A to Z filing is confusing me. Help!

P

PeterR

0
I read GTD twice now and while I feel that I understand most of the book, the "a to z" filing system for general reference materials remains a mystery. What I'm picturing is one file folder for each letter: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h,... w, x, y, z. And if you get a bank account summary where no action is required but that you want to file, you would then file it into the "b" file, for bank.... or is the "r" file for Royal Bank (the name of the bank)??? This is what confuses me. I can see myself filing similar files in various different letters. Another examples, let's say I've paid my phone bill and want to file it. Do I put it into "p" for phone or "t" for telephone or "v" for Virgin (the name of the telephone company)???? :confused:

Perhaps I'm completely misunderstanding the system. Can someone please clarify this A-Z system and how exactly to use it without confusion? Thanks.
 
I think you've misinterpreted the information.

Buy a set of A-Z tabs or use file folders with individual letter labels so you can easily spot where one letter begins and another ends. Label folders containing files with meaningful names (theme, topic, person, project, etc) and put them in your filing system in alphabetical order behind the appropriate letter tab.

"Royal Bank" goes under "R"
"Nokia Cell Phone Manual" goes under "N"
A file for Joe Smith would be labeled "Smith, Joe" and goes under "S"

As the book suggests, make sure you have a good label maker and plenty of tape. You must be able to get your files from Inbox to File Cabinet in under 60 seconds with no resistance or you won't file things; you'll stack them instead.
 
Thanks for clarifying the A-Z system!

ellobogrande;81748 said:
Buy a set of A-Z tabs or use file folders with individual letter labels so you can easily spot where one letter begins and another ends. Label folders containing files with meaningful names (theme, topic, person, project, etc) and put them in your filing system in alphabetical order behind the appropriate letter tab.

"Royal Bank" goes under "R"
"Nokia Cell Phone Manual" goes under "N"
A file for Joe Smith would be labeled "Smith, Joe" and goes under "S"
Click to expand...

OOOOOOHHHHH. That makes sense! Thank you! Now I can finally put all the pieces together. What a relief. THANKS! :D
 
You can also group A-Z items.

ellobogrande;81748 said:
"Royal Bank" goes under "R"
"Nokia Cell Phone Manual" goes under "N"
Click to expand...

You can also group A-Z items:

Bank - Royal
Bank - Goldman
Bank - Visa
...
Phone - Blackberry Torch
Phone - iPhone 4
Phone - Nokia E71
...
 
ellobogrande;81748 said:
I think you've misinterpreted the information.

Buy a set of A-Z tabs or use file folders with individual letter labels so you can easily spot where one letter begins and another ends. Label folders containing files with meaningful names (theme, topic, person, project, etc) and put them in your filing system in alphabetical order behind the appropriate letter tab.

"Royal Bank" goes under "R"
"Nokia Cell Phone Manual" goes under "N"
A file for Joe Smith would be labeled "Smith, Joe" and goes under "S"

As the book suggests, make sure you have a good label maker and plenty of tape. You must be able to get your files from Inbox to File Cabinet in under 60 seconds with no resistance or you won't file things; you'll stack them instead.
Click to expand...

Personally I dont bother with the letter tabs since my filing only comes to four drawers. With letters on the front and the tabs on each folder popping up its easy to find your letters quickly.
 
I think David says in the book that the A-Z file set allows you to stop going numb to get back/retrieve the piece of information you're looking for.
That way, it doesn't matter if Nokia phone warranty card goes in "N" (for Nokia), "P" (for phone) or "W" (for Warranties), as long as you're able to remember that it can only be in those 3-4 places.
How you divide the content of your filing system is up to you.
 
I'd agree - you soon get to rememebr which folder you put things in. I'm a grouping person, so I have for example three folders for credit cards, one for each company.

To start with it may help to have a list of the folder names stuck to the filing cabinet, so you can quickly scan it. it stops you making a second folder for a topic by mistake, and allows you to find the most likely folder you put something in without having to physically search the cabinet.

Ruth
 
RuthMcT;81770 said:
To start with it may help to have a list of the folder names stuck to the filing cabinet, so you can quickly scan it. it stops you making a second folder for a topic by mistake, and allows you to find the most likely folder you put something in without having to physically search the cabinet.
Click to expand...

Good idea. Also, for me at least if I go back to look for a file and can't find it where I originally looked, when I do finally find the file I either change its name and re-file where I originally looked, or make a file for where I originally looked with a single sheet of paper saying the information X is actually in file folder Y.

And I try to clear out duplicates or similar files once a year.
 
Great points all around.

I've been working on my filing since last night and will continue some tonight.

Please tell me if I'm on the right track:

I have five file drawers, each one with a dedicated filing system for:
- tickler
- general reference
- project reference
- two extras for expansion/later

For the general reference, I've been populating it with both of my business reference files. For instance, for my one business (www.stonehomephoto.com), I create a series of files with the label "SHPV:", to which I attach a new label as I need. So far I have the following: SHPV: Invoices, SHPV: Tax, SHPV: Photo How-To, SHPV: Marketing, SHPV: Website. This way, whenever I want to file something related to my stonehomephoto business, I just go to SHPV and add it to the correct file. If that file doesn't exist--say I decide I need a file for a new topic like articles of interest related to my business--I just create a new one with the SHPV prefix.

Am I on the right track here? I can't imagine stuffing all my SHPV files into one file... but then I'm not sure if my categorization is effective/efficient? Suggestions, recommendations?
 
Your SHPV system sounds fine. I have a similar set at work. I'm responsible for our immunisation programme so I have

Imms - national programme
Imms - teaching
Imms - hepatitis B implementation
Imms - newsletter
Imms - clinic
etc etc
(I've got 10 immunisation files all together)
 
Personally I have my home stuff in a really simple a-z filing system

so Royal Bank is either in B for bank or R for Royal - and it actually works for us.
Some things are put in sub folders to make them easier to find within that system - but honestly it is really quick to find things

For work I am meticulous with lots of sub folders, so different conditions have their own sub folders, so anorexia is under a, but also general allergy information, and anemia - each has a sub folder in the A section

I go for as little complexity as is necessary to do the job.
 
RuthMcT;81812 said:
Your SHPV system sounds fine. I have a similar set at work. I'm responsible for our immunisation programme so I have

Imms - national programme
Imms - teaching
Imms - hepatitis B implementation
Imms - newsletter
Imms - clinic
etc etc
(I've got 10 immunisation files all together)
Click to expand...

Thanks. Glad I'm on track. But boy do I have many folders in my reference drawer!
 
If I have a truly distinct area of focus, I just do an A - Z filing system for it. Examples include a major project, long term goal or an organization like a charity. This is usually a drawer by itself. This avoids for me having to do labels like Charity - Agenda, Charity - September 2010 event etc.

Good luck
 
I have a discrete A-Z filing system for Clients. Just instead of adding a prefix to each label ('Client' in my case), it has its own special section - time saving.
 
SGTM;81836 said:
If I have a truly distinct area of focus, I just do an A - Z filing system for it. Examples include a major project, long term goal or an organization like a charity. This is usually a drawer by itself. This avoids for me having to do labels like Charity - Agenda, Charity - September 2010 event etc.

Good luck
Click to expand...

I agree - my 10 immunisation files are in ring binders on a single shelf, my 10 disability files on another shelf, and everything else as an A-Z set of files in a single drawer of a filing cabinet. Before I discovered GTD I had four overstuffed drawers of a filing cabinet. Now, as long as I keep up with the filing, I can impress my colleagues with my speed of document retrieval.

Ruth
 
ellobogrande;81748 said:
I think you've misinterpreted the information.

Buy a set of A-Z tabs or use file folders with individual letter labels so you can easily spot where one letter begins and another ends. Label folders containing files with meaningful names (theme, topic, person, project, etc) and put them in your filing system in alphabetical order behind the appropriate letter tab.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I've also misunderstood the A-Z concept. I had the impression that everything "A" went into one big "A" bucket, etc. I thought, no way! Seems silly now. This makes a lot more sense.

Next I need to try and understand tickler files better.
 
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