So, now that you have caught up with your old papers and have a system in place to deal with incoming mail, let's move onto HOW to actually file the papers you wish to save.
First, understand that SOME (successful!) PEOPLE DO NOT FILE PAPERS. They go to school, grow up, find jobs, keeps jobs, get married, have kids, raise kids, send their kids to college, retire, and move into assisted living ALL without keeping file folders full of paper.
There are people out there like this.
You and I aren't among them. (But we could be if we really wanted to. We just choose not to.)
We like to keep papers. And since we do like to keep papers, here's how to keep them without going crazy:
Take those bulging folders full of "to file" papers that you gleaned by following the instructions in my previous posts. Take a stack of third-cut manilla file folders and a pen (skip the fancy label maker that Real Simple and Martha Stewart insist you must have: making perfectly uniform labels slows you down and creates much more work for you in the long run).
Pick up the first paper in the folder and ask yourself:
1. What is this?
2. Why am I keeping it?
3. Can I get this information on-line?
If you determine you STILL want to keep it, think of a title for the file folder that would make retrieving that paper easiest for YOU. Write that title on a file folder and stick the paper inside.
Repeat with every paper you have, filing like papers with like inside appropriately named folders.
For example:
You rip out articles from various magazines and newspapers about decorating ideas. Put all of them in one folder. If that folder starts bursting at the seams, THEN separate your articles into categories such as "kitchens, gardens, bedrooms, home office ideas" etc. Too many categories too soon with slow you down and is too nit-picky to maintain in our busy lives.
When your "to file" folders are empty and you have a stack of labeled files folders, file those file folders into hanging files and put them in a file drawer in broad categories. You can find inexpensive ones that aren't ugly at target.com or at any office supply store.
If this is too much work for you, and you still have a pulse and a job, then pat yourself on the back and say, "I am a successful person even WITHOUT filing all my papers! I don't need another system!" Now go outside and forget about this paper mess.
If you're still reading, you must like papers, but you may hate file folders. I have a few ideas that work for many people: use three-ring binders.
Three-hold punch those papers, or stick them inside sheet protectors, and make binders for your areas of interest, such as financial papers, medical papers, home upkeep and ownership papers, personal documents (social security cards, birth certificates, marriage license, diplomas, awards, special letters, etc.), etc. I use file folders for most everything, but I also have several binders of things I print off the internet and read for personal enjoyment (I am not a Kindle kind of person).
Do what works for you.
And if you only have a few papers you want and need to keep, here's a cute file that can hold everything necessary to life and liberty, and you can get it on amazon.com too. Maybe someday I'll reduce all my papers to just the amount that can fit into this tote, but I suspect not, since I still love my paper. But isn't this file tote cute?
Go here: http://tinyurl.com/2vlahya
