Good filing makes good focus

Posted: January 29, 2014 | Categories: Self-Improvement, Time management

I would like to talk about one of the greatest time management tools ever invented – the file folder.  This past weekend at my wife’s insistence, we did my annual office clean up.  It took 1 1/2 days.  The end result was a crisper, cleaner office that gave me an energy boost just looking at it.

Afterward she began talking about the “science” of file folders – not the ones on the computer, but the ones we touch and work with.  As she explained her philosophy, I just had to capture it and share it with my readers.  Here are the key points she made:

1.  Creating and managing a filing system is a dynamic process.  If we do not maintain files regularly, they lose their value.

2.  Start with broad categories.  We remember the old maxim, “A place for everything and everything in its place”.  Start simple and error on the conservative side.

3.  Expand or break down a topic when necessary.  When do we know when to add another category?  Answer:  When the current file folder gets too full and becomes cumbersome.  For example, suppose you have a file folder marked “financial”.  Before long, you may have to break that down into investments, taxes, and bank statements.

4.  Beware of miscellaneous.  I asked Joyce if she had a miscellaneous file.  She said she did, and it was very small.  She defined a miscellaneous file as “something you don’t need to keep but want to anyway.”  An example she gave was adoption papers for our dog.  Emily died five years ago, and she just doesn’t want to let go of them yet.

Summing it up:

1.  Begin your filing system with broad topics.

2.  Expand your topic when a file becomes unwieldy 

3.  If you can’t instantly find something, your system needs work. 

4.  Go through your files regularly at programmed intervals.

A good filing system can increase our focus, save time, and make us more professional.  How are your files doing?

 

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