Filing – Yuk!
5 Ways to Make an Easier (and more fun!) Filing System
Filing… yuk.
Most people hate it, I know. I’m one of the few who love it. I love it because I don’t keep very much, so it’s super simple. Well, ok… I’d love it anyway!
The new term being bandied about in the business world today is “e-mail bankruptcy” or being in the state of e-mail overload where you’re so far behind and have so many e-mail in your Inbox that you just delete them all and start over again with an empty Inbox.
How about you? What are you keeping? What are you filing? Are you actually using your file system in your office?
Are your file cabinets empty because you haven’t started an effective file system yet? Or are they so jam-packed that you can’t get your hand in the files anymore?
Meet my client, Dave. Dave is the primary estimator for a Home and Hearth company in Maryland. One thing that was missing in Dave’s ‘Total Productive Day’ was a good paper and file system.
When I met Dave, his office wasn’t completely set up for optimal efficiencies. He had piles of files on his desk, credenza and file cabinets, including forms, multicolored brochures and catalogs for the products his company carried and installed.
Orange manila files were his prospect and client files. They were on his desk… in his desk drawer… in the credenza drawer… in a vertical file on the credenza… and in two portable file boxes under his desk. There were a LOT of files!
So now that Dave is enjoying a new file system, what worked best for him?
Here are 5 Ways to make an easier (and more fun!) filing system…
1. Question everything Dave found that many papers, files and items hanging around in his office belonged in another office in the building. Get everything out of your office that doesn’t belong. Take a look around you office now… Do you see documents, files and things that can exit your office?
2. Simplify. The more you keep, the more you have to manage. Time to part with the clutter. And it’s fun to throw things away, so don’t hesitate! As Dave tossed things, he freed up lots of space on his desk, eliminated the portable file boxes altogether and most importantly, he freed up space in his file drawers, which makes for easy filing in the future. What can you toss?
3. Look for consolidation opportunities. As new files were established, Dave would find more and more that belonged in them. Documents that were previously mixed up are now in specific locations and Dave trusts that when he reaches for something, it’s there. It’s easy to find and file things when you know what you’re looking for! Can you find everything you need regarding one topic in one place?
4. Design specific locations for specific categories. Dave now has a file drawer for leads and clients, one for forms and one for manufacturer’s brochures and product materials. Separate locations for categories and an alpha system within each category makes filing and finding things easier. You could even assign a color to each major category. Are your files categorical, then alphabetical?
5. Stick with a consistent process. If Dave’s company starts selling a new line of product, Dave creates a new file to hold the materials he’ll need at his fingertips. He also moves prospect and client files in and out of his file drawers as he opens and closes jobs. By keeping his reference and active files accurate and up to date, Dave can spend his time on priorities, instead of getting distracted by information piling up around him. Are you finishing what you start? Are you putting away reference material and completed job or client files?
