We looked at creating zones at your entryway in our blog post ‘Tidy Welcome.’ We’ll delve a little more in-depth into creating systems for incoming mail and paper below.
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t see a piece of paper coming into your home and scream with delight ‘Time to file!.’
Think of the solution below as a staging area until you have the time and energy to properly sort through all incoming paperwork.
The solution (spotted on A Bowl Full of Lemons) is a mesh desktop file holder with hanging folders placed inside. Each hanging folder also has tabs to easily identify what should be placed in each file.
As with most filing systems, come up with titles and labels that make the most sense for you (except miscellaneous, who knows what that means anyway?)
Your labelling system could be a two-folder system as simple as short-term (which covers receipts, bills and bank statements) for paper you keep for a limited period of time versus long-term (contracts, records, insurance) for more important documents.
Or you could create multiple folders for different needs - medical, car, house. When each file folder is full, you can then do a review to shred outdated papers or file for future reference.
Another great feature of this particular solution is the use of tabs by name and a simple printed calendar attached with binder clips.
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