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Spring into an Organized and Clutter Free Home Office (Part 3)

Copyright Cheryl C. Malandrinos - All Rights Reserved.

 

In previous articles we’ve discussed the importance of purging what you no longer need. This is crucial when setting up your filing system.

What kind of filing system do you have? Is it organized? Can you easily find what you’re looking for?

Do you even have a filing system or is your home office cluttered with pieces of paper from various projects? We covered uncluttering your office in Part 1 of this series, so I sure hope not.

There is no magical filing system that works for every writer. Some writers have filing cabinets, others, plastic boxes with lids, and still others, accordion files. The options are as varied as writing styles.

But there is only one place to start.

The first step in setting up your filing system is deciding what you need to have close by, what could be stored elsewhere, and what—if anything—can be discarded.

Anything that helps you in your day to day operations: market news, writing related articles, and research for current projects, needs to be close by. Thankfully, the Internet has made a lot of this a paperless portion of a writer’s life.

We’ll discuss creating an electronic filing system later, but for now, let’s concentrate on those nasty pieces of paper that are searching for a home.

Depending upon what you’re writing—articles or manuscripts—there could be anywhere from a few pieces of paper up to hundreds. My filing cabinet is set up to accommodate one hanging file folder for each project. Within each folder, are several manila folders that are broken down by topic.

For instance, when I began research on the parents of a missing lifeguard who became activists for legislation requiring all convicted felons in Massachusetts to submit DNA samples to a state database, my files looked like this:

* Disappearance

* Search efforts

* Evidence

* Announcements of the anniversaries that passed until they discovered the remains and how they were celebrated

* Organizations the parents founded as a result of their daughter’s disappearance

* Activism

This allowed me to easily check and re-check the facts from this case while I was drafting my article.

Research for your current projects should be towards the front of the filing cabinet, and research for future projects—in order of when you’ll be working on them—should follow.

Market news is vital to every writer, but what I found is that I would rarely have time to read my trade journals and by the time I got to them, the market news was often no longer useful.

So, I began cutting out markets that interested me and placing them in a manila folder. Then I tucked them into a hanging file folder in the top drawer of my filing cabinet. I did the same thing with writing related articles. Not only are these items kept in a place where I can easily access them; they are now portable. When I have a doctor’s appointment I can remove the manila folders and take them with me, so I actually get a chance to read them.

Anything I don’t use on a regular basis, but that I still need, lives in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet. This includes paid invoices, mailings from vendors offering writing services, extra business stationery, and a handful of empty file folders that I’ll use when I begin research on a new project.

The Internet has made many things easier for writers: researching, finding new markets, and learning the craft.

An electronic filing system generally consists of three components: Internet favorites, personal folders in email, and files stored on your PC. Using a set up similar to paper files, use folders and subfolders to create a system that allows you to easily find what you’re looking for.

The most important thing to remember with an electronic filing system, is be sure to back up your data on a daily, or at least, weekly basis. I cannot count the number of times I have heard the painful cries of a writer friend telling me she’s lost everything.

We’ve come to the end of our spring clean up series. You now have the tools to organize and unclutter your home office.

Use them and make 2008 your most productive year yet!

 

About the Author: Cheryl C. Malandrinos is a freelancer who specializes in time management tips for writers.  She has also written articles on everyday life in the 1800’s, gardening, parenting, and women’s health issues. Cheryl is also a virtual book tour coordinator for Pump Up Your Book Promotion. You can find out more about Cheryl’s by visiting her website at

http://ccmalandrinos.tripod.com/

 

   
 
 

         Last updated: June 09, 2008