8 tips to help manage your files

Have you ever kept a client or your boss waiting on the phone while you've searched the piles of papers on your desk/PC for an important document?

How much of our and other people's time are wasted if we can't find the documents and papers we need, when we need them?

Even in the age of email and the Internet, we still deal with many paper documents and files that we need to process and, usually, store to retrieve later. 

All too often, this adds to our stress, and makes the task of putting the data to use more difficult than it ought to be. So we need to get more organized and efficient with our file management if we're going to get our work done in a timely manner.

When you receive a document from anybody, it's tempting to "just put it away" in a pile on your desk or drawer for the time being. "Hmm. looks interesting, but I'll take a closer look at this LATER, when I've got more time." Sound familiar? After a while, many such documents build up, leading to a lot of MESS. 

It's highly unlikely that you'll ever find time to go back and get all of that information organized, especially considering that you're usually under pressure with other things.

Effective File Management

Here are 8 tips to help manage your files (store the information in folders – by category, and in a sequence that makes sense to you):

1. Avoid saving unnecessary documents – Don't make a habit of saving everything that finds its way to you. Take a few seconds to glance through the content, and save a file only if it's relevant to your work activity. Having too many unnecessary documents adds to mess and makes it harder to find things in the future. Be selective about what you keep!

2. Follow a consistent method for naming your files and folders –For instance, divide a main folder into subfolders for customers, vendors, and co-workers. Give shortened names to identify what or whom the folders relate to. 

3. Store related documents together, whatever their type – For example, store reports, letters, presentation notes, spreadsheets, and graphics related to a particular project in a single folder – rather than having one folder for presentations for all projects, another folder for spreadsheets for all projects, and so forth. This way, it's much quicker to find documents for a particular project. 

(Eg: Work/2012/Project for CCTV SCS/Slides, Work/2012/Project for CCTV SCS/Drawings)

4. Separate ongoing work from completed work – Some people prefer to keep current or ongoing work on their desk until a job is completed. Then, once it's done, they move it to the appropriate location, where files of the same category are stored. At periodic intervals (for example, weekly or every two weeks), move files you're no longer working on to the folders where your completed work is stored.

5. Avoid overfilling folders – If you have a large number of files in one folder, or a large number of subfolders in a main folder, break them into smaller groups (subfolders or sub-subfolders). The idea is to place every file into a logical folder or subfolder, rather than have one huge list of files.

6. Make digital copies of paper documents with a scanner – This is useful if you don't have much space to store paper documents, or if you want to archive documents without destroying them completely. (This won't be appropriate for all types of documents, for example, with legal contracts or documents with original signatures. So use your best judgment here.)

7. Organize documents by dates – Write a date on the document. This will help you organize your documents into date-order, without having to open the folder and read through all documents. (Eg: Proposal_DDMMYY – that will arrange your document with the same type of doc but with different month)

8. Use "Tickler" files – Tickler files, also known as the "43 folders" method, are a unique system that's used by many people for organizing files. 

a. Create 12 folders (one for each month of the year) and an additional 31 subfolders (for each day of the month). 

b. Fill each folder with the documents that you need to work with on that day. 

c. At the beginning of each day, open the folder for that day. 

d. Take all the items out of the folder and move them into a "today" folder or onto your desktop. 

e. Then move the empty folder into the corresponding slot for the next month. 

f. If you can't complete some work items by the end of the day, transfer them to the folder for the next convenient day. 

This system of file management helps you keep track of everything you need to do, and it also doubles as a diary.

Note:

For any system to be useful and effective, it must also be convenient for you. To some extent, this depends on the nature of your business or the work that you do. So, although there's no "one size fits all" solution to file management, you will likely profit by using some of these file management tips, and by customizing them in a way that best serves your own needs.

Clear an hour in your schedule somewhere TODAY, and set your filing system up!