When you spend time filing, you are keeping things in order, and order is something to be kept – not something you do.
A place for everything and everything in its place
What this means in practice is that, if your bits and pieces have a set place, you don’t end up “moving piles” around when you tidy up – a situation many will be familiar with.
If everything has a place, you keep everything in order as you go along and don’t wait until the piles are swaying precariously before taking action.
If everything has a place, you keep on top of things and eliminate the need to tidy up!
Sound appealing? Let’s take a look at what it takes to get organised.
Short or long term filing?
For most people, filing involves metal drawers and suspension files and perhaps a few folders on a shelf.
At our company, which has been developing and thinking filing products for over 40 years, there’s a lot more to filing than that.
At Bantex, we think in terms of short-term filing, long-term filing, filing “on-the-go”, professional filing, private filing, filing of documents and filing of large quantities of documents – e.g. in the accounts department in connection with year-end.
Short-term filing is the papers you work with on a daily basis or several times a week.
In practice, you would use a project folder such as Elba Optimum. Elba Optimum is a folder of good, sturdy quality. Besides being a folder like all the others, Optimum has some clear, innovative functions, which mean that it does more than simply protect your documents. The folder has a printed grey cover, which fades out. The advantage of this is that the folder has a lighter area in the top right-hand corner so you have a glimpse of the document inside and yet the colour allows for discretion, so that the other people at the meeting can’t read “over your shoulder” when the folder is on the table. You can also write on the surface: prioritisation, deadline, title and a brief status of the case. The pen that comes with it also allows for recycling – the text can be deleted, so the folder can be reused time and time again.
Long-term filing is the papers that you work with on a regular basis, but do not need to have right there on your desk.
In professional filing, suspension files are very popular. Suspension files are practical, provide an excellent overview and require neither hole punching nor set paper formats. Some people have them in the drawers of their desks, but many people also have them in large metal cabinets, which provide protection against fire. Some suspension folders can be clipped together to prevent papers from falling between the folders, never to be seen again – the suspension folders have the added function that, when they are turned the other way round, they can be clipped together and popped under your arm if you are going to a meeting out of the office.
If you would rather bring your documents to the meeting in a more traditional cover and still have your papers under control, you can use Elba Clip ’n Go, even for large quantities of paper.
Other innovative products for the storage of papers, e.g. Elba Corner Lock and Elba Hawaii concertina files with corner elastics to hold the papers in place.
Space for everything
If you wish to put an end to the mess and disorder, there are plenty of options for adapting your filing possibilities – you just need to know what those options are. So go and have a look in a well-assorted office supplies or book shop, and you, too, will be ready to get everything in order.
