Invest in good quality cabinets to store your documents. Solid cabinets will not only look attractive but their shelves will not sag at the sheer weight of the files. Colour coding your files is a great way to categorise your filing and inject some excitement to your paper retrieval.[  PHOTO  ; COURTESY]

Kenya: The more papers you have, the harder is it to retrieve them and I dare say that there is nothing as unattractive as a heap of papers waiting to be sorted.

But sorting them out need not make you bored to tears. All you need to do is find an easy filing system that works for you.

Keep it simple

The idea is to keep it simple enough so that it does not require rocket science to file your papers.

If you are the only one able to successfully file, chances are that the system is too complex and it will encourage procrastination.

Find a method that is easy enough to delegate to another and you will soon have all your papers filed away.

 Be colourful

Colour coding your files is a great way to categorise and inject some excitement into your paperwork. At the very least, the colour may wake you up should you start falling asleep with boredom while you are filing.

Buying a good solid filing cabinet may cost you an arm and a leg initially but it is worth it. Solid cabinets will not only look attractive but the inner shelves will not sag under the weight of the files.

The last thing you want is for your files to look like an outdated government office where documents are constantly missing. Pending filing need not be an eyesore.

Find a cabinet with coloured file labels in various categories such as health, school reports, utilities, motor vehicle, and bank statements. The colour codes will make it easy to categorise the respective papers into their slots, making documents easily retrievable even if they are not filed.

Reduce the paperwork

In this digitised era, you really must reduce the amount of paper in your space so that you have less filing to do.

Purpose to only keep the hard copies of legal documents such as title deeds, passports, birth and marriage certificates, important receipts and waranties. Keep a scanned soft copy as back-up.

Request suppliers to send you e-statements, e-magazines and e-books to reduce your need for paper management, After all, there is more to life than paper sorting.

Safes

Investing in a domestic fireproof safe is a good idea to keep your valuable documents such as log books and title deeds protected from fire hazards and away from “prying eyes”

If you shop around, you could find a domestic safe in pleasant colour hues that blend in with the rest of the room.

Accessorise

To soften the look of cabinetry, consider having open shelves to keep personal accessory items like family photographs, flower vases and miniature golf clubs, which you can clearly view as all your paperwork will be neatly tucked away.

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By David Njaaga 31 mins ago
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