Is your home or office filled with clutter? This article will provide you with some useful information that will help you develop an organized filing system with file folders. Specifics may vary from person to person; however, the following information includes helpful and important guidelines from which everyone can benefit.



You have been there before. You come home from work, toss the mail on the kitchen counter and a big pile of papers slide onto the floor in a big heaping mess. As the kids come home from school, they lave their homework, permission slips and progress reports on the counter that you just finished straightening up (or neatly piling again). You had good intentions! You sorted the papers and created more piles. But now, your kitchen counter is covered with a dozen different piles of paper and you still don't know which papers are in what file. Now it's time to make dinner and you don't even have room to cut carrots. What a nightmare!

Instead of letting the papers work your life, work with the papers because they're never going to stop showing up! By creating a small filing system, you'll be able to free up your counter space so that you can reclaim your kitchen. Plus, it will look better, too!

Ok, a good place to start is with the piles you already have. Chances are, whatever you have there is what you'll have next month and the month after that. So, sort those papers into categories that make sense to you (bills, magazines, homework, etc.). Don't stop until each paper is in a category. Also, you should keep in mind that these files are active files, meaning that you will access them frequently. If you don't plant on accessing them every day or once a week, you should store them elsewhere.

Once you figure out your categories, this will tell you how many file folders you'll need. Each category will become a label for a file folder. You'll also need something to store the file folders in - make sure you choose a container that fits! If you plan on leaving the container in plain site, choose something stylish like wood or metal. If you plan on stowing it when guests come over, make sure you choose a container that's portable.

Now, you can spend some time organizing the categories within your container. You can utilize color-coded file folders to make files easier to find, and prevent re-filing errors. Colors can also serve as an alert system! For instance, put all of your scheduled items in a red folder. Red draws attention so you won't forget when you see papers in that folder! Things like errands to run, permission slips to sign and shopping lists are good things to put in the red folder. Put all of your bills to pay in a green folder (green = money). Things like credit card bills, mortgage payments, cable bills and car payments can go in the green folder. Put your coupons in another colored folder; your events or schedules in yet another. It doesn't matter what color you choose as long as you label your file folders clearly and stick to your filing system. This will help you get rid of the clutter that claims your countertops!