To help keep the paper tiger away, set up a solid filing system so that every piece of paper has a home. Your paper filing system should have three categories: reference, action and archive. Determine which files fit each category and set up your system accordingly. If your paper has a home, you’ll spend a lot less time looking for it and more time getting things done.
Chances are that if your paper files aren’t orderly, your computer files aren’t either. How many times have you created a document, printed or emailed it off and then couldn’t remember where you saved it, what file name you gave it and couldn’t find it because you don’t have a filing system for your hard drive?
To avoid wasting your precious time looking for those files, set your electronic files up so that you can easily locate them. Your electronic filing system should look just like your paper system. For example, if you’re an entrepreneur, you have electronic client documents, so you might set up one folder for each client and other folders for things like marketing, forms, standard operating procedures, proposals, etc. One other key thing to do is to name your documents so that you know what they are just by looking at the name instead of having to open them to see what they are. For instance if you created a proposal for a client, you might name it “Third Eye Group Proposal”. If you get into the habit of naming documents appropriately, you will save yourself a lot of time when you need to find them again.
Set regular times to purge and archive your paper and computer files so that your cabinets and your hard drive don’t get cluttered. Usually once a year works very well. Don’t forget to purge your archives as well. Purging and archiving are part of your filing system, so don’t neglect to do it!