Finally got it filed!

Ever since I read Getting Thing Done, I've been promising myself I'd attack my filing system. I haven't panicked about it because it's been on my someday/maybe list because it needed doing but frankly it wasn't that important personally.

Moving home has given me the opportunity to go through the files and jettison quite a lot of things I'll no longer need, so it seemed like a good time to set to the process of reorganising the system. The main problem I have with files is figuring out where to file a given item. File it of course in a way that it can be retrieved as easily as possible. Filing something is never a problem, finding it again is the challenge!

So, having seen David Allen talk about a simple A-Z system using square cut folders, Ally and I set to the reorganisation. We made some simple dividers from mount board and spilt hanging files. The hanging files provided runners for the tabbed dividers. Then we worked through the files until we'd reorganised them all into folders.

The result is that what occupied two drawers of my filing cabinet now occupies one drawer. And a few things came to light that can now be found very quickly. I'm sure that there will be a build up of things when we move as I collect minutes of new meetings and lists of this or that. But, and it's an important caveat, it should be far easier to create a new file and the space saved by removing all the hanging files can be used for smaller files.

Now if we can do the same to the second filing cabinet, that contains all the home stuff, we'll be really well organised!