Filing Tip - Super Simple But It Works

[done]

More on Excell

I can't believe I didn't think of that! I use Excell for everything else.

What really makes it nice too: highlight your column headings; click on DATA/FILTER/AUTO and you have alphabetical list automatically to choose from.

Thanks
DonE

 

[helenjc]

physical filing with powermarks reference system

I'll throw my two cents worth in here. I use a method with the same intent, but using a different tool. My weapon of choice is Powermarks, available at www.kaylon.com. The program is a super-slick alternative to your browser's "favorites" function. It lets you file your web bookmarks with attached keywords. It then employs one of the fastest and most clever search engines to let you zero in on those long-forgotten bookmarks that are suddenly of critical interest. You can find an informative review of the program at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,544947,00.asp

Fortunately, Powermarks doesn't really care whether you enter a real URL or some other "address". So I use it for both website addresses and my reference file "addresses" like B1001, B1002... This also makes logical sense to me, since I consider both my physical files and various websites of interest to be important "reference files". I no longer print out material from websites just so that I can store it in my reference files. More importantly, I don't have to worry about remembering whether I saw some snippet of information on the web or in print. When I need to retrieve something, typing a few keywords instantly gives me an overview of any websites and files that contain relevant info. Incidentally, you can of course use Powermarks to index files on your hard drives by keywords as well.

With this approach I use Ken's method of pre-printing my file labels which are numeric only. This is one of the big lessons from the Paper Tiger approach (which otherwise is quite slow and awkward). Using numeric labelling in conjunction with keywords completely eliminates any "handwringing" over where to file something. It simply doesn't matter. Powermarks can accept and search instantly on any number of keywords, so you can quickly and effortlessly cover all your possible bases. I pre-print pages of Avery labels by the hundreds. Creating a file then involves only peeling off the next label (no more fighting with getting the backing off the Brother tape), slapping it on a file, and inputting a few keywords. I find myself completley relaxed with this method, because I am never worried about whether I will be able to retrieve something when I need to.

Here's one quick Powermarks screenshot to help illustrate how this approach looks.

Hope this explanation is clear enough.

Regards.....Bill Kratz
whkratz@attbi.com
www.improvedoutlook.com

Bill hi, I've decided to embrace this method - do you put the label on to a hanging file or a manilla folder? I'm about to start and don't want to do the manilla folders if it is unnecessary - wondering if you just put the label on the hanging file tab.
Also what label sheets do you use? I see avery does a hanging file tab sheet but I can't seem to locate it here downunder.
Many thanks for your inspiration, Helen

 

[zzzagman]

Re: physical filing with powermarks reference system

Bill,

On your numeric files, do you file each individual scrap of paper in a different folder, with a different number? Don't you end up with hundreds of one-page folders? Is this practical?

I would appreciate your thoughts.

Calin

 

[helenjc]

Calin
From what I understand you could put similar things into one folder with one number and just add keywords
say for instance you've got takeaway menus as a file then just add 'chinese', 'pizza', 'sushi' as you go - and when you do a search via powermarks for sushi it will tell you its in the takeaway file rather than its own 'sushi' file.
If anyone knows what the limit for number of keywords is (too lazy to look up the manual I know....) I"d be grateful
cheers Helen

 

[whkratz]

Helen & Calin -- Okay, some of this is just personal preference stuff, but here are a few thoughts.

I don't use hanging folders at all. I just slap a label on a manilla folder. (For those outside the U.S., this may not be as practical given differences in the type of folders and files available.) DA's advice about good quality filing cabinets does come into play here in making just manilla-folder systems easier to use. And some people like the hanging folders. It's really a personal choice. The key is to use a method that is fast. If it were to take me more than about thirty seconds to file something, I would have a mental block against doing it, and if I'm doing it in the midst of other workflow (besides processing my inbox), it would present too great an interruption to that workflow.

I use Avery #6245 (1" x 2 5/8" inkjet) labels (30 labels/sheet). With something like this, you can easily print several hundred labels at a time, and have enough to last for a day or two of filing. You can even "pre-apply" labels to folders while you are "zoned-out" watching TV, so that you have a stack ready for hyper-filing.

Yes, often I put just one paper (or scrap of paper) in a file. Some such stuff of course goes in Project, Client, or Accounting files that I maintain separately in alpha or date ordered systems. However, for Reference filing, it's just fine to have a single folder for a single item. I rarely look up something in Powermarks in order to find a file to add an additional item to. I'd rather quickly add whatever it is to a new folder and get it stashed at the back of the stack. No, I don't end up with hundreds of folders with single pieces of paper -- I end up with thousands. But I can find those papers in a matter of seconds. A manilla folder costs three or four cents. If I have to spend three, five, ten or twenty minutes hunting for a piece of paper in amongst others, I've burned up the cost of month's worth of manilla folders.

Finally, don't "overthink" this whole thing. Just start using the "numerical/Powermarks" filing method. It's so simple and intuitive, that you will quickly make the adjustments to your personal style.

 

[kglade]

Let me add to Bill's comments with my own personal preferences.

I use hanging folders because my cabinets require it.

For my numbered files, I use a hanging folder with its plastic snap-on label holder. I don't use any manilla folders inside. I label the hanging folders, "1-25", "26-50", "51-75" and so on. When I add a document, I pencil the number in the top corner of the document, then stick it in the back of the highest numbered folder (e.g. "51-75"). For example, if I just made document #62, I'd stick it at the back of the "51-75" folder where it would be behind doc #61.

When I fetch a doc, I go to the appropriate hanging folder and thumb through the docs, reading the numbers at the top of each until I find the one I want. When re-filing, I make sure I stick it back in the right place.

Works for me and is simple enough.

Note that in my system, each doc has its own number, not each subject. This is an important feature for me.

-Ken

 

[Anonymous]

good tip

thanks for sharing your method !!

raul

 

[Anonymous]

Bill, a dumb question.......you say you print a few hundred/thousand Avery labels at a time...Am I missing something or just plain dumb, but I cannot figure out how you set them up sequentially (B1001, B1002, B1003 etc) without tediously and manually entering one label at a time. Is there a program you are using that allows you to setup the labels on the computer that automatically generates sequential numbers for each label sheet? Thanks.

Paul Skikne
Owner
Montana Avenue Realty
Santa Monica, CA

 

[Anonymous]

powermarks rocks, thanks for sharing

originally thought that powermarks was useless, but i'm now running with a single set of bookmarks between home and work.

even better i have been able to contextualize both my bookmarks and my personal organizational system.

the next level would be to add this functionality to my palm/cell where i would have it with me all the time...

 

[whkratz]

Paul -- Not a dumb question at all (there are no dumb questions!). I use Avery LabelPro that lets you set up a field on the label as a sequential "serial number". Tell the program what number to start with, and print as many as you want. I use a style with thirty labels per page, so in a few minutes I can have two or three hundred new labels ready to go.

To be honest, while I wholeheartedly agree with the idea that a nicely printed label greatly improves the filing system/process, I absolutely wouldn't file things promptly if I had to stop and fuss with a one-at-a-time labeler like a Brother. I am not exaggerating when I say that using the "pre-printed" method and Powermarks, you can file something in just ten or fifteen seconds.

 

[Anonymous]

Bill thanks for your reply on LabelPro. Another question, I had as I was filing away a College Savings Account statement for my kids in my current A-Z system. I could file it immediately because I know exactly where the folder is.......Switching to the Powermarks/Numeric System would require me to sit at my computer, open PM, type in what I am looking for, and then be told by PM where numerically the folder is. Seems that for certain frequently accessed folders, an A-Z system is still superior, or am I wrong?

Paul Skikne
Owner
Montana Avenue Realty
Santa Monica, CA

 

[whkratz]

Paul -- No, you are not wrong. My Numeric/Powermarks system is for "Reference" filing. Financial records go in there own alpha system (along with a few other "monthly" kinds of files) that is completely separate from the numeric system. It is separate both for convenience and security reasons.

The numeric reference system is for all the material that may be needed/useful, but that isn't accessed regularly. Typically, this means one item per folder. The exception to this is archiving things like project files. When a project is completed, if the working folder contains things/info that may be needed/useful in the future, I move the contents to a numeric folder and catalog the keywords in Powermarks.

Hope that helps.

 

[MarkChristensen]

A-Z Duplicates

Hi,

How do I avoid duplicate files in an A-Z filing system??

At work, I use a numeric filing system ("File Don't Pile" based) and really like that I can cross-reference. For example, if I were to have maintenance done on a car - let's say a Honda Odyssey, I might originally file it under "Honda" (only own one Honda). Weeks or months later, when I need to file something else, I might look up Odyssey. Finding nothing I would then look up Honda, slap myself on the forehead, and write the numeric code for the file under "Odyssey" also.

Okay - I can slap my forehead just the same with an A-Z system but I've sometime run into duplicate problems. I have an A-Z system for some personal filing (to make it easier for some family members to access) but recently discovered that I had two files for the same topic. In the above example I would end up with a "Honda" file and an "Odyssey" file, having made the second one (probably in haste) when I didn't find a file. (I'm stretching the example a bit here - I would probably have known better than to make a second file for something that I should have known I already had filed for.) It typically happens for things that I don't handle much. My most recent problem was with "Community Education" and "ISD 197 Community Education" (ISD is for Independant School District). Two folders doing the same job.

So - how do others handle this problem? Am I just too quick to make a new folder?

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Guy Bjerke]

Mark - I've set up a small database in Access. That allows me to both print labels in an Avery #### format and an alpha report of existing files. If I think I may have already created the file I can either search the database or simply refer to the hard-copy, alpha report of existing files that I keep on my desk. HTH.

 

[intrigueme@aol.com]

"Simple is Powerful"

Good Morning

For anyone who doesn't want to think too much on a Satuday morning (or any morning for that matter) i want to ask why we have a topic heading about "Super Simple Filing" that has already involved at least three extra pieces of software/hardware, etc.... (lol)

Here's what's been working for me - personally (I have about 300 files at work, and about 100 or so at home)

I'm using "the basics" as David outlined either in the book, or here on the board:

Brother P-Touch Labeller ($40 at Costco) Brother P-Touch Label Tape 1/2" Wide - Back on Clear (getting a little "wild" here, because David recommends the white tape) I use "square cut" folders that are sealed on three sides, so that if I have to grab it, shove it in my briefcase, run into a meeting with it, (or worse) lend it to a fellow worker, I'm more secure that nothing is goig to fall out of it.

All the Brother Labels are placed exactly in the center of each manilla folder's square cut tab.

I grab the "whatever" - I think (in two minutes or less) about where it "fits" in my life, what "Category" or "Area of Focus" that it fits into. At home - this might be "Insurance - Auto; or Insurance - Home; then the name of the policy." There are also "Vital Doc's" folders set up for everyone in my family - for things like insurance cards, SS cards, Copies of passports, Driver's Licenses, etc...

At work - those folders can be something like "Client Name" - "Project Name/Number" - "Project Component" OR "Internal Department" - "Department Topic" - "Department Report" or "Department Individual."

I then have some hanigng pendaflex dividers (cut in half) with nothing but "A," "B" etc.. on them, to form a quick "visual index" for the files.

Sure enough - as David (or someone else) said - you open the file drawer; and the consistent placement of the labels, consistent size & shape of the files DO create a three-dimensional "index" or "Table of Contents" for what is in the drawer.

I don't use a separate document to keep track of what's there. The drawers themselves do it.

For those with even more files, and who may be "Database-Phobic" instead of Access; why not just good old "Excel?" There is not that much data that we are trying to organize, and Excel is just as capable of sorting by topic, drawer, etc....just by clicking on a column heading. The benefit to Excel is that you can "strap it to your waist" using your Palm and "Documents to Go." If you've got A LOT of files - just make each letter of the alphabet it's own spreadsheet in Excel. You can then search the entire workbook, or just individual sheets if you need to.

For me, I keep going back to David's yardstick about having "as many buckets" as you need - but "no more." I try to keep my system as "intellectually clutter free" as possible, and for me "simple is powerful." Sometimes I surprise myself with how WELL the basics do work. Its usualy a surprise because I'm not putting my focus into thinking about the system. It just "is."