Organize your paperwork with a filing system that works
A home filing system is essential simply because it helps keep every single piece of paper in the right place. Important documents, certificates, receipts and bank statements have a proper place in the filing cabinet, reducing paper clutter. Here are some sorting and filing tips to make organizing and storing documents easy and simple.
Sort All Your Papers
This first step can be quite time consuming. Collect all your important documents. Start sorting through and divide the documents into categories-home, office, bank, educational, medical, tax-related and miscellaneous. Create categories to suit your needs and requirements. Trash anything that is not of use, irrelevant or that duplicates information.
Create Files and Folders
Folders and files with dividers are a handy way to store papers. Choose according to the number and type of papers you have. Label these according to their content. Broad categories can be sub-divided into more specific ones. For instance, for ‘Education’, you can have separate files for each child with dividers separating tests schedules from parent-teacher meeting schedules. Similarly, for ‘Medical’, you can have files of individual health records for every family member with dividers separating allergy information from vaccination schedules.
A home filing system is also great for coping with children’s artwork, which tends to take up a lot of space. Give one file to each child to store artwork, cards or any other items of sentimental value. At the end of every month, pick one or two artwork for display and let your children decide what to do with the rest.
Decide on a Filing System
The next step is to decide whether your files need to be stored in a proper filing cabinet or if just a shelf will do. If on a budget, invest in a cheap but durable filing cabinet or just clear out a set of bookshelves and arrange files and folders alphabetically or according to category and sub-category.
Create an index list and tape to the front of the cabinet or inside the shelf. This should list all the folders and files. It will make future filing easier and quicker.
Regularly Update the Filing
Keeping up with filing new documents is key to keeping paper clutter out of the house. As soon as you receive any paperwork, decide where it needs to go. Also, go through the filed documents on a regular basis to remove outdated papers. This will keep your filing system easy to deal with and ensure that you don’t get swamped by paperwork. For more on organizing papers, read How to Organize All Your Paperwork.
These easy to follow filing tips will ensure that all essential documents related to your home or even your home office will have a place to go to and irrelevant papers will be discarded straight away. This will not only keep the home free of paper clutter, but will also take care of sleepless nights caused by missing tax documents or credit card statements.
