True, I’m not typical because I really don’t hate archiving. In fact, when it makes my searches shorter and easier, I like it. So will you once you get organized and start your home or business office the right way. The right way helps most of us avoid getting lost in the shuffle of paperwork when it comes time to find that important document we know we’re keeping. A few simple tips on storing, setting up, sharing, and maintaining your new fill system can make the job easier than feared.

store

First, you need to determine where you will store your files. Will they be on an easily accessible desk or in a credenza drawer? If you don’t have drawers available, should you use a file box on a shelf or a mobile file cart? If there are a lot of files, are they more suitable for a filing cabinet? If you use a cabinet, should you place the files in your office for quick access or store them elsewhere? Once you make this decision and have the storage location set up, you’ll move on to developing the file system.

Setting

When setting up a filing system, keep it simple so that you and others don’t fear maintenance. Use hanging files or selected drawers for the main categories. Then put the folders in the hanging file or drawer for the subcategories. When developing a file system, determine how many main categories you will need for the files. For most file systems, this can be limited to between six and ten main categories. Then create subcategories within the main categories, if necessary. Main file or main categories in order of use most to least using hanging files with marked tabs. Create subcategories within the main one such as alphabetic, date, or numeric to make it easier to find folders. For example, reporting financial data makes more sense by date, since you file taxes by year and pay bills by month. The client information file would be alphabetical by client name. Archive research and periodical clippings by subject category instead of source name for quick retrieval. Whichever filing system you use, always present the most recent documents at the front of the folder, as you are normally looking for the most recent version of the information.

Share

If you use a shared filing system, include a typed information sheet or index card outside the file location so others can understand the filing system. For files that are used by multiple people or contain multiple folders, create bookmarks for the file’s location when it is deleted. These bookmarks can be empty folders labeled “Out”. Using a bookmark makes it easy to see that a folder is missing, as well as where to put it back to reduce archiving time. If you want to further protect the files and ensure they are returned, you can also have an in/out log of who took what file and when it was returned.

Keep

Regular maintenance includes both regular archiving and keeping files compact and up-to-date by scheduling regular times to purge old or no longer relevant data files. Try to file a document as soon as you are done with it. If files are not conveniently located for instant archiving, try to archive them at the same time every day, whenever possible. If there isn’t much to archive, pick a particular day of the week to archive everything. For daily or weekly archiving, have a holding place for archive items until archiving time. Ongoing file maintenance includes every time a file folder is opened, and if it contains multiple sheets, quickly check to see if you can dump any outdated material into a slim file. If there is no document control or configuration management requirement to keep old versions, be sure to keep only the latest version when submitting reviews or reports.

Hopefully, these simple tips will make it easier for you to set up and maintain a controllable filing system. Remember, keep it simple so everyone using the system can quickly and easily find what they need or save documents. Perhaps now you, too, will discover that archiving is a simple necessity and not something to fear.