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The power of project binders
Q: I am always shuffling papers for multiple projects and have tried boxes, file cabinets, colored file folders in a divider on desk, and nothing seems to keep the papers organized efficiently. Also, the myriad of notes in paper clips, post–its, cut–outs, are here in a pile under my monitor. HOW to organize these?
A: Organizing products will help you organize your papers, but you have to be sure you're using the best system — so that you're helping those products to help you.
Just like an oven won't cook your food properly without you turning the dial to the right temperature, using the proper baking pan, covering what you're cooking correctly, etc., your project filing system won't work unless you follow a tried–and–true system for keeping your papers organized.
You might plan on working on five projects in a day, but you can only work on one thing at any one moment. This means that the only project out of your system at any one time should be the one project you're working on right now. As you stop working on any particular project, all papers related to that project should immediately be filed back into your filing system BEFORE you pull papers out for another project.
One of my favorite systems for keeping multiple projects organized is a project binder. Simply get yourself a 2" binder, and insert 10, three–hole punched pocket folders inside your binder. Get yourself a package of removable file folder labels. Stick a file folder label on each of the file folders and write your project name down on each label. You now have one consistent place to keep all of your ongoing projects.
Once a particular project is finished, all of the papers in that pocket folder can be moved into your filing cabinet for future reference. Finally, just unpeel the old label, and apply a new, blank label to be used for your next project.
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