The most important annual organizing habit is to PURGE YOUR FILE CABINET AFTER TAX SEASON. You’ve accessed all the tax-supporting material you need for 2009 and yes, you will still want to keep it, but there’s no reason it needs to occupy the valuable real estate of your desk file drawer. Last year’s statements fall under what I call Sleeping Files, files you are keeping just-in-case. I recommend transferring these to 2 inch file jackets inside remote file cabinets or banker boxes (or plastic file boxes in a damp basement). Don’t over-organize these, just get the year on them. Save your organizing energy for more current and important files. This habit will free up file space for new files, which you will need for next year’s taxes. Circulation prevents accumulation.
If you set up a user-friendly filing system this annual habit will take no more than 15-20 minutes.
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