EFFICIENT PAPERWORK MAINTENANCE SYSTEM

Having an efficient paperwork maintenance system setup is absolutely essential for keeping paper clutter under control. Over the last four posts, I have shared six daily, three weekly, one monthly, and three annual paperwork organizing tasks you must do to keep paper clutter under control.

I share paperwork organizing product ideas that will work for your organizing style here!

You can download my Paperwork Maintenance Routine Chart here and keep it in your inbox to keep your paperwork under control on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis. Be sure to download that chart here, so you are never at a loss for how to keep your paperwork under control.

To be honest, I have sometimes gone months without taking care of these tasks. However, because I have an efficient paperwork maintenance system in place, I am able to quickly recover and get those piles of paperwork organized in no time!

The First Key to Creating an Efficient Paperwork Maintenance System

The first key to creating an efficient paperwork maintenance system is to have what I call holding areas. These holding areas contain your paperwork through different transitions. Since paperwork comes in many forms, whether it’s a petty receipt, a bill that needs to be paid, a form that needs to be signed, or a permanent file like a birth certificate, they all require different amounts of time for follow-up and different forms of storage. A grocery receipt can simply be filed immediately while a form may require reading, filling out, and mailing. Having the proper holding areas in place allows you to place these different types of paperwork in their properly designated areas. That way, you are always able to follow up in a timely manner. No longer will bills be paid late. Jury duty will be reported for on time. School forms will be submitted before deadlines. You get the point.

1st Holding Area

1st Holding Area: On a desktop or tabletop or a wall-mounted organizer, have, at minimum, three labeled sections

• a. In Box
• b. Follow-Up
• c. To File

You can add additional files to this holding area which are customized to your needs. What I have included are the following:

• To Pay: Though the “Follow-Up” section is sufficient for placing bills to pay, you can create this section if you prefer. This is where incoming bills are placed if not due immediately. I honestly don’t use this very much as I have all my bills automated. I do hold an extra check book here to have handy, if needed.
• Follow-Up: This is where paperwork requiring correspondence is held (i.e. if you are contemplating changing your retirement plan, you can place the paperwork in here until you have a chance to read through everything).
• Coupons: This is where coupons are placed until they are clipped to be used. Once clipped, I will place each coupon where I will remember to use it whether it’s my purse or the car.
• To File: This is where completed paperwork is held until it is filed in my file drawers. This will include receipts, credit card and bank statements (I actually don’t receive these as I have gone paperless), and anything else that does not require further follow-up.
• Events: This is where invites or event fliers are held if they contain info I will need for the day of (i.e. a wedding save the date will be on the fridge, but the actual invite will be held in this folder for registry reference and location and time reference).
• Projects: This is where paperwork for any current projects is held while these projects are still in progress. If I am redesigning a space, I can hold paint chips and fabric swatches here.
• Resources: This is where frequently referenced paperwork is held. For example, I keep my printable sticky note tempates here.
• Legal: This is where current/unsettled legal documents are held until they are settled (i.e. if you sue or someone sues you for damage in a car accident, you can hold the paperwork here until the matter is settled).
• Cards: This is where ‘thank you’ cards and specific occasion cards are held until they are given away. I will purchase Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and birthday cards for specific people all at once and keep them here until their special day.
• Mail Supplies: This is where envelopes and stamps are held. I do not buy envelopes. I save the blank remittance envelopes from other mail received.
• Out Box: This is where paperwork is held until I am ready to bring it to where it needs to go if it is not to be filed in my file drawers. For example, I will hold pictures in here until I am ready to put them in my photo boxes. I also added an outgoing mail bin to the wall near my front door which helps me to remember to take the mail out to the mailbox. If you’re interested in the outgoing mail bin on the wall, I actually painted the bin with this paint here. I purchased the galvanized metal envelope wall decor from Hobby Lobby here. I also painted the hooks underneath, which you can find here.

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Here, I have a desktop acrylic file holder that I purchased from Target years ago. Another similar option can be found here. The file folders here were purchased from Target years ago as well. Another similar, and better, option can be found here. I like these better because if you don’t use them all in your desktop file holder you can use them in the next holding areas because they are hanging file folders as opposed to regular file folders. Regular file folders can flop onto each other without the hanging file bars to keep them upright. I used this label maker here to create the labels.

2nd Holding Area

2nd Holding Area: File cart, totes, or cabinets with these labeled hanging files

• a. Current Year
  • i. Current insurance policies
  • ii. Current resumes
  • iii. Current year tax documents collected over the year
  • iv. Current year petty files (12 files labeled by month for receipts and invoices)
• b. Previous Year
  • i. Previous year important files (labeled by type)
  • ii. Previous year petty files (12 files labeled by month for receipts and invoices)

As an alternative, you can label your petty file sections “Even Year” and “Odd Year” like I have. It’s the same as labeling them “Current Year” and “Previous Year” but just a tad easier to switch out for annual paperwork organizing tasks as outlined here.

Here, I have grey hanging file folders which you can find here. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to insert regular file folders into these hanging file folders. These hanging file folders come with label tabs. The temptation might be to add multiple regular file folders to one hanging file folder that you wish to subdivide. This sounds like a good idea; however, the file labels will be difficult to see if stored this way. To subdivide any category using just hanging file folders, you can simply insert the label tab in a different position of your preference. This is another benefit to solely using hanging file folders as regular file folders have fixed tabs. To label my hanging file folder tabs, rather than labeling the white paper insert, I labeled the plastic tabs directly using this label maker here.

I have every single file label you could ever need here which are also included here. I also include a guide to setting up your filing system properly by categories such as action files, resource files, tax deduction files, updatable files, permanent files, and archive files for both personal and business use.

3rd Holding Area

3rd Holding Area: Fireproof safe if your file cart, tote, or cabinet is not fireproof and does not fit in the 2nd holding area

• a. Permanent files
  • i. Automobile records including titles and maintenance records
  • ii. Deeds, trusts, wills
  • iii. Education records including degrees and transcripts
  • iv. Home receipts including renovation receipts and large appliance receipts
  • v. Medical records including any diagnoses, immunization records, and important lab results

I keep my previous year petty files in the same drawer as my permanent files (here, they are labeled “Odd Year”). You can adjust where you store each category of files as your space permits. I highly suggest storing your permanent files in a fireproof safe like this one here.

4th Holding Area

4th Holding Area: Archive files or boxes (if you have large stacks of tax documents and other important files that do not fit in the 2nd or 3rd holding area)

• a. File folders or boxes labeled by year up to 10 years

For most people, labeling your tax file folders by year will help to avoid confusion for you and your household or your business. I labeled my file labels 1 through 10 which works the same way. It simply saves me from having to create a new label once a year.

For our church, I used these file boxes from the Dollar Tree here.

The Second Key to Creating an Efficient Paperwork Maintenance System

The second key to having an efficient paperwork maintenance system is to have a self-purging system set up. As I have outlined in the three annual paperwork organizing tasks here, every year we purge the old files and move a couple folders and we’re all set for the next year. My paperwork never grows beyond these drawers.

We keep far more paperwork than we really need. The daily, weekly, monthly, and annual tasks outlined in the previous posts all help to keep all the unnecessary paperwork from cluttering up your spaces. From getting rid of ripped, empty envelopes to old tax files in a timely manner, following these paperwork organizing tasks and setting up this efficient paperwork organizing system sets you up for success for the rest of your paperwork organizing life!

In my next post, I share how I turned my desk drawers into hanging file drawers for only $3.30! And it was SO EASY! Be sure to download your free paperwork maintenance routine chart here so that you have a quick reference for how to stay on top of your paperwork throughout the entire year.

Happy Organizing!