5 Paperwork Filing Tips from a Professional Organiser

If you have piles of paperwork around your home and don’t have a filing system then this may be the solution for you! Professional organiser Vicky Silverthorn has been using the MultiDrawer to organise her clients’ homes for over ten years. Vicky talks us through the simple yet effective process…

1. Gather

Gather all of the paperwork from around your home and clear a space on the floor or your dining table (you may need both depending on how much paperwork you have)!

Tools needed:

Recycling bags
A bag for shredding
Post-it notes
A marker pen
Coloured A4 thumb cut files

2. Start sorting

Choose your first small pile and go through it piece by piece, glancing at it and making a quick decision on what it is. Lay it out in front of you neatly, putting it into a relevant category as you go. Give simple labels to these categories with post-it notes e.g. ‘BILLS’, ‘CAR’, ‘HEALTH’ rather than having more specific piles. Subcategories can be made later if needed.

3. Categorise

Keep adding to your piles and creating new ones as you go – there may be many. Anything you are unsure about, put in a miscellaneous pile.

Anything that needs actioning can go in a pile labelled ‘ACTION’.

4. Declutter

Once you have been through all the piles you should be left with everything in categories nice and neatly in front of you.

Now go through each one and get rid of anything you no longer need (shredding, recycling etc). If you’re unsure on how long you need to keep something, head to www.moneysavingexpert.com for advice.

If you have papers that you think you probably won’t need but feel hesitant to throw away, then they should go into a separate pile called ‘ARCHIVE’. These can be put into a specific storage box, labelled clearly with the contents and stored away from your daily paperwork. It’s not needed in your every day living space.

5. Label

Create your drawer titles from looking at the piles you are left with. Collate your categories as much as possible as this keeps the method of filing extremely simple e.g. ‘Bills’ rather than ‘Gas’, ‘Electric’, ‘Water’ etc…

If you want anything to stand out within the drawers because it’s an important piece of paperwork then put it in one of the coloured A4 files.

Each time a new piece of post comes in, it will go in the top of the correct drawer and folder, meaning the newest piece will always be at the top!

Ensure your labels are neat and clear.

Choose a MultiDrawer for your home paperwork from 12 stylish colours.