There’s one reason why papers get filed: so that they can be retrieved at a later time.  With that in mind, here are 6 tips for creating an effective filing system where you can find what you need, at the time you need it.

1. Don’t file things that you will never need to reference again.  This could include anything that you could easily get again if you needed it (like electric bills) or things that can be found on-line (like user manuals).

2. Label files with names that make sense to you.  When you look at a piece of paper, what is the first thing that comes to mind?  That is generally the best thing to use as a label, even if it’s something that might seem silly to anyone else.

3. Use right-sized categories.  Overly broad categories can make things hard to find but overly narrow categories can make your filing system larger and more complicated than necessary.  Paradoxically, having narrow categories can also make retrieval harder by giving too many options for where to find the material.  For example, suppose you participate in a lot of continuing education and keep the materials from each training. In that case an overly broad category might be ‘continuing education’ and an overly narrow category might be ‘slides from 6/29/21 training’.  A right-sized category could be ‘social media content training’ where you place all materials for several trainings of a related subject.

4. Line your labels up in a straight row.  It seems logical that if you stagger labels it’ll be easier to find things, but the opposite is true.  It’s less work for your brain to find things if they are all lined up.

5. Keep it simple.  Plain files are sufficient.  If you want to use attractive or colorful files, go ahead, but don’t set up a system that relies on certain styles or colors for certain categories.  Doing that will make changes and expansion of your system difficult.

6. Skip the folder.  Generally, folders are unnecessary.  Using only hanging files with clear tabs will reduce bulk and make the files appear neater.  If you feel strongly about using folders, use one folder per hanging file and line up the tabs in a row.

Creating and maintaining a filing system is easier if you have guidelines in place.  These 6 tips can help you set up an effective and efficient filing system so that you can find the materials you need, when you need them.