I posted this a long time ago when there was a discussion about file cabinets... My solution: I keep a .txt file with each of the file folders' title. As I add new folders, I can insert them in the text file in alpha order, put "tags" to each folder title and quickly search my cabinet by running a search and find on the text file. I print the text file and write new folders on it until it gets messy and update it, usually once a month. Works pretty well for me.

blackbrrrd

I don't need a table of contents because the labels on my folders are easy to read and the folders themselves are grouped by topic for quick retrieval.

It do it thusly: Each folder has its label alligned in the center, which makes them easy to scan. The labels for topics, which are affixed to empty folders, are red and alligned left to stand out.

My topics are: GETTING AROUND (folders for differenty cities or regions with maps, etc.), EMPLOYMENT (folders for current employers, professional associations, etc.), HEALTH (folders for test results, health insurance bills, etc.), OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS (folders for educational documents such as transcripts, legal proceedings, etc.), AUTO (folders for each car, and a folder for insurance), FINANCIAL (folders for credit cards, bank statements, etc.), UTILTIES (folders for internet, gas bills, etc.), MEMORIES (folders for letters from loved ones, artwork, loose journal entries, etc.), TECHNICAL REFERENCE (mainly just a large folder for documents to things I own), and INTERESTS (folders for printed materials related to my different interests).

Can you tell I'm a librarian :) Table of contents make sense for books, because books have numbered pages, and no convenient tabs to mark the chapters. But for folders... why?

chaws

Skip this method, it is time consuming and painful. Instead, just invest in a scanner and shredder.

Scan them, tag them quickly, and shred them. Takes a couple of minutes every week and takes no space. If you are willing to, you can OCR them and send them to a gmail account to be searchable and backed-up.

akatsuki

@envador: Double-think when you'll NEED to look at February 2007's power bill. Or credit card statement. Mistakes happen. The company you paid lost the payment and didn't credit you properly. Companies make you jump through hoops to get account history earlier than a year ago.

Use on-line account access to get PDF versions of your statements and store them and back them up.

As for Table-of-contents, I use a searchable text file for my hard-copy paper filing cabinet. Making easy-to-read folders solves the problem for the most part, but occasionally you get the document that isn't easily categorizable, so adding an entry in a text file describing the document and the folder it's located in will help make it findable.

Posco Grubb

I say "No" to the filing cabinet TOC idea. Just make sure you have your folders labeled and grouped appropriately. Also, take a moment to really think if something is worth filing. Credit card statements, bank statements, utility bills -- when was the last time you actually NEEDED to look at February 2007's power bill? And many of my monthly service providers have online history anyhow. Once you reduce the number of items you keep, the task of managing your filing cabinet is made much easier!

As for the filing cabinet alternative, scanning and shredding is a good idea, but all I have is a flatbed scanner (circa 2002) which ends up taking more time to scan than to stuff in a file.

Can anyone recommend a good self-feed scanner + 1-touch scanner application? And do those scanners handle previously-folded, non-8x11" pages well? (like multi-page bills)

envador

I'm sure any burglar would love a nice TOC to see if there is anything worth stealing in your files.

Duane

@akatsuki: I'm impressed. Too much paper around here. I just might try that, especially since I already own a shredder and a scanner.

vered

envador, I have a little Canon desktop vertical scanner - model DR2050C - here at work, I use it to scan via an FTP site to my outsourced book-keeping firm. All that goes through it are bills, both single and double sided, and it works really well.

It took some tweaking to get working on Vista, but once I had updated the drivers it was fine. It is much quicker than a flat bed scanner.

I guess it is probably too expensive for home use, but it does work really well.

suecsi

I think you are all missing the point. The real trick to filing is to put a fabulous 1970s rooster-clad baking dish on top of your file cabinet.

mbacon

@suecsi: That scanner looks like exactly what I need, but your right, it's way too expensive to justify at home.

biggunks

@Posco Grubb: Edison Electric would never send me a letter today saying I missed February 2007's payment. They'd have done that by March 2007. Even so, you'd look at your bank history to confirm if they cashed your check (or if your e-payment went through).

A good compromise, which is something that just kind of happens in our home, is to keep a pile of the most recent bills somewhere on a writing table. When the newest most-recent bill comes, and something looks fishy, then you can refer to last month's. If everything looks ok, you shred last month's and put this month's bill in the pile. For you neat freaks, I suppose it could be a nice clean folder of "current bills" that you file somewhere.

@biggunks: I agree. A scanner like that would be awesome if I could get one that fits a home-office budget.

envador

A TOC for your file drawer seems like a TERRIBLE idea, because it makes it hard to add new files. Anyone who's read GTD knows you need to be able to create a new file (folder) quickly and easily.

Having to update a TOC each time you make a new file makes this process far more cumbersome. You're filing paper - you shouldn't have to get on the computer and print a new TOC. That's why you have a "to file" pile in the first place - because you've made filing too hard to just do on the spot.

But it's also worth asking what really needs to be filed, and what just needs to be boxed and stored.

@envador that's pretty close to what I do. All my bills (after I've torn off the stub and paid them) and other mail worth saving go in a pile, and this pile goes into a cardboard box.

I've been doing this since 2005 and am only on my 2nd box. Total time spent filing, labeling, etc: zero.

On three or four occasions, I've needed an old credit card statement or utility bill. Since the newest stuff gets thrown on top, I just dig down until I find what I need. I usually need something from the last month or two, so it's near the top. Most bills come on colored letterhead, and everything is dated, so it's easy to find what I need. It's never taken more than a minute or two. This is easily 1/10th the time I would have spent filing.

For important documents such as warranties, birth certificates, transcripts, I keep a simple A-Z file. Everything fits in one drawer. If it grows beyond that, I'll just move part of the alphabet to another drawer - no TOC needed. I can add files whenever I want without having to update a TOC.

At work, I invested in an awesome Brother MFC-9840CDW (just over $800, and impractically large for an apartment), which is a sheet-fed and flatbed, double-sided scanner and color duplexing laser printer. Works with Win and Mac over wifi, USB, or Ethernet. This has made it easy to get rid of a lot of paper, and I file the rest GTD-style in my alpha drawer.

Geektronica

I think that if you want to go the TOC route for your folders, a file on a well secured computer would be the best option. It may be inconvenient if you are looking for a file when your computer is off, but many people have their computer on while in their office so the inconvenience would be negligible.

seancron