If you find yourself in a disorganized mess in your day-to-day life, don’t worry—it’s not just you! Everybody finds themselves in over their heads at times, but if you’re in these situations more often than not, it might be time to look into some organization tips. Not only will it help your efficiency at work, but it also helps reduce stress levels, improve your focus, and reinforce security of sensitive documents.
Whether you’re an employee looking for a solution or a business wanting to update their practices for a better work flow, files are the biggest asset and downfall to any workday. Keeping files organized and accessible is important, but can result in mayhem if there is no structure. With the right methods and practices, you can create a file structure that is easy to manage and access! Here are 10 office file organization ideas to cut out your search time by 70%:
1. Cut Out Unnecessary papers
If you find yourself sorting through mountains of papers, it might be time to consider some new office document organization ideas. By cutting out unnecessary papers, you’ll find your office to be much easier to manage. Plus, this will save in office paper costs since on average businesses waste about $200,000 on document issues!
2. Online File Storage
By switching to paperless documents, you will find a whole new world of employee file organization. Online file keeping is easier to manage as you can see more at once with no mess, as long as you stay organized. This is an important skill as 77% of business owners now want the ability to access files remotely.
3. Try Out Some Paper Scanners
To be blunt, you’ll probably never be completely rid of physical documents. A nice to have device is a paper scanner, whether it is handheld or on a printer. These make turning physical documents into digital super easy and also helps you take charge of office file organization at work.
4. File Organizers
When you can’t avoid physical documents, it’s important to have physical file organizers. Whether this is folders, cabinets, or something else, having these labeled and accessible will further expand employees ability to stay organized.
Try to scan these documents and store them on your computer, but if this isn’t possible, having a structure that is easy to manage will reinforce the organization of physical documents.
5. Cloud Drives
You might be wondering, “How else can everybody share important documents if they’re not printed out and available physically?” On average, employees share around 6 documents daily, so document sharing is definitely an important aspect to a business running smoothly.
Cloud drives, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or many more, are a great resource for businesses who are looking for effortless file sharing. Keeping these organized and updated are essential and should be reinforced!
6. Appropriate Naming Structures/Conventions
Having a guideline or set of rules for file naming and folder structure is essential for creating a productive environment for employees. Employees spend an average of 18 minutes looking for a document, which is a huge loss on productivity and work flow!
Creating a structure that is easy to manage and keep organized will greatly increase productivity and your ability to stay focused on the task—instead of getting lost in a mess of files!
7. Read-Only Access For Important Files
Unfortunately, nearly everybody has had one of those heart-dropping moments where you’ve accidentally misplaced, deleted, or destroyed an important document.
For some documents, it’s essential to access but not to edit in any way. For these documents, consider switching to a read-only format to reduce the stress and time lost from having to replace an important document.
8. Color Coding Files
Whether it is online or physical folders, color coding can be a great option for organizing files!
You’ve been taught since elementary school to color code folders for different subjects, so it feels like second nature for a good portion of people to want things to be color organized.
This can also re-emphasize important/sensitive data (such as using red or orange for extremely important documents).
9. Assign Toss Out Dates
Having a toss out day either weekly or monthly will give employees a solid structure for making sure things stay up to date and organized.
Getting rid of old or unneeded documents will increase their ability to stay organized with what is necessary. Having this structure will give employees an expectation to stay on top of their file organization.
10. Give Time For Organization
Whether it’s a designated time per week for organization or a lighter work load, make sure employees know that organization is a priority in the company.
Giving additional time and being involved in the process will help with the organization of the company and keep everyone on the same level.
High work loads and no leadership will lead to disaster with file structure and lost documents, so stay proactive with an approved plan!
In conclusion, these are just 10 of an endless amount of tips and tricks for the art of file organization that can streamline workflow, boost efficiency, and solve many issues in the workplace. Some of these will take trial and error to perfect, but getting started in being organized will improve your workday and the organization of the business as a whole. Office file organization can be very simple or very complex, but trying some or all of these tips will definitely help in the day-to-day work flow of your business!
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