Physics rather than Philosophy Of Filing

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whsbpb

Guest
Most advice on filing seems to tackle Philosophy - categorization, cross referencing, alpha versus numeric, etc. But there's not a lot written on what I'm calling the "Physics" - paper size, hanging folder size, staples versus paperclips, use of ACCO fasteners, etc, etc, etc.

I buy DA's simple alpha system, but I'm mired in choices like: 1,3,5 or no tabs on the manillas, letter or legal hangers, letter or legal manillas, letter or legal paper, color or not, ACCO fasteners, treasury tags or neither, and so on.

Anyone want to share their approach?

w
 
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Day Owl

Registered
No tabs on the manila folders. No matter what you do, they get out of sync sooner or later, and you end up with stuttering tabs that look like bad dental work. Following the advice of an organizational guru whose name I have forgotten, it's been so long, I have used straight-cut folders for years, and put all the labels at the extreme left. They can still be read easily, and the whole arrangement always looks neat.

Letter size for me. None of my papers are larger. If you need to file legal-size paper, get legal-size folders.

Colors? They can be useful for categorizing (see other threads mentioning this), especially if you find alphabetizing everything counterproductive (sorry, DA).
 
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dal1mdm

Registered
Folders

Day Owl,

I dont get it. If they're all flush and the titles are on the left, how can they be as easily read as staggered file tabs?
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Actually, that raises a good point. I have used tabbed folders, but I always have them unstaggered (I aim for them always on the left). That avoids the problem of them getting out of pattern. But then, it raises the question of why bother using the tabs in the first place.

dal1mdm said:
Day Owl,

I dont get it. If they're all flush and the titles are on the left, how can they be as easily read as staggered file tabs?
Click to expand...
 
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remyc88

Registered
RE: Tabs

Staples or OfficeDepot should have the 1/3 cuts with ONLY the left, right, or middle tabs. (I'm not sure if they are available for the 1/5 cuts).

Isn't the main reason for tabs to put your label on it? If you get a no-tab, isn't it just a flat folder?
 
jerendeb

jerendeb

Registered
I sort mine like this

I use 1/3 cut plain.

A
B
C

DEF
GHI
JKL
MNO
PQR
STU
VWX
YZ

I even made a chart so that I always remember where it goes when I make a new label. For awhile I had some numbers, they went before A in the same order. (I had 911 for September 11, 2001; but I have since archived it in a box.)

Another topic, but my Tickler File is a bit different. I used Center for the months & Left for the Odd days, right for the even.​
 
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Day Owl

Registered
dal1mdm wrote:

If they're all flush and the titles are on the left, how can they be as easily read as staggered file tabs?

(Somebody tell me how to code a quote. Another BB I belong to has the codes right next to the message area, easy to find. Where are they here?)

dal1mdm, all I can say is that it works for me. I think maybe I save time by scanning the left-hand side instead of tracking from side to side like a dog out in the field.

remyc88, straight cut folders have an elevated rear section with plenty of room to put labels on.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I use 1/3 cut, and buy them from costco or Sam's. I have all my labels flush right-this is more efficient and easy to scan.

I buy the regular box of file folders, give away the ones with middle tabs and use the rest. BTW, for the left sided ones, I just fold them around so tabs are to the right.

Buying them with only right or left tabs is more money.

David
 
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morias

Guest
Geez, I'm starting to feel like a Smead sales rep, or uh, "consumer advocate" as someone else put it. ;) No, I don't work for Smead. I take a flush tab approach like a few other people have mentioned, though with some modifications. The Smead web site has information on what they call Straight Line Filing at http://www.smead.com/Director.asp?NodeID=657 and the benefits of a flush tab approach. Smead also throws in color as a way to differentiate between sections.

Personally, I use a combination of 1/3 cut file folders, straight tab file jackets and straight tab file pockets. For high level categories/subjects, I use 1/3 cut left tab folders and file pockets labeled on the left. Individual files are kept in 1/3 cut right tab folders or file jackets labeled on the right. I use plain manila folders/jackets with black & white labels. I tried to use color, but the time, energy and cost of using and maintaining consistent coloring got to be too much. I use file jackets whenever I have small pieces of paper and/or think the contents might spill out the sides of a file folder. I ditched all my pendaflex hanging folders and use bookends to keep my folders and jackets standing straight up. File pockets (and expandable file jackets) can stand on their own.

Hope this helps,

-michael
 
W

whsbpb

Guest
morias said:
The Smead web site has information on what they call Straight Line Filing at http://www.smead.com/Director.asp?NodeID=657 and the benefits of a flush tab approach. Smead also throws in color as a way to differentiate between sections.
-michael
Click to expand...

That all looked excellent, and even handled my question about ACCO fasteners (Smead have folders with built-in fasteners).

But then they go and break their whole approach by having the tab position on standard folders different from the tab position on their fastener folders! So it's either all fastener, or all not.

So close! :)

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R

randystokes

Registered
Boy, I've gotta say I think this whole discussion is hysterical! How much time do folks spend just getting the right folders, folding them around to use backwards, etc.?

I buy a couple of boxes of manila folders at once. The most commonly available are the 1/3 cut, and those are nice, too, because the tabs are big enough for a good sized label printed out from my P-Touch labeler -- which is immediately at hand.

I spend no time at all wondering if the tabs are "staggered" or "unstaggered" -- I just grab a blank folder, regardless of whether the tab is left, middle or right, slap the label on, and stick it in alphabetical order in the filing cabinet that sits immediately to the left of my desk. I can very quickly find anything in there, regardless whether it's in a left, middle or right tabbed folder -- it's alphabetical.

It doesn't really matter whether your tabs don't march in repeating left-middle-right order from the front to the back of your drawers. Just get the darn things in there, and press on with getting things done. (There's a reason why David didn't stop with his book and call it "Getting Things Filed.")

Randy Stokes
 
W

whsbpb

Guest
randystokes said:
Boy, I've gotta say I think this whole discussion is hysterical! How much time do folks spend just getting the right folders, folding them around to use backwards, etc.?
Randy Stokes
Click to expand...

I know, it's a sickness; I need help! :)

I think it's because I'm a maximizer and not a satisficer (see book "The Paradox of Choice").

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morias

Guest
Yes, I definitely need help! ;) The extra time and effort I put in for consistent tabbing isn’t that much more than random tabbing. One of the reasons why I put in the extra effort is the possibility of being externally audited and having the files look more "presentation" worthy. So the following example is probably on the extreme side.

My team just finished an internal audit and analysis of some legal documents spanning 23 states. Each individual document folder is labeled by state/region with effective date on the right tab. For organization and portability, I then compiled the respective release versions together into their own file pockets. The file pockets are labeled with the document title and release version on the far left. This allows me or anyone to quickly pull all the documents for one specific release together instantly. The supporting audit and analysis materials are labeled similarly for easy cross-referencing. So at a glance we can see the document title/version on the left and each individual state document on the right.

After spending hours upon hours going through these materials (especially combing through the footnotes, ugh!), the consistent tab alignment just felt much easier on my eyes. Others on my team, while they may snicker at my obsessive-compulsive tendencies agreed that it was much nicer to look at, made it easier to keep things organized and to reference supporting materials. They also agreed that if we were ever subject to an external audit, the consistent tab alignment is much more presentation worthy. Of course, I've now been tasked to take action on those findings. Yeah, just shoot me now! :)

-michael
 
W

whsbpb

Guest
whsbpb said:
...But then [Smead] go and break their whole approach by having the tab position on standard folders different from the tab position on their fastener folders! So it's either all fastener, or all not.

So close! :)

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Click to expand...

It gets worse. So I went to Office Depot to buy folders and stuff, and lo and behold, they have 1/3 cut assorted positions everywhere. Smead's Single Line thing sounded great, but they don't appear to support it very well.

Sigh.

(No question about it though, I am clearly insane)
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I can never decide which paper/folder/hanger size to use - letter or legal. I know the GTD book suggests letter, and that does for most things at home. But there are always a few rogue bits of paper that are just too big and peek out of letter folders and hangers.

Who uses what?

gg
 
A

Arduinna

Registered
I use 1/3 cut and stagger them. A few reasons: 1/3 cut mixed boxes of file folders are the cheapest and most readily available. Files with minimal contents may not be seen if they have identical tab position or full-length tabs. A staggered system doesn't rely on color coding the way the full-length tabs seen to (at least judging from Smead's demo on it). Retrieving files is easier for me with the staggered method because I see the name, and I also have a sense of location (left, middle, right) to associate with the file (2 anchors). And I buck Smead's argument that you have to read back and forth thru staggered files to find what you're looking for. When I retrieve files, I scan the tabs along one side (usually left, unless I knew it was a middle- or right-tab file), and only when I'm close to where the file should be will my eyes start running across the width of the drawer to read the other labels. This means that, instead of scanning every tab, I'm scanning every third label. I may not represent the norm in these habits, but it works for me, and it seems a lot more efficient than reading a straight line of tabs.
 
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spectecGTD

Guest
I use 3-rd cut and 5-th cut folders in various contexts. I select the tab based on the letter of the alphabet (ie tab1 is a, tab 2 is b, tab 3 is c and so on), BUT here's the key: I select the tab based on the SECOND letter of the title, not the first letter. No system is perfect, but this system staggers them fairly well.

For me, the problem with having all the tabs in line is that many of my folders may be fairly thin, so the tabs do overlay one another. In-line tabs are not so much of a problem when the folders are thick enough with material that there is a good natural separation between tabs.

As someone said earlier, there is no "right" or "wrong" system - the key is to use whatever works for you. (I even have one unique set of dedicated files in hanging folders)
 
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