Over the years of working in homes and offices with clients I’ve realized we tend to over complicate our filing system. Sometimes making the system so complex that we can’t maintain it and we end up with a pile of papers to be filed and a filing cabinet too full of outdated papers to file anything else in the drawer.

Sound familiar?

Make filing easy with this three-part file system:

File type #1 Active
These are the files you are currently working with, such as client files. These are the ones you need to access daily, weekly or monthly. These files belong in a cabinet near your desk; preferably so close you don’t even have to get out of your chair.

Short on space? Try a rolling file rack that you can wheel up to your desk to access during the workday and roll away at the end of the day.

File Type #2 Research
These are the files where you store ideas, clippings, professional articles, journals and other types of reference materials.

These need to be handy but not necessarily right next to your desk.

File Type #3 Archive
These are the files that you need to keep for backup purposes like taxes or past clients. Since you won’t need to have access to these all that often these files can be boxed up, clearly labeled and stored away.

A filing cabinet is not the best place for these since they’ll become outdated within months and you’ll have to weed the cabinet.

Working just a few minutes a day to organize these key files means in no time at all you’ll be able to find what you need when you need it and those “to be filed” piles will disappear!

And all I can say is it’s about time we had a simple system for all those papers!

By Jamie Novak

 
We all know that following your passion is a messy business.  Talent and skill means creating clutter. But having clutter and showing it to the world are two very different things.  Having it happens…showing it shouldn’t.

It’s about time to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. Trouble is with just about two weeks left, it is really getting too late to do everything you wanted.

Sure, it would be nice to clean and organize before guests arrive— file the bills, clear the dining room table, clean the fridge; unbury the desktop, and, yeah, sort that mountain of magazines and newspapers that you were going to use as research for something.

The astounding truth is 82% of us have at least one room we close the door to before guests arrive.

When there is absolutely no time left to clear the clutter, put on your best PR smile and disguise the mess.

Here are the best hints to hide it in plain sight (no kidding)!

1.       Put a bow on it!
If you have a stack of clutter, such as say this pile of to-read item and some papers, mail and bills…

Take a box and push the flaps inward

Then wrap the box

Slip the box over the clutter

Just about anything looks better with a bow on it, even your clutter. Note to self: DO NOT add a to/from tag, no one wants to be gifted your water bill.

 2.  Dim the lights!

Swap out your bright white front walkway light with holiday colored bulbs like blue, red, or even green. No one will even notice that you forgot to clean the messy walkway or the glass on the storm door.

 3.  Cover it! 
Do you have miscellaneous clutter like this on your kitchen island?

If so grab a holiday themed bowl.

Place all the stuff in the bowl.

And promptly cover with festive ornaments. No one will be the wiser!

 4.  Wrap it!

Fridge shelves get messy, that’s life. Don’t let guests see the mess.

Simply line shelves with decorative paper to disguise the mess.

 5.  Stack it!

Scoop and dump the mess into a few boxes. Then promptly drape a floorlength tablecloth over the whole stack. Add a vase, photo frame or tray with holiday decorations ontop and no one will catch onto your clever trick!   

What NOT to do:  

1. Do not hide clutter in the oven. In a spare second shower? Sure. Just not the oven, or the dryer for that matter.
2. Do not stash the mess in the trunk of your car right before going to pick up out of town guests (and their lugggage.)
3. Do not push more stuff into the already over crowded front hall closet, chances are guests will arrive with coats that need to be hung up.

Try these five clever clutter-concealing tricks. Then sit back and relax, it’s about time you had time to enjoy the holiday with friends and family (after all you’re the only one that will know you have clutter wrapped under the tree.)

Jamie Novak writes the It’s About Time column for www.PRTherapy.com