Home > Productivity > Peace, Productivity and Embracing Your Piles > How to File Without the Alphabet

Dear Kirsten,

I‘ve been saying that I was going to tackle the giant paper bag of client files for weeks now. But there always seems to be something more important to do! One day my son left his soccer shoes at home, another day my husband asked me to drop off an insurance form, and one of my best friends has needed time for guy rants on at least four occasions. The end of the day always comes with the bag untouched.

My business can’t keep on like this, I know. Just last week one of my clients asked me to revise a contract and I couldn’t find the original! I got off the phone and vowed to solve the problem right then and there… and then my dog lost his breakfast on the carpet.

Help!

I Know It’s In The There Somewhere

Dear Somewhere,

I don’t even have to ask you to take the quiz – I can tell you’re an Environmental. Why? Because all your interruptions are related to others. Environmentals, you might recall, tend to focus out, on the people (or animals) around them. You care deeply about almost everyone who enters your sphere, and you show it by showering them with love and doing everything you can to make everything all right.

You do truly care about your clients, and I can feel your mortification at the thought of not doing the best job possible for them. So we need to find a way to get those files in order without sacrificing any of the other people around you. And we need to make sure you can maintain those files without a semi-annual paper bag purge.

To start with, your A-Z system has got to go. We need to make your files simple and fun to look at. Ideally, Environmentals with their own businesses should work with a small number of clients and charge a premium for their time. You may be remarkably caring, but you do have limits, and you’re shortchanging everyone by trying to serve more than five clients at a time.

Give each of those five clients a color, then go to the office supply store and get yourself five colored hanging folders and a rack to put them in. This goes within easy reach of your desk, and all papers related to one client will go in that client’s colored folder. Don’t bother to label – you shouldn’t have trouble remembering which is which, and then you can reuse the folders when clients cycle through.

Now it’s time to tackle that paper bag. Remember that friend who needed guy rant time? Invite her over, put on a pot of tea, and chat away while you work through the backlog. She might even be able to help you out with the sorting!

But, you ask, what about the things that don’t fit into my five client folders? Clear some floor or desk space and sort them into piles as you go. Old clients in one pile. Bills and receipts in another. Contracts and important documents in a third. And so on. Then, once you’ve hit the bottom of the bag, take stock of your piles. How many are there? Can any of them be combined? How often will you need to access the information stored in them?

Files that you’re only keeping for archival purposes can be tossed in a labeled box and set aside in a closet somewhere. The more active papers can go into traditional file folders in a cabinet, or into another hanging folder if you’ll refer to it within the next week. Keep at it until you’ve worked through all the smaller piles, then sit back and give your friend a high five! You’ve done it! And you’ve converted it into a system that you’re much more likely to be able to maintain. The next time a client wants revisions, you’ll know exactly where to look.

Sound like a plan?

Kirsten

Got a productivity question? Send it over to Kirsten and she’ll be happy to answer!