The one thing that we all have to have (or start to consider having) is a digital filing system. There is simply too much data being flung around not to be able to have some sort of system to manage it all. In order to manage it, there are a few things that I might suggest which will make the management of such a task a lot easier.
1) Start with a plan – I can’t emphasize how important, in either a professional or personal sense, it is to have a plan or layout of how you want your filing system to look. If you have a plan then you can know exactly what it is you are trying to accomplish, what you want to keep and where it all goes (and more importantly where it went when you’re looking for it later). Without a plan for your filing system, you will inevitably get stuck in a situation where you will either not know where a particular document went when you filed it, or you will have mislabeled a file which would make it impossible to find later. This also including allowing for time for scanning and uploading of documents at regular times so that you can keep your system up to date. Personally, I try to scan andy documents that I have to my system about once a week.
2) Start with a Go Forward Basis – If you’re looking at receipts and bills from 10 years ago wondering whether or not you should be keeping them, for the moment, don’t worry about it. Once you have a plan you should start scanning your documents on a “go forward” basis. Anything from last year doesn’t matter until the documents from this year have their place. Once you have spent some time with the system you have planned out and you’ve worked out the kinks, you will easily be able to go back and scan and file the documents from days gone by. Not only that, but you will be able to maintain the filing system for the documents that you will be adding that are coming in the future.
3) Use a cloud System – For those of you who have read this blog for a while, you know that I am a huge proponent of using Cloud-based systems. This is because I use them both in my professional and personal life, but also because I trust them. Cloud systems (Like OneDrive, DropBox and iCloud) relieve the strain from your hard drive and make your machine work faster. It also makes it so that you don’t have to rely on one terminal to access your files.
4) Use a file naming convention – One of the only downsides of filing digitally is that once the document is scanned you can’t tell exactly what it is until you open it. That is of course unless you have a properly set up naming convention. if you’re setting up a personal filing system then figuring out a naming convention is fairly easy, as you are the only one who has to follow it. If you are setting up a filing system for a group of people or company it would be HIGHLY advisable to set up a group of terms for people to use. Putting up something somewhere in your filing system about what to call different types of files is advisable if there is more than one person scanning and/or uploading files to your system.
5) Stick to your system – This is the tricky part of any filing system. For sure anyone setting up their filing system sets out with good intentions, the problem lies in sticking to the system and schedule that you set out for yourself. In the sense of a personal system for sure Life can get in the way of doing things that you want to get done, but if you treat scanning and uploading to your filing system like taking out the garbage or changing light bulbs or doing the dishes then it becomes apart of the routine. once it becomes part of the routine then it will become habitual and then you won’t even have to think about doing it. it will just be apart of what you do. In a professional sense sticking to your system your biggest challenge will be the other people in your organization. if you have a well thought out system that is logical then there should be little room for error.
if you are starting your filing system from scratch and you have no documents to be imported then that’s great, you can build your filing system as you go. Most of us, when transitioning from one system to another have files that we will have to either import or Scan and upload to the filing system we’ve built. In the case where you have historical data don’t focus on what files you are holding from three years ago, focus on the relevant files you have today. Using this go forward method means that you can develop your system as you go along, and once you have your pattern down applying it to historical files will be much simpler.
Do you have a Digital filing system set up? How did you get started?
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