Welcome to Mission #9 of our 52 Get Organized Missions.
If home office organization is the bane of your life, you’re going to love this mission! One of the main causes of a disorganized workspace is paper accumulation – which usually happens because the filing system is over-complicated or non-existent.
If you’ve completed our previous mission Get Organized Mission #8: Declutter 50 Items you must be pretty pleased with yourself! Let’s now tackle your home office.
So in this Get Organized Mission we’re going to create a super-simple filing system – one that makes it easy to put papers away, and also gives you confidence that you’ll find things when you need them.
Remember – you only need 30 minutes for the basic mission. Extended Options are below. If you’re new, check out 52 Organizing Missions.
Get Organized Mission #9: Filing System Nirvana
Our filing system is going to have 5 macro-categories – overarching, top-level categories – as well as a number of sub-categories under each macro-category. The macro-categories are little team captains, each with their team of sub-category members.
Step 1: Create Visual Filing Cues
Your fist step is to decide how you want to separate your 5 macro-categories. This is an important step, because having easy visual cues will make filing and retrieval quick and easy.
I use hanging suspension files for macro-categories and file folders for sub categories. I also color-code my folders – so each folder in a particular macro-category has the same color – that way each ‘team’ stays together in their suspension file and with a team color to unite them.
Other ways to easily distinguish macro-categories and clearly identify your filing teams include:
- Inserting a colored divider between macro-categories
- Using larger labels or stronger lettering for macro-categories headings
- Using colored markers to create color-coded labels
The enemy of action is perfection, so I suggest you keep it simple for now and upgrade your system later if you want.
Step 2: Label
Your next step is to grab a pile of folders and start labeling.
Turn folders over or inside out if you don’t have fresh ones at hand. Use post-its if you don’t have labels. If you want to make a trip to OfficeMax later that’s fine, but right now we’ve got 30 minutes and we’re going to need them to set up the baseline version of your filing system up – so no distractions!
Home Organization
Here are the labels and hierarchy (macro- and sub-categories) I suggest for general home organization:
- Home & Car
- Property Documents
- Insurance
- Warranties
- Car
- Medical
- Health
- Insurance
- Medical
- Financial
- Bank Accounts
- Mortgage
- Credit Cards
- Investments
- 401K/Superannuation
- Personal Loans
- Utilities
- Electricity
- Water
- Gas
- Internet
- Phone
- Cable
- Family
- Self
- [Spouse: __________]
- [Child 1: __________]
- [Child 2: __________]
- [Child 3: __________], etc
Home-Based Business
Here are the labels and hierarchy I suggest for a home-based business:
- Admin
- Marketing
- Accounting
- Legal
- Current Projects
- Project A: ____________
- Project B: ____________
- Project C: ____________, etc
- Pending (Waiting on someone else)
- Personal (Business-related personal items)
- Archive (Keeping for reference)
And there you have your simple, easy-to-file, easy-to-find filing system!
Initially, it might take a little while to get your papers into their new homes. But from then, you’ll find it a breeze to keep your filing up-to-date.
Dos & Don’ts
- Don’t add a ‘miscellaneous’ category. This isn’t (only) because the word is hard to spell. It’s also because it’s too easy to throw things into a general category – and that makes retrieval difficult. It becomes a default lack-of filing system.
- Do stick to as few categories as possible – it keeps filing and retrieving simple.
- Do customize the hierarchy – add, subtract or change the macro- and sub-categories to make them work for you. But keep the descriptions short and clear.
Extended Organizing Mission Options
Want to go beyond this 30-minute organizing mission?
- Make your system pretty – with color-coded folders, attractive labels, the works!
- Ask your kids what they’d like to keep in their file, and start them on the habit of filing important papers they want to keep.
- Take the opportunity to detox your filing cabinet – shred or recycle any paperwork you no longer need.
Ready, Set, Go!
Remember – move quickly, act fast, don’t overthink.
Before You Go – Please Check In
You’re now accountable to your organizing mission-mates! Once you’ve completed this week’s Get Organized Mission please add a comment to let us know you’ve done your assignment and you’re keeping your commitment.
And see you back here next week!
UPDATE:
You can now get your weekly organizing mission delivered to your inbox.
Click here to sign up for 52 Organizing Missions.
Image by Kasaa
Finished this one, too. I had an old system set up but it just didn’t work. Color coding makes it look nice!
Looks nice Sarah and is easier to use also! 🙂
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I already have my files organized and color coded. Home, autos, utilities, and income/investments.
That sounds very organized Kelly! 🙂
“Perfection is the enemy of action.” OK, now I can tackle the piles in our home office. This is a great article and makes sense with the way I think and categorize things.
OMG…I am so frickin’ Facebook illiterate. I did not know if I posted a comment on an article I liked it would show up here. I thought it would show up on the blogger’s Facebook page only. Oh, well. That’s me.
Well it makes me happy to see your reply there Lisa! Good luck with your home office! 🙂
Like that!!!
Done – and so simple now!
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This was great! I love the idea of the teams, now that they are my “friends”, I’m more interested in taking care of them and giving them what they need. I haven’t had time to start the home office side; just the home took over an hour but so well worth it! Thank You!
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still working on this one, it will take time
This job took me more than 30 min but was worth the effort for peace of mind.
wow this system it’s so simple, and better than my now “old system”
I have a lovely little miniature filing cabinet from the 1960s and I haven’t used it since I moved into my new flat. Now in use! Got things a bit more organised. More to do on this one – always – I am a terrible paper hoarder. Might try and have a once a month gather up of all loose papers around the house and sit on the floor by the filing cabinet filing – or preferably CHUCKING!
Whew! Was that ever overdue!! But it’s done now, thank goodness. Would you believe I found items from 2002 in there??? It feels so good to have the hub of our existence in order – even if the rest of our house needs serious help!! But I know every inch of my home will have it’s moment in the sun, eventually. Thank you for your specificity, Michele. It is a blessing to this procrastinating perfectionist!
@Marla: You’ve made my day with this comment! Filing can be such a pain but it feels so good to simplify! M 🙂