Warmer weather is finally here, and it’s time for spring cleaning!  If you’re anything like me, you have unsorted piles of bills, documents, and other miscellany crammed into every corner.  Then, when you actually need one of those papers, you find yourself asking, “Which one of these piles did I put that in?” Whether it is at home or the office, this creates stress, reduces productivity, and generally makes for an unpleasant environment. 

The obvious solution should be simply to sit down and sort through what you want to keep, and what you don’t.  However, that is not always effective, depending on the volume of papers you have.  The task can be extremely overwhelming and time consuming, and it is easy to give up and throw it all back into one pile to save for another day.  If this is an issue you find yourself continually facing, then you need to develop a filing system. 

If you have filing and don’t use it, there are plenty of effective methods to reduce your clutter and simplify your filing system.  If you don’t have one, you will need some basic supplies to get you started.  First and foremost, you will need a stationary file cabinet or portable file box.  You will also need hanging file folders to put in them.  There are many different types you can choose from, depending on your preference.  Some have tabs on which you can write labels, and some don’t.  If you choose the type without tabs, you will want to get some self adhesive ones that you can write on or print them out on the computer.