Keeping files you need at hand
File drawers are nice for organizing your files and keeping things off of your desktop. But sometimes you need a file accessible and easy to grab. If you have a project that you’re constantly working on, looking things up, adding bits of paper to the file, referring to notes, you need that file at hand. If you have to retrieve it from a drawer multiple times a day, it can get irritating and also slow you down.
Yet you don’t necessarily want to leave it lying on your desktop either. It could get covered up. Things could get knocked out of the file. Or something spilled on it.
You could try stackable trays, but they’re not always the best for storing hot files. If you toss in two or three, you still have to shuffle through to find what you need. What works then? Try an upright file, something that holds your files vertically so you can see the folder label. I like a step file, one that stacks folders just like a set of stairs. I can see the labels on all of the files and quickly grab what I need.
It doesn’t take up a huge amount of space, I can see things at a glance, and I can drop something in the file without stopping to dig through and find it. And it keeps my desk much neater than it would be with a pile of files on the corner. In fact, I had one in my old office and probably need a new one. Right now I have stackable clear trays, but they are just gathering clutter. The only one that really works is the top tray, because I can see what’s in it.
What do you do to keep your hot files easily accessible?
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