If you find yourself struggling to keep tabs on your to-do list and are wasting productive time trying to organize everything, a filing cabinet can help you manage every single task. In fact, it allows you to divide your tasks and documents on a daily, weekly and / or monthly basis. Filing cabinets are useful tools for organizing home documents and bills, business and personal appointments, or business phone calls and emails. Read on to find out how to create a traditional or electronic filing cabinet, relying on effective digital services.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Create a Paper File
Step 1. Get everything you need
You will need a filing cabinet or hanging file holder and 43 folders. This will allow you to create a folder for each month, in which you will insert 31 folders with spacers, one for each single day of the month.
There are a variety of ways you can make a filing cabinet, but the one illustrated in this article is generally the most popular and easiest to organize
Step 2. Label the folders
You will need to label 12, each dedicated to a month. Inside each folder, you will have to insert 31 folders with cardboard dividers, each dedicated to a day of the month.
Step 3. Organize folders
Indicates the month of the year they refer to, starting with the start date of the process. For example, if today is June 15th, put 15-31 folders with dividers in the folder for June and 1-14 in the folder for July.
Note: June is only 30 days old, but keep the folder with divider number 31 in the monthly folder anyway, so you can easily move it to the next without too much confusion
Step 4. Fill the folders
Now that they have been organized, it is time to fix them. Arrange everything you need to remember in the appropriate folder. You can insert post-its and various reminders, bills, letters or any other sheet of your interest on a given day.
- Put any documents you will need in the future in the appropriate monthly folders. When a certain month starts, you can divide the various items into the right daily folders.
- If a commitment will take several days, be sure to put the document in the folder of the first day you dedicate yourself to it, not the deadline!
Step 5. Have the locker handy
This system will only come in handy if it's easy to access. You should place it in the area where you usually work. This will allow you to access documents without having to get up, which may discourage constant use.
Step 6. Use your daily folders
At the start of a day, find the documents you are interested in using the divider and place them on your desk so you can take care of them. When you complete one, store it permanently, or throw it away. Day after day, move empty daily folders to the next monthly folder.
Method 2 of 3: Using Google Calendars
Step 1. Open the Google Calendar app on the web
You can use it in conjunction with Gmail to create a digital filing cabinet, which will remind you to check it daily. For this purpose, you will need a Google account, opening it is free.
Step 2. Create a new calendar
If you want to facilitate the separation of the elements of the file cabinet from those of the normal agenda, creating a new calendar will allow you to add elements that you can view in a more orderly way, clearly distinguishing them from those of other calendars. You will also have the possibility to choose different settings for the various elements.
- Look at the menu on the left and click on the arrow next to "My calendars"
- Select "Create new calendar".
- Give the calendar a title, such as “File”. You can add a short description if you like.
- Click on the button that says "Create Calendar" when you are done.
- Turn off the master calendar when creating and processing filing tasks. This will allow you to make sure that each event ends up on the correct calendar. You can select the calendar of your interest by clicking on the colored box next to the name of the calendar, in the scrolling menu of "My calendars".
Step 3. Create daily events
For each element of the daily file, create the tasks you will dedicate yourself to. How to do it? Go to the section that allows you to view the whole week and look for the thin bars at the top of the calendar: you will find one under each day of the week.
- Click on the white bars corresponding to the different times of the day to open a pop-up window called “New Event”. Click on the "Edit Event" link to access the section where you can add all the details.
- Enter all the details regarding this element of the file. Write a title, any relevant addresses, a detailed description that includes emails or websites you might need. You can also copy and paste excerpts from documents which will come in handy.
- Add a color if you want to improve visual organization.
- If there is a reminder, delete it. You will need to set a different one.
- As with a classic filing cabinet, make sure you enter each item on the day you need to start dealing with it, not the deadline.
Step 4. Receive all the data of your agenda daily
Once you have entered all your tasks in the calendar, you can opt for the setting which will send you a daily reminder via email, summarizing everything you need to do. To activate this function, click on the icon that looks like a cogwheel; is located in the upper right corner. Select "Settings".
- Click on the calendars tab and then on the “Reminders and notifications” link related to your digital file.
- Check the box called "Daily Agenda". You will be sent a list of all the activities scheduled for a given day on your Gmail account, at 5 in the morning. You can review this list as soon as you start your day.
Step 5. Continue to enter the scheduled assignments in the days to come
As you gather more items in the filing cabinet, be sure to introduce them on appropriate days. Try to do a general checkup once or twice a month to make sure everything is okay.
If you find yourself repeating certain elements a lot, you can schedule them to repeat automatically, so you don't have to add them every time
Method 3 of 3: Using Evernote
Step 1. Create 12 notebooks
Evernote is a free archiving service that allows you to create notes and divide them into notebooks. You can use the virtual filing system to create a filing cabinet that is very similar to a paper file. To start, make 12 notebooks and label them per month (write the number first, then the name). Insert a 0 before each single number you need to indicate the month, in order to order them correctly.
- For example, "January 01, February 02, March 03, September 09, October 10, etc.".
- To create new notebooks, click on the small arrow beside the "Notebooks" header in the menu on the left. Then, click on "New Notebook …".
Step 2. Stack the notebooks
Once you've created them, start putting them aside. Drag the one called "February 02" to the one called "January 01". You will be prompted to name the stack. Call it “. Schedary”. The "." makes sure your notebook collection stays at the top of the list.
Step 3. Create notes for every single day of the month
Click on the notebook corresponding to the current month and then on the "+ New note" button. Entitles "01" the first note of the first day of the month. Repeat this for each day, until you have daily notes throughout the month.
When you finish creating a note, click on the "View options" menu at the bottom of the window and select "Title (in ascending order)". This will classify the list of notes, so they will stay in the correct order
Step 4. Fill in the notes
Now that the structure has been determined, you can start writing all the necessary information in the notes. As with a common filing cabinet, make sure you enter all the items you need on the day you need to start working on a project, not the deadline day.
Add tags to help you find and organize the information in the different files in the filing cabinet
Step 5. Add reminders
Use the alarm clock icon at the top of the note to set up an email reminder to be sent. Once you get down to business, your routine list for that day will be sent to you, and you won't need anything else.
