The before picture shows that this system is not very practical because when there is a need to retrieve a document, for example, a lot of time is wasted by searching in a drawer full of bodies of information.
For that reason I like to recommend the use of a colour-coded filing system that makes sense to you because it will save time when there is a need to access a specific paper or document since you know that for example your financial section is green or your house and car section is yellow and blue is for personal documents. As a result you don’t even have to think because your hand just naturally goes the the right part of your file drawer. In the after picture we rearrange the hanging folders in a colour-coded system that will make sense to the owner. This process will require planning, effort, and time so you can get from the before to the after picture by following these three simple steps.
1. Sort
Take all the file hangers out of the cabinet, remove the plain manila folder from inside the hanger folder, and sort them by categories. Also sort all the file hangers by colour.
2. Purge
This is a great opportunity to purge for documents that are no longer needed. Remove unnecessary paper like envelopes from inside of the file. I recommend at least once a year as a routine, to purge for irrelevent documents or paper. A good time for this could be before or after tax season.
3. Organize
Now we are going to create a colour-coded system that makes sense to you with your colour hanging folders. Labels need to be fabricated and they should be broad because they are the main categories like, Finances, House & Car, Health, etc. Inside the colour hanging folders goes the plain manila file folders with the sub categories so you can be more specific and write more details like, Saving account – RBC, Checking Account -Vancity, Student Loan, Credit Card, VISA or Master.
Do not over stuff your folder. If a folder is getting too big you can divide it into smaller topics. Another critical rule to follow is to have about 10% of the capacity of the drawer left unused because pacted files are hard to access and can get damaged. If your hanging folders aren’t colour-coded to create this kind of system you just have to make the labels colour-coded. Another tip is that paperwork is always better stored vertically than horizontally.
After the work is all done you will feel more confident and in control because you can find all your important documents quickly and easily. The benefits of getting organized are infinite so hold to the vision, and trust the process.
