Whether you work from home or just spend a lot of time in your home office, you likely have more paperwork laying around than you would like. That paperwork can range from insurance and bank statements to licenses and vehicle titles.
While you might feel as though you can't cope with all of those forms and pages, below are eight simple tips that you can use to organize your paperwork efficiently.
Keep Things Simple
One mistake that some make is that they think they need an overly complicated system. If you need to take multiple steps to put things away and jump through dozens of hoops, the chances are good that you'll stop using your system.
Figure out a filing and organizational system that works for you and one that you'll want to keep using in the future.
Use Different Colors
When you use multiple colors, you create a filing system that catches your eye and makes you want to use it. Not only can you use several colors of files, but you can choose different colors for your tabs.
Using different colors is smart because it helps you find what you need when you need it without fumbling around.
Get a Good Cabinet
Home filing system ideas often require the use of a file cabinet. It's better to spend as much as you can afford upfront. While you might feel tempted to buy a cheap cabinet today and upgrade to a better one later, this can cause many problems. You risk the file cabinet breaking on you or one with file rails inside that don't allow the folders to move smoothly.
Both metal and wood cabinets are good options. If you need to save money, check office supply discount stores. These stores often sell cabinets from old offices at low prices.
Keep Important Documents Easy to Find
As you go through your paperwork, organize your documents to make sure you can easily find the most important ones later. Important documents may include the titles and registrations of all the vehicles you own and statements that show your bank account numbers.
You'll also want to keep track of medical records and any legal paperwork you have such as divorce records. The IRS recommends that you keep tax records for up to five years after you file, too.
Use Categories
Using categories for your paperwork organization is an easy way to find what you need in a hurry. Many people use too many categories or specific categories though, which makes it hard for them to keep track of their documents.
For example,
You might create a category for maintenance records and then divide those records into separate categories for each vehicle and the year you hired someone to do the work, and which shop did it. It's far better to use general categories such as setting aside one section of files for maintenance records and using one file for each vehicle.
Take Advantage of Baskets
It's easy to feel overwhelmed, especially if you have a lot of paperwork on hand. Using baskets is an easy way to keep track of what you need to do and stay on track.
Mark one basket for the things that you need to do as soon as possible and mark another for bills that you need to pay. Keep another basket on hand for the papers that you need to file and use another for things you need to read.
Work Daily
Once you find a few creative file storage ideas, make plans to do some work every day. If you feel overwhelmed simply looking at all of the paperwork in your home, here are a few tips that may help:
- Make a plan to work on your organization for 10 to 15 minutes a day.
- You may want to focus on one stack or section of papers, too.
- When you come home from work, grab the mail and go through it. Place each piece of mail in one of the boxes you marked above and throw the rest in the trash. You can then spend a few minutes going through those baskets.
Keep at it
You may feel as though you'll never finish going through those stacks of paperwork and documents, but if you keep at it, you can get the job done faster than you thought.
Look for the best way to file documents such as organizing the files in categories that you associate with different colors and using baskets to keep track of your work.
When you follow a set schedule and do as little as 10 minutes of work per day, you can finish organizing all of the paperwork in your home within days.
A local carpenter can build a filing cabinet or special cabinets for you, made exactly to fit your needs. Request a free quote!
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