subject: Home Office Organization that Finally Makes Sense [print this page] Home Office Organization that Finally Makes Sense
Running a home office can be very trying no matter whether you are using it to keep track of the family's finances or running a small business there. If you don't keep track of your papers and other items in a manner that makes sense, you will never be able to find things when you need them. Bills may not get paid on time, incurring late charges and other penalties simply because they were buried under other items. There are a number of systems that you can use to make your home office that much more efficient but there are a number of drawbacks to consider with them.Systems that Require Scanners or LabelersSome document management systems require that all your paper files be scanned and then formatted to a disk drive for "filing." There are often many things that cannot be scanned and there are issues with the scanner itself. If you don't have a scanner, this type filing system would suggest that you buy one. What would happen if your computer system crashes. This document management system may not be ideal if you have scanned everything and you do not have paper documents for back up?With a scanning document management system, labeling everything does not always work either, especially since it does nothing to get everything organized. Sure, you know that those are all the home bills sitting there in the nicely labeled file folder, but they get moved from place to place because they have no real designated spot and they end up buried once again.A Hybrid, Better SolutionThere is a filing system for offices with a hybrid of traditional filing and computer search ingenuity that has the ability to help you streamline your filing system and find your items without having to run out and buy expensive equipment. You don't scan your items so you can use the same filing system software to organize books and other items that you would not be able to scan. Your hanging files are set up in advance with index numbered labels that you print from the software. These file numbers never change, but the information that is stored in them can. After item names and keywords relating to the items being indexed are entered into the software's database, and your files are in, the information is now searchable. All you need to do is access your computer and search the database to find exactly what you are looking for in a manner of seconds.Your home office is now organized like a miniature databank, like your own personal version of the World Wide Web. All of your paper files are right there to be accessed by a quick search. The filing software will generate a search result, showing you exactly which hanging file folder the requested information is in and where to access it. There is no searching through several different files to find an item because of differing thought processes of filing from day to day.
