More and more people are keeping less paper each year, but we still have paper files that are important to keep in hard copy format. Not only is it important to keep these paper files, but just as important is the ability to retrieve them when you need them.
Below is a list of documents that we all most likely have somewhere in your home or office, (some more applicable than others), but can we find them when we need them? And usually when we need them, we need to find them quickly. It can be very stressful when these items can’t be found easily. There may be others, but this will get you started in ‘getting it together’.
Some of these items you may want to keep in a safe deposit box, so decide which items those will be. Make a copy for your file at home, and the original can then be placed in the safe deposit box or other designated safe place. Write a note on the copy or on a sticky note to attach that will remind you where the original is located. In the event of an emergency where you’re incapacitated, make sure the appropriate family members know where to find the key to the safety deposit box, with a directive giving them access in such case.
For all other documents, index them into Paper Tiger. The Location name in your Paper Tiger database might be “Family Docs”. You can file them in any order you wish, then type the Item Names and keywords into your Paper Tiger database. The Item Number in the database will coincide with the hanging file folder number in your desk or cabinet drawer.
Just a quick story about myself to show you how easy it can be to allow important documents to get scattered. Before I started using Paper Tiger, I thought I was reasonably organized at home. My husband and I kept titles and financial documents in our desk drawer. All other documents were kept in a file cabinet. When we moved, the big desk we used in our previous home was placed in the basement office where my husband would now work. Those same documents were still there, but now some of the newer important documents found a new home in a file box that was more convenient for me to file into upstairs. When I needed to find a car title, I had to think, ‘is it still in the desk downstairs?’ or ‘did I put it in the file box?’ Needless to say, getting all those important documents together, and documented into Paper Tiger’s database is now a priority. Instead of a 10 minute exercise of going through the upstairs file box, then downstairs to search in the desk drawer, I can now conduct a quick search in Paper Tiger and be able to put my finger on it in about 5 seconds!
Another advantage of indexing your files into Paper Tiger is that you don’t have to be the only one that knows where everything is. According to AARP article ‘Kids and Your Money’, Jane Bryant Quinn says “You don’t want your family scrambling to find documents during an emergency. Help by putting these items in a safe place where loved ones can find them.”
Everything in the above checklist found in that AARP article can be indexed into Paper Tiger. Anyone that you give access to your Paper Tiger database will be able to retrieve what is needed in seconds. Finding files that you’ve indexed into Paper Tiger will no longer be a scramble to search all over your home or office, but will be as easy as typing in a search keyword in Paper Tiger’s search box, and the results will lead you directly to the file where it is stored.
See this blog article to learn how to Customize Your Filing System with Paper Tiger’s Indexing Method. Not only will your important documents be all together in one place, but you’ll be organized so you can find everything quickly and easily.
Tags: Declutter, document management software, document management system, filing system software, get organized, paper filing systems, Paper Tiger "finding" filing system, what to do with paper files
