Even though the paperless office has been a dream for years, there is actually more and more paper floating around in our offices every day. Often we also find that our own filing system is overloaded with documents we might not even need. And when that is the case, it’s time to take action to reduce the paper clutter and make the filing easier to achieve.

Don’t print it if not necessary

The first step is to stop printing if not absolutely necessary. Sure, there are times when you need to print an important document, but printing every single email message is not a right way to go. It increases paper clutter and there is a bigger risk that the paper keeps floating around on your desk even if you don’t need it.

Get rid of the papers you don’t need

Go through your files and decide what is safe to throw away. There are some documents you are required to keep (for example mortgage papers, taxation documents, insurance documents …), but there also may be documents that are not that important. In order to know if it’s safe to get rid of certain document, you should consult the authority in question (or the party who sent/gave you the document in the first place) about the document and what to do with it.

Have a filing system

It helps if you have a way to centralize your documents (for easier access). This means you could buy a filing cabinet or some document folders to do this. Both of these have pros and cons.

If you decide to buy a filing cabinet, you have a clear central location for all your files. However you might have to find a space for it and cabinets might be expensive too.

Document folders take a lot less space and are less expensive than filing cabinets. However it is very easy to overstuff it with too many papers, thus you might need couple of separate ones to deal with all your documents.

Depending if you want to buy a filing cabinet or just deal with document folders is really dependable of your space, budget and filing needs. I’m using document folders since I have been able to reduce the amount of papers I’m storing there.

Have an easy access to your files

In order to keep your files organized and your desk clean, have your filing system somewhere easily accessible. For example, I pay all my bills using online banking system, so after I have taken care of my bills, I have a document folder in the closet behind my back. I used to have the folder on the upper level of that closet, but I found out that it was much harder to take it down from there,  put the processed documents back in and lift it back there. Eventually I decided to put it on lower level so that I had one step less to do when paying my bills. This was a very simple improvement, but works much better than the earlier setup I had.

Easier the access is, less there is danger of leaving the bills or other important papers on your desk.

Categorize

Have a categorization system for all your documents. Some use alphabetical order (I haven’t tested this though), but I have been using some generic categories and I have been able to manage my files that way. I have divided my document folder to use categories like Bank, Taxes, Apartment, Credit Cards, Misc, Computer, Travel and Certificates.

Conclusion

I’m keeping my documents and papers organized using these tips I just described. Naturally the needs may be different in your situation, however these tips work for me, since the volume of paper is not that big.

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