• File mail as it comes in and toss out junk.
• File even one piece that accumulates on your desk; for instance, my husband just opened his mail and handed me an insurance paper.  Instead of leaving it on my desk, I’ll stick it in the correct file. 
• Haul a box/file/bag to the next room when you head in that direction.
• Clear a counter
• Take meal dishes to the sink when you head there.  (I often eat lunch while I work in the office.)
• Get one piece of mail ready; don’t wait until you have half an hour to spend on correspondence.
• While you wait…file, sort, make notes, etc.  My laptop often is slow at some procedures.  This morning while waiting for pages to come up and an upgrade to finish, I sorted and filed papers on my desk (my “to do” pile), filed a pile I’d deposited on the floor, then went through some compartments in my wall organizer and tossed out outdated items.  

What small tasks do you get out of the way so you don’t waste time and are further ahead in your organizing?

(Image at sxc.hu)

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One of My Organized Biz readers commented:

If you can keep track of the papers and not let them get buried or lost, then I think that’s great. Putting them in your inbox is a good way to keep them from getting lost. What do you do with them afterwards? I’m curious as to how you process them when you go through your inbox.

 That can be a problem…letting the papers, notes, letters accumulate in the inbox until it’s overflowing or the papers have passed deadline or are out of date.

Five tips how to deal with them:

1. Try to deal with the papers before putting them into the inbox, much as you do with incoming mail.
2. Go through the inbox at the end of the day and toss out any you no longer have to deal with, file those that must be file, leaving fewer to answer or deal with the next day.
3. If you don’t go through the box daily, set up a weekly time to make sure everything has been handled.  Simply mark this on your schedule.
4. Allocate the inbox to someone else, who can handle it objectively and thus will do it much more quickly than you.
5. Be ruthless with your inbox.

 What suggestions do you have for dealing with an inbox?  How do you handle yours efficiently?

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Decide upon a color for various topics in your files, then code anything pertaining to each with a particular color…whether it’s the ink you use for writing on the file folder, the color of the label, the paper clips you use (some come in various colors), even the color of the folders themselves.

When I was researching and writing a resource book for writers, my editor set up a filing system for my research by color coding the labels on the file folders.  There was a different color for each category and then I’d simply place additional folders and information in the appropriate ones.  This made it easy to locate my research when we were writing the book.

Do you use color coding in your business organization?

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Take some time to think about how you use your computer. What items do you save on it? How often do you need to refer back to it? How easy is it to find things?

A little time spent forming an electronic file system will help you feel on top of things. There’s nothing like being on a phone call with a client and realizing you can’t find a file without a long, drawn out search. It’s embarrassing to ask them to let you call back once you find it, since it can make you appear unprofessional. You don’t want your client wondering what else you have lost, do you?

You can file items by project, by client, or whatever reference point makes sense to you. Make sure, though, that it will still make sense to you several months down the road. And keep things fairly simple. If you have too many subfolders, you’ll still have trouble putting your finger on your file quickly and easily. The idea is to get your mouse pointing to your files as quickly as possible.

Spend time getting more clients, making more money, and improving your business. Not searching endlessly on your computer for a text file with someone’s phone number in it.

Find what works for you, what makes sense to how you organize information. Then stick to it. When tax time comes, you’ll be glad you did.

[Image: Newscom]

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So how do you decide what to use? There are binders, magazine files, stacking trays, vertical desktop organizers, file cabinets, shoe boxes, regular boxes.

First, you need to look at your needs. What types of items do you plan to store? For how long?

What items do you have on hand? Will they work for your storage needs? Just because a magazine file is made for magazines doesn’t mean you have to use it that way. I use some of mine to store paper and printer supplies because they fit nicely on the shelf above my desk.

I use a small, upright stacker for stamps and address labels. You could use yours for bills that need to be paid. What about binders? You can use them for long-term storage or items that you refer to frequently. Or both.

File boxes are generally suited to longer-term storage, since they’re not as easy to access as other types of storage. Evaluate how often you need to retrieve things and where you’ll store them.

The key is to adapt items to suit your style. There’s nothing wrong with changing things up and inventing a new way of using your storage. What items have you adapted from their original use? Do you only use something for its “designated” use? How do you decide which items to use, and for what?

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Visually grouping your files will help when you’re filing. You can quickly see where something needs to go. An invoice? Oh, that goes in green (it’s okay to have more than one green folder, of course). You zero in on the section you need and then you can look at labels and find the correct file.

And those same groupings will help when you need to find something. That draft marketing plan? Oh, it’s under red. And then you easily grab the proper folder.

The exact categories and colors will vary by what works for you. Don’t get too carried away with 15 different colors. You want just enough to easily remember what you’ve set up. Too many colors and you’ll take just as long remembering what goes where as you will looking at every label in the drawer.

Have you tried color coding? Does it work for you?

image: Newscom

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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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But you don’t have a lot of office experience when it comes to managing your own stuff. Did someone else always do it for you? Was it just not necessary when you weren’t “officially” doing business? Or are you being drafted into the family business?

There are many ways to stumble into doing business for yourself. And it can be overwhelming. So how do you go about setting up your files?

First, figure out what you need to file. What do you need to keep? Contracts, legal documents (incorporation papers, any lawsuits), insurance papers, tax info, and receipts are just a few of the things you’ll need to keep. If you have any doubts, consult your lawyer and tax professional.

You should keep invoices, and mark them paid and file them. Whether you’ll need to keep them depends on what the invoice is for. If it’s a business expense, you’ll want to keep things until tax time.

A lot of your file setup will depend on what type of business you do. Let’s take me for example. I’m a writer. I set up my files so I can keep track of my expenses, and I have categories for various types of those expenses. Anything that’s a business deduction gets put in a tax file for computing later.

I keep copies of my paid invoices, in case there’s any question of payment. As I’ve mentioned before, I file many things by the month, but you may find that a category works better for you. Maybe you want to put utilities in one file, warranties in another, and medical expenses, auto expenses, and home expenses all in separate files as well.

If you print out correspondence, you will probably want a copy of that as well. You can file it by the subject matter or by whom it was sent to.

There’s no absolutely correct way to set up a file system. The only right way is the way that works for you. It has to be something you can use to actually find things when you need them. Where’d I put those incorporation papers? Where’s last month’s utility bill? Didn’t I already pay the service bill for the copy machine?

If you can’t put your hands on it, your filing system isn’t working. It takes some thought. Don’t just throw things in a drawer. Take some time to think about your needs and then design your files around that. Need help? Email or leave a comment and we can go over specific examples for you.

Have you ever had trouble setting up your office space?

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Honestly, I think that may be a little bit of overkill. Unless you have a lot of filing cabinets, is this really necessary? Most of us have one or two – maybe even three – file drawers of stuff. Can you remember what’s in each of them, generally? I can.

Additionally, I file my business files in alphabetical order. At most, I would only need an indicator of which parts of the alphabet are in a certain drawer. I try to keep as many electronic files as possible. So for paper, I don’t have a lot and can mostly remember what goes where.

In this case, I tend to go for simplicity. I think a table of contents is more effort than I’m willing to extend, even if it’s just a small thing. The content of my files change, too, and I don’t want to keep updating a table of contents. As long as I label my file folders, I think I’m all right.

So tell me, is this something you would want to use? Does it make sense, or is it overkill for you?

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(www.myorganizedbiz.com) – When it comes to organizing your files, you want to make sure that you can find what you need when you need it. It sounds simple doesn’t it? If it takes more than a couple of minutes for you to find something in your files, then you may need to update your filing process.

I used to file all of my bills by type: electric, phone, car, water, etc. But when it was time to file, it took a while. I had to look at each bill, decide what category it went under, find the right file, and drop it in. It seemed too time-consuming.

This method works for a lot of people. That’s great! Your system is only good if it works for you and you use it. But it didn’t work for me. So I had to find something else.

I started filing things by the month. Everything from January? One folder. February? Next folder. It was much easier for me to find the date and just drop it in the file. I still use this method, partially.

If there’s an odd item, say a medical bill that I’m dealing with and will need to find later, I go ahead and file under medical. Same with insurance. Things that I will need to hold more than a month or two, or that won’t get filed away with my taxes. Things that I won’t remember by the month, but only by their type or the vendor.

Any tax-deductible items, though, go in an accordion file, grouped generally by how I’ll enter them into my financial software during taxes.

My system is a hodgepodge of different techniques. It works for me, most of the time. Realize that cobbling together things is okay if it makes your life easier. If it complicates matters, then experiment and try to see what else will work.

I’ll be doing that with my filing at some point, because I’m not quite happy with it. Filing by month is quicker and easier, but I’m not sure it’s helping my retrieval ability.

How about you – are you happy with your filing system? What works? What doesn’t? What would you like to change?

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