4 ms·

I have a typical metal 3-row filing cabinet as would be common in companies until the last couple of decades (and is probably still heavily used). Each row has

by stinos 5y ago

I have a typical metal 3-row filing cabinet as would be common in companies until the last couple of decades (and is probably still heavily used). Each row has about 50 folders which is enough: everything is simply filed in the folder labelled by sender sender, ordered by receiving date front to back. A couple of 'tag' folders are used for things which aren't company-bound, like a folder for paper maps. One row is for me, one for my wife, one for common stuff. In total there's like 30 folders so searching is not an issue. If you have the space for it I honestly cannot think of something which would work better for me: doesn't take a lot of time to file, lookup is fast enough. Once in a while if I feel a folder gets too much content I just throw away the oldest papers. Not sure if you're supposed to, but I also don't care: the fat folders are usually not the important ones. I treat digital documents the same btw, except date order is automatic there.

eitland 5y ago
Have one of those too, filled with Manila folders like the GTD book suggested and it is the single part of that book that I more or less consistently follow because it is essy and has great "ROI" for every minute spent. I got mine free from a friend who hated it. One word of advice: do like the original GTD book wrote and use standing folders, not hanging flimsy ones.
pm215 5y ago
Yep, for paper documents I have a 4-drawer filing cabinet, which I got cheap second hand years ago. It takes up some space, but the benefits over the years have been huge: - I always know where to look for a document (even in the worst case of not remembering which folder it's quick to scan through the folders and to look through the 'misc' folder). - I never have to think about whether to keep or throw out some letter or item -- I just file it, there's plenty of room. Every few years I have a shredding session to get rid of some of the ancient stuff and free up more space. The important rule for me is that I never put anything in it unless it is really just reference material -- if I need to do something first I do that thing pretty quickly, or at least get an item in my todo list for it. And I set up automatic bill payment by direct debit so that I don't need to take manual action for arriving bills. So the filing cabinet works partly because 95% of incoming paperwork is "read in 30 seconds, file and forget" and I don't procrastinate the other 5% long enough for it to pile up. My electronic document handling, on the other hand, is shocking: - documents scattered between multiple machines - no coherent folder structure - online statements usually stuck behind the web UI of each individual bank or utility, with no trustable archive so I much prefer paper bills and statements to electronic...

by stinos 5y ago

eitland 5y ago

Have one of those too, filled with Manila folders like the GTD book suggested and it is the single part of that book that I more or less consistently follow because it is essy and has great "ROI" for every minute spent. I got mine free from a friend who hated it. One word of advice: do like the original GTD book wrote and use standing folders, not hanging flimsy ones.

pm215 5y ago

Yep, for paper documents I have a 4-drawer filing cabinet, which I got cheap second hand years ago. It takes up some space, but the benefits over the years have been huge: - I always know where to look for a document (even in the worst case of not remembering which folder it's quick to scan through the folders and to look through the 'misc' folder). - I never have to think about whether to keep or throw out some letter or item -- I just file it, there's plenty of room. Every few years I have a shredding session to get rid of some of the ancient stuff and free up more space. The important rule for me is that I never put anything in it unless it is really just reference material -- if I need to do something first I do that thing pretty quickly, or at least get an item in my todo list for it. And I set up automatic bill payment by direct debit so that I don't need to take manual action for arriving bills. So the filing cabinet works partly because 95% of incoming paperwork is "read in 30 seconds, file and forget" and I don't procrastinate the other 5% long enough for it to pile up. My electronic document handling, on the other hand, is shocking: - documents scattered between multiple machines - no coherent folder structure - online statements usually stuck behind the web UI of each individual bank or utility, with no trustable archive so I much prefer paper bills and statements to electronic...