How to Organize Papers in an Office
Though we are now focused around doing everything on the Internet and storing files on computers, there are still some cases where you need to keep paperwork filed in your office. For important paperwork, like signed contracts, you need to keep a hard copy on hand. When you receive important mail, you can't very well shred it (though you can scan it onto your computer). If you develop an easy-to-reference filing system in your office, you won't feel so overwhelmed by paperwork.
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Instructions
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Purchase a couple of boxes of file folders (light tan in color) and a couple of boxes of large hanging file folders (usually forest green). Both of these items are linked under "Resources" below.
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Place two small plastic file boxes on your desk (one for in and one for out). This is where you will place everything that needs to be dealt with immediately. Also, place a mail holder on your desk in which you can place mail that just came in and mail that is being sent out that day.
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Buy a small personal file cabinet if one is not already built into your desk. A two-tiered file cabinet is fine for a small office, but if you work in an office with multiple people, you may want to go with the standard four-tiered file cabinet.
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Decide what the most important pieces of paperwork are that you receive regularly. For example, if you run a book publishing business, you are going to get and send invoices, purchase orders, returns, new author submissions and book deal contracts. Label the green hanging file folders by these categories. Alphabetize them and then place the section dividing folders inside your file.
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Label your standard file folders by the subsections under each category. In our book publishing example, you would have a file named for each distributor who regularly sends you purchase orders and a file named for each prospective author who sends you a submission.
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Purchase and place a wall file holder near your desk (see "Resources" for an example). This will be where you put all of the paperwork that you want to read or get to within the week but don't have the time to deal with at the moment.
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Place a cardboard box near or under your desk. This will be your shred box. All of your junk mail and other unneeded items that contain your personal information (name, address, account numbers and such) will go into this shred box.
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Tips & Warnings
It's best to have more than enough room in your file cabinet. As your business grows, you will be constantly adding more files to your drawers.
