Find all private documents in one go? For example, the insurance contract, the tax return, the pension notice or master craftsman’s certificate? No? Then it’s time to think about how you can sort your documents, your private documents and papers. Easy and fast. And having fun!
Why sort private documents?
Firstly, because it saves time, search time. Because you always have important papers to hand and it is part of being smart with money to have your private documents structured. Without structure in the papers – how do you want to bring structure to your finances? Impossible.
I love cleaning out our basement. Apart from the spider creatures. And do you know why? Because afterwards I find what I’m looking for again. Then everything has a place again and there is no longer any ballast in my way.
That feels good. Liberating. This feeling of order stays with me for a long time.
Sorting private documents frees you from ballast and saves time
It’s the same when you sort and rearrange personal documents such as certificates, bills for major purchases, employment contracts, birth certificates, insurance contracts, notices, certificates, etc. All of this is recorded in a clear folder structure.
Clarify the paperwork. break up blockages. To reduce. Get rid of the burden of papers that lie somewhere in folders, boxes, plastic shelves or laundry baskets and have long since mutated into “dead papers”. That’s what cleaning up your own documents is all about, says Andrea Caden. she is efficiency trainer for everything organizational in the office and with files.
With the result: By sorting out, reducing stacks and rearranging documents, “dead papers” become documents to work with again. For the bureaucratic side of life.
Andrea Kaden runs the company Zeitgewinn Hamburg and is a specialist in the paperless office.
Simple guide on how to sort private papers
With Andrea Kaden at my side, I cleaned up. Systematically, of course. structured. And I have two simple instructions to imitate written for you.
Part #1 is for you if you already collect your papers in binders. But firstly, there are far too many papers in your files and secondly, you are looking for more than you can find. Part #2 takes you further when using laundry baskets and other containers for personal filing and storage.
You can find the link to both parts at the end of this article.
Because only those who have their private documents well sorted and stored sensibly (!) at home will have the necessary ones Perspective for the good handling of his finances.
Andrea Kaden told me exactly that: how to sort personal papers and documents, and how to reorganize them in a clear and easily accessible way – with clearly laid out, meaningful categories and labels.
Basically, says Kaden:
At home, classic file folders are better than hanging files
Hanging files are good for office management, especially for processes that have not been completed. In the private environment, however, they are unwieldy and bulky. The good, classic file folders, on the other hand, have space on every shelf.
Also: make an effort when sorting and rearranging. Do your best, Andrea Kaden not only encourages her customers, whom she helps organize. But you too, if you want to bring a new overview to your private documents.
They reward themselves with the new order!
Andrea Kaden has experienced that it comes back as powerful energy as we sort and rearrange our paperwork.
Just like cleaning out my basement. That not only feels good – but the positive tidying energy then likes to spread to the rest of the apartment…
Basically, please proceed as follows:
1. Put all folders, baskets, shelves in the middle of a room
2. the documents are sorted in several rounds; Rome was not built within one day either
3. Work from light to heavy, muck out and dispose of
4. File the papers that are rarely needed in the back of the folder
5. The folders are labeled at the end
Important experiences for sorting and organizing papers:
+ Arranging papers alphabetically is nonsense. Why? Because it doesn’t make sense to tack the birth certificate behind the gas supplier’s contract documents, or certificates behind the accident insurance.
Better: Arrange documents thematically
+ In general, far too much is saved. So: Have courage when throwing away!
+ Once the papers have been sorted and systematically filed in folders, everything is easy to maintain.
+ Try to only receive invoices digitally instead of in paper form, such as telephone bills, online sales receipts, etc. It is better to create the appropriate digital folders on your PC or laptop and file the invoices by year and category.
+ There’s only one real retention period you need to remember: 10 years
+ Please keep: Originals of contracts, but only those that are relevant to your current life and, for example, the last two status reports for insurance companies.
+ Please never throw away: important personal documents such as birth certificate, certificate, master craftsman’s certificate, stud book, marriage certificate, diplomas …
+ The reward for cleaning up? They reduce paper stacks by at least half to two-thirds. And find everything again.
N / A? Let’s get started? with a question
Which order type are you?
How have you organized your documents so far? your private. I am only concerned with your documents and documents at home, not with the papers in the office. In order to organize them, you would have to pull out other registers.
Type 1: sort of neat
Are your documents already in file folders or hanging registers? Then all you need is a sensible update. Then please go this way:
#1 – Arrange private documents correctly: clear out, rearrange cleverly and file away
Doesn’t apply to you? Or rather:
Type 2: creative messy
Are you more of the creative organizing type, using laundry baskets, shoeboxes, and other storage as a collection point for writing? It works, but there is a better way:
#2 – Private papers: create order in 7 steps and keep it easy
In both articles you will get answers to these questions, among others:
How to sort papers within folders?
Sort papers, how do I start?
What do I need to sort papers?
Organize papers – throw them away or keep them?
What are important and meaningful categories?
Keep what for how long?
Which private folder structure makes sense?
That seems like a lot. But once you’ve started, it’s done in no time.
Notice: This article will be continuously updated. It was first published in August 2017.