Anyone that I’ve ever worked with in their office knows that I love project folders. I’ve had many clients say “well, I don’t have any projects”. Oh yes, you do. Everyone has projects – you just call them by a different name. It can be an event you are helping with like a charity auction or school fundraiser; it can be a luncheon or kids birthday party; it can be getting your taxes together; it can be remodeling your bathroom. Whatever. It’s a project. So the best way to keep all of the papers together that inevitably end up scattered around is to corral them in a project folder.
My favorite one is by Pendaflex. These are called Pilesmart Quickview Jackets. They come 6 in a package in 3 colors per package. The best thing about these is that you can color coordinate your projects, and label them at the bottom. The whole body of the jacket is clear so you can see what is inside. I usually get them at Staples (Office Depot isn’t carrying them anymore for some reason).
I’m working on some organizing seminars and some staging seminars. I’ve got a folder for each, in yellow. All of my classes and teaching stuff goes in yellow.
Client projects go in blue, office things like monthly bookkeeping goes in red. And so on. These are the folders I keep on my desk and can stuff them in my bag when I go out to a meeting or a coffee shop to do some “thinking”. Everything I need is together in the folder. Not to be confused with papers you are finished with and need to be filed in a file drawer. These are completely different. These papers are ACTIVE. Things you are working on and are in progress – things you need to get your paws on quickly.
The main thing I tell my clients is to label a project folder, and put everything in it. Then when you are ready to work on that “project”, it’s all there.
It doesn’t have to be these folders – they just work for me. The most important part is that you can find what you need when you need it.
