Don’t put things you want to make a point of acting on in your file drawer.  They will be out of sight out of mind. Instead, they need to be out where they are more compelling.

Don’t waste valuable file space on old tax supporting material and statements.  These can be stored in boxes more remotely.

Don’t stuff something into your file drawer unless you are clear on WHY you are keeping it.  If you can’t provide a reason, you probably don’t need it at all.

There’s essentially 3 types of things that you need to find in a file:
1. information
2. records
3. statements
Information is to refer to for FUTURE events.  Records are refer to for PAST events.  Statements are to refer to the PRESENT tax year.

I find it easier to find files when they are kept in just a few simple categories.  I keep information, records, and statements in manila folders, within wider category files.  Some typical categories are utilities, household, insurance, transportation, medical, finances (or credit and banking), investments, and taxes.

Don’t get hung up on files just being for “important” stuff.  If it’s something you want to find reliably it’s worth filing.  For example if you have printed out a joke that made you laugh and you wanted to share it with your sister, create a “smile fille.”  The next time she calls or visits, you will know exactly where to find it.

Of course you could keep digital files, that you want to find reliably, in a file folder on your computer.  It’s the same principle.  The nice thing about digital files, however, is that you can share them immediately through email.

It’s a great time of year to go through your file cabinet and sort out the material that could go to archives, items you may want to make a point of acting on, and junk that you know you’re never going to need.  You’ll free up room in your file cabinet for new incoming files.  Finally, by clearing out the deadwood, you make it easier to FIND the important and more current files.

Remember, if it’s not findable, it should not be file-able.

Let me start by saying I do use paper clips myself.  I believe they have their place.  It’s just that I find they are grossly over-used.  Here’s why.

Paper clips are guilty of doing three things: bulking, concealing, and snagging.

1. Bulking.  Files get fat sometimes.  It happens, but when there are too many paper clips shoved in, these fat files become bulky and misshapen, causing them to be overstuffed OR to slide, even with hanging files.  When the contents of one’s file cabinet are a mess, one is less inclined to use it and that’s a bad thing.
2. Concealing.  Filing needs to be all about FINDING.  Many is the time I have found a tab concealed because a piece of paper has caught on a paperclip in the folder.
3. Snagging.  If the clip is not pushing the paper up to block the tab, then it may be snagging a loose piece of paper behind an unrelated pile.  When you go to look for this piece of paper, you can’t find it even though you KNOW you put it in this file.  It is critical that your file cabinet is a system you can trust.

Alternatives

1. Staples.  I get it.  You probably want to keep your active notes to review, edit, and process in a paper clip.  Me too.  It allows for flexibility.  The more active a file is, the more flexible it needs to be.  When a collection of papers gets filed, however, it’s a good idea to staple wherever possible.
2. Project Envelopes.  I like to collect ongoing projects in large clear plastic envelopes.  You can maintain that flexibility you need for processing and save desk space by storing them vertically in an incline sorter.
3. Weeding.  If you’ve got one of those giant winged paperclips, you’re more inclined to think “I might as well keep these loose papers ALL together with this.” If, however, you give yourself the limit of a file folder, you will be more inclined to ask questions like “Do I really need to keep the advertising that goes with this invoice?” or “Am I EVER going to read this fat prospectus?” Weed them out.  Limitations breed freedom.
4. File Jackets. If you’ve got a stack of handouts, those big clips can damage the paper.  I recommend file jackets instead.  The flat ones can hold about 35 sheets and the one and a half inch ones can hold about 150 sheets.

I have a feeling I am dipping my toe some controversial waters here, so I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the topic.

If “important” is used too much then there is no distinction and the most important stuff can get buried in the less important stuff.  Put another way, if everything is important then nothing is important.

If “important” is used too little then important is seen as a small category unto itself.  Since it’s small, there’s no distinction between important things to act upon and important things to find reliably.   Since it’s small, there’s no distinction between home, medical, banking, auto etc.

The reality is, this small category doesn’t stay small, just because we want to think of it as small.  If something is important, we don’t want to have it hidden away in a drawer.  We are more likely to trust the desk surface.  We believe we won’t lose it if we can see it and we are more likely to act on something if it’s out where we can see it.  So the items we must make a point of acting on AND the items we must find reliably pile up on what is actually our MOST important organizing tool: a clear work surface.

Another thing that can become indistinguishable, then, is the outlook of “everything is important” and the outlook of “important is a category.”  They both represent equal treatment, which means our stuff won’t progress forward.  Time marches on and the same item that we categorized as important two weeks ago can be rubbish today.  Mixing all important items together makes for an unmanageable category.  We may intend for the everything to be important or we may intend for “important” to be a small category.  Either way, there will appear to be too many action items to act on, so we don’t.

Whether we are keeping everything because it is important or keeping all important items in just one category, we do it because we believe it makes us safe.  It does not.  What makes us safe is acting upon important items that require action and being able to find important items when we need them.  Both of these things are compromised by hanging on to the excess that inevitably comes from equal treatment.

The biggest deterrent to dealing with paper is making decisions.  The vast majority of these decisions are easy, but we tend to tie them to the minority of difficult ones.  The best approach, therefore, is to take the majority of easy decisions out of the way first. Here’s how.

Establish a dedicated sorting table, 2’ x 4’ is perfect.  NOTHING but paper should go on this table while you are sorting.  Get a black marker, some Post-it’s, and some empty boxes (10” x 12” x 15” is good).

Bring every box, bag, and pile of unsorted paper to one side of the room.  Grab the first container of unsorted paper and just dump it on your sorting table and think only in terms of SHAPES.

This will seem counter-intuitive, because we are used to thinking of paper in terms of its value.  What I’m saying is forget the value and just start with the shapes.  What sort of shapes? For one, there’s the envelope shapes.  Toss those in the empty box labeled “envelopes.” Do the same with magazines, newspapers, catalogs, files (paper already contained in folders), small bits (less than 8-1/2 x 11), and loose (8-1/2 x 11) paper.

You are going to be tempted to say “But I can see that this is mostly junk mail and I want to toss this now.” If it’s easy to toss now it will be even easier to toss in the next round.  The reason to keep sorting is because you need to work up a momentum.  It’s easier to move more quickly when you have a singular focus.  At this stage, that focus is STRICTLY sorting.

Once you clear the table completely, grab the next bag and keep sorting, FAST! Before you know it, ALL your paper will be sorted by shape.  The next step will be easier than you think because you will be in a singular mode.

Start with the catalogs box.  That’s usually a quick win that brings a huge psychological boost.  One heavy boxful GONE! Whew that felt good!  Next Magazines.  Keep a few of those, the rest, GONE!

Now the envelopes: toss the “definitely junk mail” and box the “maybes.”  Grab a letter slitter and JUST slit the maybes.  Grab the slitted “maybes” and JUST extract the contents.  Grab the envelopes’ contents and JUST sort between “to file,” “to do,” and toss.

When you can focus on one singular activity at a time, you not only accomplish much more, much faster, you also work much more SAFELY.  By taking the less important bulky stuff out of the way first, you are able to focus more on the smaller, more important pieces, that require more careful reading.

Sorting through paper can be torturous, especially if it is just one piece at a time.  Working in focused stages gives you a real sense of accomplishment throughout the process because you can clearly see how you are advancing your progress forward.

I’m aware of the organizing advice of “only touch a piece of paper once,” but I disagree with it.  These piles of paper have eaten up enough of your space and time already.  It’s time for these piles to go, FAST!  This starts with sorting by shapes.

To truly understand why these two things are incompatible, it is first important to recognize the difference between getting organized and staying organized.  It’s not unlike the difference between cooking a meal and eating it.   It just works better to eat a meal after it is fully cooked  than to start eating the plain spaghetti while the tomato sauce burns on the stove.

OK, this isn’t a perfect analogy.  The reason it is more tempting to skip ahead from getting organized to addressing action items is because we are afraid of forgetting a to-do, once we have discovered it.  If we don’t take care of this uncovered bill now, we feel like we will forget it (AGAIN!)  I get it.  That’s completely understandable because I see this in almost every home I work in.  The way around it is the To-Do Box Promise.

The To-Do Box Promise is a link between your need to sort-and-purge and your need to take action.  To purge the excess clutter in your home, I recommend first sorting like with like into boxed categories.  One of these boxes is “To-Do.”  These are items that you want to MAKE A POINT OF ACTING ON.   Some of these to-do’s are more urgent than others and when they come up, my clients often urge me NOT to put them in the to-do box, for fear of forgetting.  That’s when I make the To-Do Box Promise.

The promise is this.  If you stay focused on sorting and purging the (admittedly) less important items we have before us, I promise we will prioritize your to-do box before I leave.  This is particularly important because we are usually not able to review EVERY box at the end of the session, but the To-Do box is special.

Every item that comes into our lives demands just one of two imperatives:
1. Make a point of acting on it or
2. Find it reliably
Action items usually fits into just one box, the rest can wait.  We can safely leave the find-it-reliably’s for now, but we really need to address the next phase with the box of to-do’s, so we always do.  Knowing that we have promised to address the to-do’s, allows the client to make the leap of faith that the to-do’s can be set aside while focus on finishing the much larger sort-and-purge.

After we finish the basic sorting and focus on JUST the to-do’s, it is much easier to sub-sort them between “urgent,” “soon,” and “eventually,” because we are seeing them in context.  Suddenly you are much more in control.  ALL categories have been sorted.  ALL to-do’s have been extracted and the urgent ones have been isolated.  NOW is the time to take action.

This is the approach I take when working with a client, but the same discipline works when you are getting organized on your own.  Promise yourself you will prioritize the to-do box when you are done, but FIRST finish the basic sort and purge FAST.

As I have written before, there are three good reasons to keep receipts:
1. For Taxes (income and property)
2. In case you want to return an item
3. Home insurance records

I find that receipts for capital gains, potential returns, and for home insurance are fairly rare and can go in separate files in my file cabinet.  Receipts for income taxes, on the other hand, come in on a daily basis and therefore require a system who’s ease matches their frequency.

Here are four elements that make a receipt collection system easy:
1. Vertical. When a receipt holder stands up vertically, it frees up vital work surface, unlike a shoebox.
2. Visible. When a receipt holder is clearly-labeled and out where you can see it, you will be more inclined to use it.
3. Minimal. Keep it simple.  I don’t see the point of trying to subdivide all your receipts by month or by category, as you go.  At year’s end I was able to divide all of my 2010 receipts by category in just 9 minutes.  It’s easier to categorize all at once than by incorporating overly complicated sub-categories into your systems.
4. Topless. A barrier as simple as a flap can discourage use.  An open top makes it as easy as possible to just drop receipts in.

In the photos above are two examples of easy-to-use systems.  The structure for the first one is a combination of a steel vertical organizer with a two inch file jacket.  Receipts can be slippery devils.  The closed sides of the file jacket prevent the receipts from slipping out of the sides.  This jacket has two standard manila folders to create two simple subdivisions: cash receipts and credit receipts.

The second system is a clear string envelope in a clear vertical incline sorter.  The envelope is in backwards and the flap (with its string) have been cut off.  You’d be amazed at how many receipts fit in this neatly.

Both of these systems couldn’t be easier to use, which is important for an item as unrelenting as a receipt.

Perhaps you are wondering “Hey, wouldn’t it be simpler just to buy a receipt scanner?” To be honest, I have never tried one of these devices (that some of my clients swear by) but I will say this.  Even if a receipt scanner can read a low-ink receipt and automatically categorize it in Quickbooks for me, I do know it still takes at least a few seconds to feed these receipts through the scanner.  In the super busy lives we lead, dropping your receipts in an open desk folder still beats feeding receipts through a scanner.  It will be a lot easier to scan them if they are all collected in one place.

Whether you plan to scan them or not, my vertical, visible, minimal, topless systems will give you receipt control.

If a sink is overflowing with water, we want the plumber to fix what is plugging up the drain IMMEDIATELY!  When I am called in to fix an overflow of paper, however, the concern is with a system for the urgent papers, sitting at the top of the pool.

I’m more like a plumber than you might think.  The answer to processing your most urgent papers on top also starts at the BOTTOM.  If there is one consistent approach I take to getting organized it is this:  take the less important stuff out of the way so that you can get to the more important stuff.  Here’s how to create a paper drain.

Trash Drain
Start with your trashcans.  No, seriously.  Are they big enough? Do they have a good structure? You’re not using sloppy shopping bags, are you? Is there a crystal clear distinction between toss, recycle, and shred? For further details, check out my blog Trash Systems Go!

Archive Drain
So much of the paper that accumulates falls under the category of “I need to keep this just-in-case.”  Fine. I get that.  There’s no reason to make a discard you may regret, but there’s also no reason this space-gobbler needs to share space with the files you need to find most reliably.  Here’s how to make the distinction so you can store archives more remotely.

Findable Drain
Once you have established effective systems for draining trash and archives, it’s time to look at a system for draining paper you need to find reliably from that pile of action items on your desk.  The answer to this drain is truly user-friendly files.

Linkable Drain
You should now have no paper on your desk, other than files you want to MAKE A POINT OF ACTING ON.  This can still be a sizable quantity.  You face the best odds of getting your to-do’s to done when they are vertical, visible, and minimal.  The key to minimizing your to-do’s comes from the Newspaper Headlines model.  You can be relieved of the quantity as long as you have the link.  Here’s how.

When I was in art school I was fortunate enough to have, as one of my instructors, master storyteller and creator of the Spirit, Will Eisner.  Mr. Eisner always stressed that if you want to tell a good story, start with the END and work forward.  Similarly, if you want to have the most effective paper management system in your home or office, start with the drain at the end and work forward.

Before I can get to my best advice on paper management, however, I must first stop and have a conversation about SHREDDING.   “Why bother?” You may ask.  “Shouldn’t you just shred EVERYTHING to be on the safe side?”

If you are fortunate enough to have one of those big power shredders in your workplace then the answer is simple:  Yes.  However, for most of us especially those of us working out of a home office, we have to be a little more selective about exactly what paper trash we choose to shred.  Otherwise it costs too much in time, money, and energy.

I for one am very vigilant about shredding anything with my credit card number and Social Security number on it, but I figure anyone can access my home address online or from a phone book.  If you’re not comfortable with having your address in the recycling bin, however, you should expect to do 20 times as much shredding as I do and that 20 dollar shredder is not going to cut it.

After working with clients we may end up with four boxes of paper to shred and they tell me they are going to shred it while they are watching television, because they are good at multitasking.  It’s a fantasy.

I conducted an experiment once on just a quarter of a banker’s box of paper.  I have a medium sized shredder and I wanted to see how fast it could shred this quarter box of papers.  It was an eye opener.  Between the shredder’s overheating and the jamming up and unclogging, it took me the better part of a Sunday, my so called day of rest. I wasn’t rested. I was livid.

If you’ve got a lot of shredding to do, do yourself a favor and trust it to the professionals.  My choice is Shred Station Express.  They’ll shred 4 banker boxes of paper for about 60 bucks.  They are extremely professional and reliable and they even destroy electronic waste.

In case you don’t get their newsletter, here’s the latest, which has a great answer to the question…

Isn’t it cheaper to shred your own paper?

We did a time in motion study with one customer who thought they were saving money by shredding their own paper in a small 10 sheet shredder. Here is what we found.
The customer was having their receptionist do the shredding at her desk, employees would drop off the material in a basket during the day, and the receptionist spent on average 30 minutes at the end of each day shredding.
The receptionist was paid $14.50 an hour ($30,000 a year), with benefits and company paid taxes that came to $19.76.  So a half hour cost the company $9.88 a day.
$9.88 a day times  5 days a week equals $49.40 a week.  They were convinced that our monthly console service at $39.99 a month was a deal! This does not take into consideration:

**The amount of dust created around her desk.
**The amount of noise created.
**The fact that she had a hard time answering the phone (her real job) while she was shredding.
**The cost to replace the light duty shredder twice a year, or the electricity to run it.

Effective organizing is all about balancing priorities.  When it comes to shredding, be aware of the consequences of shredding EVERYTHING and if that’s the path you need to take, seriously consider the irreplaceable time and energy, you are going to devote to it.

Bills-to-pay need a home, material-to-read need a home, and statements-to-file need a home, but it’s a mistake to allow the daily collection to take up residence ANYWHERE.

This advice is old, but I have an approach that is new.  Seek garbage opportunities instead of action opportunities.  After all, you’ve got too many actions on your plate already, right?

Stand over your recycling bin and drop it in.  The catalogs with products you don’t need?  Drop it in!  The bulky prospectus that you’ll never have an interest in reading? Drop it in!  The Triple A magazine with information you can find online?  Drop it in!

Of course you will rescue the bills, statements, and magazines from the trash, but there are further garbage opportunities.  Open the envelopes and toss them.  Toss the useless inserts and, if you pay online, toss the return envelopes too.

The goal is to keep as LITTLE as you can.  This tidy little massacre should take no more than 3 minutes.  If it takes any longer then it becomes something you are less likely to do.  Don’t get slowed down by the actions required.  Just focus on the basic sorting.

The only action that is required immediately is tossing what you don’t strictly need.  Consider it a golden opportunity to make your life easier!

This weekend, I followed my own advise and I’m happy to report that I clocked in at just under 17 minutes.  You may indeed say well, so what?  So this. I trimmed two bloated file jackets of file fat (pictured at right) from my file cabinet and gained 20% file space for my new 2010 files.  When your file cabinet has a manageable number of files in it, they are much easier to find and finding is the whole point of filing.

Crash diets can be dangerous, but this one isn’t.  The reason is that I have a user-friendly filing system in place, which helps me answer WHY I am keeping a file and for HOW LONG.  We all know there is a limit to how much a file cabinet can hold, but this system actually does something about it.

Cleaning out your file cabinet falls under the Someday Syndrome when it is an open ended proposition, but when you know it is something you can do in 15-20 minutes, the odds of getting it done increase exponentially.