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Blog: Surfing the Paper Wave
 Organize Your Files, Part 3 of 3
As I speak to groups and work with individuals, I find that active files are the most needed yet most overlooked area of filing. Active files are composed of items you are using regularly now in the short term. Because of this, they need to be kept very close to where you work most often, e.g., right on your desktop or regular work surface.
Active files tend to fall into these categories:
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Things to Do
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Contacts & Schedules
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Bills & Business
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To Read/Review
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To File
Among the items that can go in the Things to Do folder are:
Contacts & Schedules is the place for contact details you need to use immediately and schedules that apply to the near term, for example:
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Telephone number lists
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Business cards that haven't made it to your Rolodex or contact management system yet
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Schedules that apply to business or personal activities
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Announcements and driving directions for activities you are committed to attending
The Bills & Business folder is where to corral all the bills waiting to be paid, receipts waiting for their bill statements and other money-related forms that have to be filled in and sent off soon.
Beware: To Read and To File folders tend to become black holes if you don't keep up with them! I recommend emptying these folders weekly. Be honest with yourself--are you really going to read that piece you've been saving for weeks, or are you a victim of the "shoulds?"
Because of their very current nature, active files should be kept right in your active work area, but how they are kept is a matter of individual preference. People like me who prefer a clean desk surface most often use folders. Those who prefer to see everything in front of them can use stackable trays or even neat, clearly labeled piles. Follow some of the product links at the bottom of this page for more ideas.
Once again, all of these ideas can be applied to electronic files just as well as paper files. I have folders in Windows Explorer for Schedules and Bills & Business. In my email program, I have created folders for To Do and Read/Review.
This brings us to the end of this three-part series on organizing your files. Which ideas have you found the most helpful? Have you found other techniques that work for you? I invite you to share your thoughts with me, and I will share them with our blogging community in a future post.
posted on: 12/2/2007 10:30:00 AM by Suzanne Kuhn
category: Paper
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Surfing the Paper Wave
by Suzanne Kuhn
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About Suzanne:
Suzanne Kuhn is the owner of ACE ORGANIZING, offering affordable, customized, energizing organizing solutions to homes, schools and small businesses in the five-county Philadelphia area and central New Jersey. Although an organizing generalist, (she'll organize anything!) Suzanne has a growing specialty in paper and electronic filing systems and financial organizing. To receive her FREE booklet, 50 TOP TIME MANAGAGEMENT TIPS, email her at [email protected]
Suzanne's Website:
http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogList.asp?sort=organizer&schedule=41&name=Suzanne_Kuhn
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