If you have ever wondered why some paper filing systems are so expensive, the answer might be in how they are used, or rather hard to maintain. The more times that you have to go outside of a system to accomplish the task it is meant to handle, the more you increase its cost. The more additional items that you have to buy to properly use a system, the more expensive it becomes. And, the longer that it takes to train your employees or your family members to use a system, then the more it costs in terms of your valuable time and your money.
Additional items must be bought for some organizational systems to work. This can include a scanner, which is used to create either a digital file backup or to get rid of the physical paper file attempting to go paperless. Some people already have a scanner, but not everyone does. If you have to buy such an item, would you still be saving money by using it? If everything is put on the same disc, what happens to your filing system if that disc is lost, stolen or destroyed? Or worse, becomes obsolete – remember floppy discs? In addition, how do you search for a needed file on a CD or backup?
What if you have a system that is meant to organize more than just papers? What if you have books or CDs or DVDs or items in storage containers or other physical items that need to be documented? If you have to implement a secondary system for the non-paper items, then the cost of that first system will go higher by default. The right filing system software can be used to organize and maintain items beyond just papers…basically anything that you can put a number onto can be indexed.
So how do you index items other than paper? Simply index your books, CDs, DVD’s, computer software, items in storage containers, etc., then print out labels from Paper Tiger to affix onto each item. Actually with Paper Tiger, you can print out the numbered labels first, affix to the item, then index each item to match the relating item number. For CDs, DVD’s, and computer software, you can number the CD itself or the edge of the jewel case or storage sleeve. For books, simply put the item number on the spine. For storage containers, put the number on the end of the container that will face outward.
See our Not Just For Filing Papers webpage for other great ideas.
Finally, you also have to consider the value of your time when you are starting an organizational system. Organization, by its very definition, should mean that things are in the right place and they are easy to find. That should free up some of your time, not bog it down even further.
Experts estimate that people spend 150 hours per year looking for lost information in any office environment. Being able to cross-reference your files and find them with a click of a computer mouse with a simple Google-like search in the database is like paying yourself because you are saving time.
Remember, in business and in your family life, your time is very valuable and precious. You can make more money another day. You can sign a new document or mail out a letter or whatever else you need to do but you absolutely cannot make more time.
Implementing Paper Tiger Filing System Software that’s not just for document management will provide you with an organizational system tool that you will wonder what you ever did without! Get organized with a smart filing system that will help you stop wasting time and start finding what you need, when you need it!
