Keep a stack of fresh, new, third-cut, 2-ply top file folders within reach from where you sit. Have your labeler there as well.

Purge your files once a year. That keeps them from being stale and you from feeling like it’s a black hole you’re putting things into. It gives you the freedom to keep anything you think you might want or need later.

Pendaflex (those files that hang from wire frames) are much less efficient for rapid personal general filing than freestanding files held upright by the

metal sliding support in the back of the drawers of most good front-opening filing cabinets. There are only a few people who need to hang on to thick manuals and other materials that make the wide hanging files useful.

Unfortunately most desk file drawers are built for Pendaflex hangers, and many companies have issued side-opening Pendaflex filing cabinets as standard office furnishings.

If you have to use Pendaflex hanging files, put only one file inside each hanger and label the inserted file instead of the hanging file. This makes it much easier to see and find the files, and allows an alpha system to work much easier without fighting with overstuffed hangers. It also allows you to take the file into meetings, keep it temporarily on your desk for work in progress, and generally handle it more easily.

Label your files with a labeler. I’ve never seen an exception—anyone who has taken my advice and printed their file labels with a labeler has stuck with it, and seriously upgraded their general reference system. I don’t know why it works. I just know it works. Labelers are not cheap (expect to pay $100) but typeset labels just change the nature of files, way for the better.

Brother labelers seem to be the best and easiest to use. Frankly, you don’t need anything but the most basic functionality—I recommend the least expensive

model that sits on the desk (much easier to use than the handheld ones.) At current writing, the best labeler is the Brother PT-310 (about $80 at Staples). Get the AC adapter for it (it just comes initially with batteries.) Get extra black on white tape cassettes—they are the easiest to read, and you can re-use labels over each other. A few other good models are the PT-15 and the PT-18R.

Never let your file drawers get more than 3/4 full. Nothing creates resistance to filing worse than overstuffed file drawers. They should always remain comfortably loose enough to get files and materials in and out with ease.

Be prepared to need more filing space. If you maintain full cabinets,
and discover how easy the above system is in organizing all kinds of potentially useful information, you will likely need more room for your files. Keep four file drawers for your personal general reference files.