If you find yourself spending more than 10 minutes per day looking for a piece of paper, whether that is a note from your son’s teacher, a telephone number for the mechanic or a bill you forgot to pay, you need to create a filing system. The perfect filing system to keep your organized should include an efile, a file cabinet or drawer and a filing system for documents you will need in the next 30 days. Taking a couple of hours before the beginning of 2012 to set up a filing system will keep you organized and less stressed in the coming New Year.
Tips for setting up a home filing system
Central hub – That is what I call my main filing system for short-term documents – – those things I will need during the next 30 days. You can use hanging files, a 31-day expandable file or the tickler file system that I use as long as there are 31 folders (one for each day of the month). As I open the mail or if I have a document I will need again soon, I place it in the appropriate file in my hub – – the date I want to pay the bill, the day I need to call the mechanic to follow up on the estimate, things to read, items to discuss with others, etc. Each morning I check the file that corresponds to the date to see what I need to do that day. If you want to dress it up a bit for your home décor, you can purchase a decorative box to house your hub or cover a file box with coordinating fabric.
Computer file cabinet – On your computer, make and use a efile cabinet for your online bill payments, copies of emails, etc. that you do not need to print but need to retain for your records. Create a master file folder and as many subfolders as you require to organize the documents on your computer.
NOTE: With your efile cabinet, you need to backup this information on a weekly basis (I have mine set to backup automatically each night with the rest of my file folders) in case of a system failure. I also manually backup these files each quarter to an external drive and store this drive in a fireproof safe.
File cabinet – My goal in 2012 is to become paperless so therefore I will be able to get rid of my file cabinet. However, I do not have a scanner to scan every document to my efile cabinet and I do not have the time yet to do that. Therefore, I keep a two-drawer file cabinet in my office that houses all of the “hard copies” of any documents that I must keep. To make filing quick and easy, I use the Freedom Filer system but the Home Paperwork Filing System also works well. The idea is to create a filing system that you will use and that you will understand so do not be afraid to try one system and then tweak it to suit your needs – – the end result is to be organized however you get there. I found the key to keeping me organized was to have a file for everything so I can quickly stuff the document into the file and forget it.
Fireproof safe – Some documents I do not keep in my normal filing system because they are too important to risk losing include our marriage license, birth certificates, passports, car titles and homeowner documents. These items are stored in a fireproof safe in case of a catastrophe. I have copies stored in the file cabinet for quick reference if needed.
Let 2012 be the year that you get organized by creating a home filing system and stop wasting time looking for that permission slip your child needs “right now” or they cannot go on the field trip.
