October 29, 2024

Grandhometours

The Gods Made Home

Tips For Saving Time and Space With Files

Organization experts estimate that between sixty to eighty percent of items that are filed are never looked at again. Does this mean that people are filing too much? How does one decide what to file and what to keep in order to save time and space?

To save time in filing paper copies or electronic files, create a filing system that makes sense for those using it as a resource. Does it make more sense to organize files alphabetically by project or customer name? What about filing by category, and then a sub-order of date or alphabetical depending upon which makes more sense for each category? To save time retrieving information, always file with newest items on top or in front of the file folder so recent data can be quickly retrieved.

To save space in files, consider filing electronically as much as possible. Where paper files are necessary, retain project information for all work related to active work projects but don’t keep too much stuff as this takes more space. Ask does the need to reference this information as a resource or proof of agreement outweigh the cost of filing time and space? Keep the regularly used files close to where they are needed and store the seldom used ones in another location. Be sure to clean out files periodically to remove unnecessary items, old irrelevant data, or past legal archiving needs. A quarterly clean-up works well for active files and yearly is often enough for inactive or seldom used files.

These suggestions for saving time and space on filing should help one decide what to file and what to keep and prevent filing too much. Good organization experts encourage saving the correct things and storing them in the proper way to make access easy when retrieval is required.