In today’s fast-moving world and society it is more important than ever to keep your personal and private documents safe. Whether these are documents concerning your home life, or your work life, security and safety are paramount, as is organization. If documents are not organized in such a way that they are easy to access, then what happens when you need an urgent document quickly – where do you go. Time is money, and spending, or wasting time and energy trying to find documents will cost you money and leave you feeling very frustrated.

Why Organization Matters

If you want to be successful, efficient, and productive then you need to be organized. You will not achieve your goals and ambitions if you are unorganized and all over the place. Getting everything orderly and filed away will keep it safe and tidy, ensuring that you never lose any important or key documents. Being able to readily access documents is an important consideration when organizing your filing system, whether you are using a traditional paper-based system or you are taking advantage of an online system such as Contracthound, which allows you to easily and quickly search and sift through documents and files. As such, it is advantageous, especially if you want to send documents via platforms or emails, as they are ready and waiting to be used.

Should I Store my Documents Online

Yes, absolutely – why not. If you can get rid of some of the clutter around your home, office or workspace then why wouldn’t you? Online storage can be just as safe and secure as offline storage, and it certainly doesn’t take up as much space. Online document storage allows you to store more than just documents, it allows you to organize contacts, and set up calendar reminders and dates, meaning you can work with maximum efficiency.

How do you get Organized and Where do you Start

Before trying to organize your documents you need to sort through them first and establish what you need to keep and what you don’t need to keep. Holding on to old documents may be a waste of your time. So, set aside a day or two to go through your paperwork and see what you actually need to keep. You may be surprised to find out that you don’t need to keep hold of half as much stuff as you previously thought. Old statements that you have been harboring can go after a few years, so, don’t hold onto bank statements that are over 10 years old.

Top Tips for Staying Organized

Getting organized is one thing, but it can feel overwhelming staying organized as well. However, if you break things down into more manageable chunks you will find it easier to stay on top of all of your paperwork. For example, spend 5-10 minutes each day sorting out your files and documents, and then once a week have a good sort through. Working through your paperwork a bit at a time ensures that you will not dread getting to the end of the week and having a big sort out on your hands.

Keep It Simple

Filing and organizing your documents does not have to be complex and over-complicated so don’t make it any more perplexing than it needs to be. Try to keep the number of folders and subfolders you use to a minimum to ensure that you do not end up confusing yourself, or others if you are using a shared document system. Try to organize files in date and alphabetical order, this way you will be able to easily access the documents and records you need. If you stick with an old-fashioned paper-based system you will need to be a lot tougher about what you keep and how you store it. You cannot try and keep everything from the last 10 plus years with a paper-based system so you have to be a bit brutal and only focus on what you need and use. If on the other hand, you end up using an online document platform or service then you will not face this problem, you will most likely not run out of space, just ensure that you use easy to remember titles for documents and folders as this stops them from getting lost.

Remember that organizing your documents and files is essential no matter how you choose to do it and the sooner you tackle the pile of mounting documents on your office desk the easier it will get overtime.