Office organization is not only important in my own office to find what I need, but it is a big part of my business as well. People are totally overwhelmed with paper all the time and need help with a better system. So, I had a custom system of labeled folders in my own personal household file drawer that worked just fine for me. But I wanted to experiment with other systems. So one day I bought a pre-labeled, color coded system and changed the file system that was already working well for me.
Did I like it? No. Did it work for me? No. Could I find what I needed quickly? No. Well, why not? It was neat, it was labeled and I’m sure the system would probably work great for some people. Especially if they were coming from a place of no system. The reason it didn’t work for me was because the labels were not worded according to how I think. I think “Taxes” this system was “Income Taxes.” I think “Autos” this system was “Vehicle Maintenance.” That may sound like a small detail, but it was enough to leave me looking longer for a file than I should. It was also broken up into color coded sections vs. straight alphabetical order which bothered me too.
The other thing that wasn’t as visually appealing, since it was my own file drawer and not a client’s, I had used more than one color of hanging folders that I had on hand. Things didn’t look quite as cohesive as they should have.
After giving the other system about a year or so trial, last night I worked until 12:30 am putting my old system back in place. This time with all matching hanginging folders. Phew. Sometimes you just don’t know how something will work for you and organizing is not a one size fits all. Don’t be afraid to make changes that work for you.
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