Using Reference Files For Fast and Easy Organizing

Reduce the amount of time it takes to find information you use on a daily basis. Here are some ideas for fast and easy access to your most important reference information.

Follow these three principles when organizing immediate reference material:

1. Make groups.
2. Put in order.
3. Keep close.

Having things right at your fingertips makes you highly productive and feel totally in control. Smead recommends using Colored FasTab Hanging Folders with Viewables Labels in a drawer.

Make Groups

• Gather the materials that you refer to most often.
• Separate them into a few categories that make sense to you. Group items by the way you will look for them, such as suppliers in one group, customers in another.
• Assign a different color FasTab Hanging Folder to each category.

Put in Order

• Place materials in FasTab Hanging Folders using the appropriate category colors.
• Create a Viewables label for each type of reference. Apply labels to the large built-in tabs.
• Order the folders alphabetically within each color group.

Keep Close

• File in a nearby drawer by color category

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