Extreme makeover, filing cabinet edition

by Gina Trapani

One of the main clutter culprits in my home office is the “To File” pile - you know, that stack of paperwork that’s supposed to go into the file drawer at one point or another. Usually this pile spontaneously occurs right on top of the filing cabinet, which is pretty silly. I mean, instead of adding stuff to the pile, why wouldn’t I just file it? Turns out the sad state of my messy, overflowing filing cabinet is the reason for my blockage.

Sound familiar? Today we’re going to embark on a file drawer makeover for the overstuffed, under labelled filing system and turn it into a neat, breezy and dare I say pleasurable place to organize your important paperworkPleasurable place to organize your important paperwork.

Give your paperwork a spacious place to live.

Let’s face it: we’re not in college anymore. That plastic file box or enormous binder held shut with a rubber band just ain’t going to cut it. You’ve got personal, financial, insurance, car, clients, tax and medical paperwork to track. If you’ve been using an undersized filing cabinet that just doesn’t have enough room to accommodate your stuff - or no filing cabinet at all - invest in a spacious, well designed file drawer or cabinet that leaves you room to spare. Lots of room. In fact, Getting Things Done author David Allen says your file drawer should be only three-quarters full. From page 99 of the GTD book:

I know almost no one who doesn’t have overstuffed file drawers. If you value your cuticles, and if you want to get rid of your unconscious resistance to filing, then you must keep the drawers loose enough that you can insert and retrieve files without effort.

If you’re out to buy a new filing cabinet, Allen says you shouldn’t skimp on quality.

Nothing is worse than trying to open a heavy file drawer and hearing that awful screech! that happens when you wrestle with the roller bearings on one of those $29.95 “special sale” cabinets. You really need a file cabinet whose drawer, even when it’s three-quarters full, will glide open and click shut with the smoothness and solidity of a door on a German car. I’m not kidding.

He’s not kidding. A tool that’s easy and fun to use is a tool you will use.