Creating a simple filing system

iStock.com/Osarieme Eweka

After repeated attempts to gain control of her home office, a client contacted me for help. She told me she didn’t know how to deal with her paperwork, and she was constantly searching for lost important documents in the dozens of piles strewn about her office. My client wasn’t interested in scanning the paper she had, she just wanted to get her paperwork to a manageable state.

Dealing with paper is a constant. Even though we’ve moved toward a paper-free existence, the inflow of paper never stops completely.

Ever the inquisitive one, I asked a lot of questions so we could determine appropriate broad titles for her filing system (such as Insurance, Retirement, Banking, Health, and so on) and, when needed, broke down the broad titles into smaller categories. Doing so ensures it will be easy to locate whatever paperwork she needs to find and file the papers in the appropriate folder.

Now my client has an easy, manageable filing system that she can easily maintain.