How Do You Set Up An Office Filing System?
Paperless or paper-based, an office filing system is essential. An efficient one provides both reference and action items, storing and maintaining information so that it is readily available to the user. Although folder types (hanging, pocket, standard), cuts (one-third, one-fifth) and coloring vary, the usage and maintenance don’t, even if it’s online. The secret is to separate the actionable and the referenced items and to have a place for everything. Establish general reference files in a simple A-to-Z arrangement. These 26 folders are for general items that don’t require specialized storage and that aren’t actionable. For example, your mortgage paperwork needs to be stored, and there is no better place than the M section of your general reference files. Create specialized reference files. For a writer, this might mean storing old drafts. Under the D of the general reference files, a section for drafts could allow them to be maintained alphabetically or in a numbered index system. E
