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Is your home office swamped in a mire of old receipts, tax documents, forms, and mail? It is an all too common woe; when you first start that little pile on the corner of your desk, it is with every intention of eventually getting it all filed neatly away. Of course, “tomorrow” quickly becomes the next day … and the next … and the next. Before you know it, you have papers strewn everywhere, and whatever filing system you do have is no longer functioning as a system.

Ready to create a filing system for home which actually works? Here is a quick process to get your home filing system set up in a jiffy.

1. Start by identifying old paperwork you no longer need and discard it.
Make a big pile of papers which you have absolutely no use for and will never need to look at again. You can get rid of these completely. Shred anything which contains personal information, and then recycle. Quite often, this pile will actually take care of the majority of your papers.

2. Figure out what needs to go into your permanent files.
Next, you will need to figure out what should be stored away in your “permanent” files. Some of these files will be genuinely permanent—papers you want to keep forever, like children’s artwork. Others may be financial records you need to keep on hand for a few years—like receipts and such. The IRS has six years to audit your returns, so you should keep old receipts for at least this long. But you do not need them hogging space in your home office.

3. Create permanent files and store them somewhere out of the way.
Purchase some plastic bins for files. Store your permanent files inside these containers, and get them out of the way. They can go in your basement, attic, hall closet, or a separate storage facility. Chances are good you will rarely if ever need to access them. Eventually you can sort through them and throw away documents which have since become obsolete.

4. Create active files for information you regularly need to access and keep that in your home office.
You should now be left with only your “active” documents—those you might need to actually look at on a regular basis. Create a filing system using a few more plastic storage bins for file folders. Choose home filing categories like “mail,” “tax documents,” “receipts,” “schoolwork,” and so on so that you can quickly and easily find what you need.

Some people do choose to purchase actual filing cabinets for their home offices, but most families can make do with a few bins. That is the whole point of moving your permanent files elsewhere and shredding documents you no longer need; at any one time, you probably will not have all that much paperwork in your home office. That means you should end up with plenty of free space—and no need for a filing cabinet!