Getting Organized at home and on the job!
Handling the paper that flows through any home is a challenge. I have read books and attended organizational workshops to get paper under control. Even in our push to "go green" and paperless, there is still an amazing amount of the stuff that ends up on our desk and in our file cabinets.
A few years ago I ran across a system, I would gladly give credit for it if I could remember the author. The idea is to color coded the major categories in our life. I love it, and you may find it helpful too.
When we moved to Murrieta, California we moved 20+ years of documents and I really needed to get a handle on purging, saving, storing and organizing.
Files arranged by color naturally catch our eye, appear more user-friendly and have a greater impact on our memory; improving our filing accuracy.
When information is organized by color group it's easy to spot a file folder out of place which greatly reduces misfiling your information. This system may work for you, take a look and see if you find it workable in your office and at home.
To color code you can use: colored file folders, colored hanging file folders, colored dots, labels or adhesive strips. The next step is to categorize your file types.
The system goes as follows:
Blue files: Insurance Papers, Life policies, Health policies, Auto policies, house policies
In my real estate business I use blue for buyers.
Green files: Employment records, social security, pension information, past employers, resumes, dates and references
In my real estate practice, green is for commissions
Yellow files: Financial information, checking accounts, savings accounts, loan contracts, mortgage numbers, mortgage contracts, credit card numbers, credit card statements, investment records
In my real estate practice, yellow is for sellers.
Pink Files: Household inventory, lists of items for each room, photos of possessions
White Files: Birth certificates, death certificates, marriage records, wills and trust
Orange files: Health records, immunization records, medical information
Brown Files: School records, Certificates, report cards, diplomas
Purple Files: Warranties, appliance booklets, service guarantees
Red Files: Tax records, income sources, contributions, interest paid, medical and dental expenses, deductible items, child care expenses, casualty losses, professional dues
In my real estate practice red is for REO files
If you find any of this useful I would like to hear about it and if you have innovations that might work better send that over too.
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