5 tips to conquer your filing woes

Manage your files and your life better with less hassle.

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“The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.”

-Stephen R. Covey

Taking the time when you start storing your files will help you later on when you need to reference them.
Wishing you happy filing and happy investing your time!

1. Throw away what you don’t need

As tempting as it might be to save 5 versions of a project or every document that you print out or that gets handed to you, don’t. It soon builds into a habit and that’s how we end up with piles of paperwork and no time to go through it. Take a second and ask yourself, “will I need all these versions or is it only the final version that I should keep”. Also, ask yourself if it’s relevant and needs to be saved or should it be thrown away. You can make digital copies of the important documents for archiving and saving space. (Use your judgment when it comes to legal documents which contain original signatures.) Break the habit of over storing and cluttering and build a new one of easily deciding what stays and what goes.

2. Be consistent and descriptive when naming your files and folders

You should name your files easily enough for others to access them and for you to go back and find documents quickly. You can colour coordinate per category with dividers, cover pages, or anything on the outside to tell at first glance what’s inside. If you use shortened names, make sure they are relevant so they won’t be forgotten. When naming things in the same category, try using the same naming convention, so as not to get confused later on.

Instead of having separate files for presentations, invoices, receipts, etc. have folders per month or per client. Save documents that are linked to each in one folder and then create subfolders. Use this tip if it works better for you and take into account how you would normally go about trying to find it.

4. Separate ongoing work from completed work

If you work on multiple projects at one time, ongoing and completed work can overlap and work tends to feel heavier than it might be. Whether it’s on your desk or your desktop keep the workflows separate and save the completed work away so you can focus on what still needs to be done. Also, try to file it away as soon as possible so it doesn’t end up in the “now what do I do with this” department.

5. Reward your good filing habits

By rewarding your good actions, you associate them with fun and good energy. This could help in the long run to build your better filing habits. Rewarding yourself could simply be internalizing a high five or a physical reward like having a treat you’ve been craving.

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Author: ButterflySA