Filing by Most Used

As regular readers of this blog will know, I use a simple method to find my files quickly. This consists of always putting files away on the left-hand end of my shelf of files. The result is that the most recently used files are always found towards the left end of the shelf and the ones which haven’t been used for a long time are towards the right-hand end.

This method has stood me very well over several years now. It greatly speeds up the process of both finding and putting away files. This is in line with the principle that one should avoid as much as possible having no answer to the question “What do I do with this?”

However organising files in this way does have some disadvantages. One is that I keep having to move files along the shelf. This wouldn’t matter so much if “the shelf” was just one long continuous shelf. But in fact it’s four shelves in different places across my office, and so moving files can be quite a laborious business. Another disadvantage is that retrieving files by “last used” is not as efficient as retrieving them by “most used”. Because I use quite a large number of files in any given day, my most used file may move backwards and forwards along the shelves quite a distance. It would be quicker if my most used file were always in the same place.

So how can I achieve the goal of changing to having my files in “most used” order? It occurred to me that putting a mark on a file every time I used it would quickly show which files are most used. The easiest way to count the marks would be to make the marks themselves numbers. In other words write 1 on the file the first time I put it away; then the next time cross out the 1 and put 2. That way it would be easy to put the file back in numerical order. All the most used files would end up on the right and the least used files on the left. Because a file would only move a short distance each time it was used, there would be less moving of files backwards and forwards. So the net result would be that file retrieval would be speeded up and putting files away would also be simpler.

That’s the theory anyway. I’ve armed myself with some sticky labels and am going to see whether it works in practice. The sticky labels will be going on the spines of the files so I can see the numbers clearly at all times. I’ll let you know how I get on.

You may be asking “If you’re going to put the files away in numerical order, why not file by alphabetical order like everyone else does?” The answer is partly that my most used files are still going to be put away very much in the same place each time. But more importantly one of the banes of alphabetical filing is that I have to be able to remember the name of the file. Is the file called “Bank and Credit Card statements” or “Credit Card and Bank Statements”? Did I call it “Bills, Telephone” or “Telephone, Bills”? Alphabetical filing requires more mental effort, and the more mental effort I have to put into working a system, the less likely I am to keep to it.

Update on Thursday, October 2, 2008 at 16:35 by Mark Forster

After trying this method out for a while, I decided that it was much more cumbersome than my previous method. So with a sigh of relief I have abandoned the trial and gone back to filing by “last used”.

Noguchi System Update

A reader has asked whether I am still using the Noguchi filing system. The answer is “Yes”, but only for those documents which don’t fit easily into a conventional filing system. For these I find it a godsend.

Just to illustrate the difference, here are the most recently used file titles in my conventional system (for how I organize that, see File for Success):

• Personal Documents (where I keep my passport, educational certificates, etc)
• Pensions (a hot subject at the moment as I am within four months of my 65th birthday!)
• Wines (always a popular subject!)
• Receipt Vouchers - Volume II (business vouchers)
• Cars (all the documents, repair vouchers etc, for our two cars) 

I wouldn’t dare trust the contents of these files to the Noguchi system - I need them not only to be complete but to be in the right order within the file.

After using the Noguchi system for a bit over a month I have 48 envelopes. It never takes me more than a few seconds to find a document. Here are the most recently used:

• Latest copy of a charity magazine
• A letter from one of my pension providers (needs careful reading and consideration before being filed permanently)
• A proposal from a financial adviser
• Latest parish newsletter
• Personal credit card vouchers for current month
  
• New “Terms and Conditions” for my bank

Basically these are all the type of things which used to lie around because I couldn’t decide which file they should go in, or because I needed to read them in detail before filing them. Now the answer is easy: “Put them in Noguchi”. Result: they don’t lie around any more and can be easily found.

Further articles on Filing 

Noguchi Filing System

A remark today by a reader in my Discussion Forum reminded me of something which had intrigued me in the past but which I had never followed up. This is the Noguchi Filing System. I was intrigued by it because it is in some ways similar to the filing system which I use myself and often recommend, though I developed this before I had heard of Noguchi.

In both systems the idea is that files are put on a shelf rather than in a filing cabinet, and the most recently used file is always replaced at the left end of the shelf so that files are in the order they were last used. This results in much faster retrieval of files because the most used files are always to be found towards the left of the shelf.

Where the systems differ is that I keep papers in fairly conventional subject files, while Noguchi suggests opening a folder (actually a cut-down large envelope) for every document.

I was very interested to know how this would work in practice. It is one of those counter-intuitive systems which can only be judged by trying it out.

So having armed myself with a large number of C4 envelopes, I started filing the Noguchi way this afternoon. And actually my first impression is that it works quite well, especially with the type of document one never quite knows what to do with. 

Looking at my shelf, from the left I now have the following documents each filed in its own envelope with a description written down the right hand edge, where I can see it easily:

• A leaflet giving changes to my bank’s standard tariff
• A pamphlet from my bank giving “important information” about my business account
• A pamphlet giving the Terms & Conditions for my business bank account
• My list of commonly used phone numbers
• A newspaper article about “Discretionary Portfolio Management”
• The latest copy of my Parish Magazine
• The latest weekly “pew sheet” from my church

Since I’ve only just filed these, they are not yet in “last-used” order, but I feel that I am now in control of them and can retrieve them easily. As you will have seen, none of these are the sort of thing which fits easily into a conventional file (which is the reason why they were lying around in the first place!) So far then, a definite improvement.

Concertina Files

A correspondent today has reminded me of the advantages of concertina files. I use one all the time - it’s numbered from 1-31 for the days of the month. It’s the ideal place to file all those pieces of paper which you are going to need on a specific date but don’t fit easily into your filing system. Things like tickets, invitations, seminar programs, directions and so on. No need to work out whether you filed your theatre tickets under “Entertainment”, “Arts” or “Personal Expenses”; just go to the date and there they are.

You can buy concertina files which are tabbed with the months of the year. Personally I don’t bother with this. Whether a piece of paper relates to November 22nd, January 22nd or even November 22nd 2007, it all goes under 22. I don’t find that I have sufficient pieces of paper in each date to make it confusing.

Finding Files

Here’s a little trick which may help you to find more quickly the files which you use all the time. If you have your files arranged by subject or in alphabetical order, you probably find that you have to think quite hard in order to find them. I used to find that quite difficult. First of all I had to remember what the file was called, then find the right place where it should be. I often found it wasn’t where it ought to be but had moved somehow into the wrong place. It was just as difficult when I was putting the file away - I had to think in order to know what to do with it.

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to find a website address in your browser when the items are ordered so the last used is at the top? It is far the fastest way of finding something that you use regularly. Our minds are pretty good at telling how long ago it was when we last used something.

It’s very easy to do the same thing with files. Personally, rather than use a filing cabinet, I have all my papers filed in lever arch files arranged on a bookshelf. Whenever I use a file I always put it back at the left end of the top shelf. I move the other files along to give it space. So all the files are now arranged in the order I last used them. Result: I can lay my hands instantly on every file that I use frequently. Another advantage is that I don’t have to think about where to put a file when I have finished with it. It always goes in the same spot - the left end of the top shelf.

I found the system worked so well for files that I now use it for books too. No longer do I lose books that I am reading. I know exactly where to put them so that I can find them again. I can also see exactly when I last looked at any particular book. It’s a very simple system, but it works!

File for Success!

One of the biggest reasons our offices tend to get into chaos is because we simply don’t know what to do with half the stuff that comes into our lives. If we don’t know what to do with it, we tend to put it down somewhere to deal with “later”. The inevitable result is piles of unsorted paper and a backlog of work.

One of the most important ways of ensuring that we know what to do with things is to have a filing system that is both easy to operate and completely up to date. Unfortunately most people, particularly in small businesses, try to work with filing systems that don’t properly support them. Remember: we will always tend to follow the path of least resistance. If our filing system is difficult and cumbersome to use then we will tend to avoid using it, which will then make it out of date as well - thus increasing the problem further. On the other hand if our filing system is fast, instinctive and up to date, it becomes easier to use it than not to use it. The good news is that you can have a fast, instinctive and up to date filing system fully operational by tomorrow. Here’s how.

The first step is to go out and buy plenty of lever arch files and clear enough space for them on a bookshelf. Forget about folders, ring binders, suspension files and all the rest. Lever arch files on a book shelf are the best way of filing. They stand upright, don’t fall over, can be moved around easily and it’s simple to insert and remove papers from them. What’s more you can use dividers to subdivide the contents. For things you don’t want to punch holes in, you can put them in a plastic envelope and file the plastic envelope. For very small items such as till receipts I staple them to a larger sheet of paper and file the sheet of paper. For those of you who don’t know what a lever-arch file is, here’s a picture.

How do you get a totally up to date filing system right now? It’s easy. Declare your old filing system dead and start completely afresh, opening new files as you need them. Every time you get a new piece of paper open a new file for it or put it into one of the new files you have already opened. Work the files in the way I suggested in a previous newsletter by putting the files as you use them at the top left hand end of the bookcase. With lever arch files it’s easy to move the files along to accommodate this. Doing it this way you will have a completely fresh and relevant filing system, where you can always lay your hands on the papers you use most often.