really be filed or discarded.
Before you know it, your "Pile to file" will be gone and everything will have its rightful place in your filing cabinet.
Sit back and relax
By now you should be finished and have implemented a very effective and high quality filing system. All that is left now is to do your filing on a regular basis and keep everything up to date.
Congratulations on a job well done!
Petrus Keyter
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