Ask HN: How do you organize your physical documents at home?
12 comments
First, I suggest you get a Fujitsu ScanSnap or other straight-to-Evernote scanner. Seriously, because once you start doing that you will realise how little you actually need to keep in paper format.
What remains depends on your life situation I suspect, but for ideas, here is what I do:
Some papers are truly important. I like to put those in one of those expanding files with multiple slots and a carry handle. I have one for my personal papers (will, passport, birth certificates etc), one for taxes and one for the house documents. These should be stuff that if the house is on fire, you want to grab and take with you.
Having taken care of the stuff you don't need in physical form, and the really important stuff you must curate carefully, that leaves a bunch of other stuff. In my case that is mostly product manuals and warranties, and personal and travel memorabilia. While I am not a hardcore GTDer by any stretch, I do follow it for filing: get a filing cabinet, a good label maker, hanging folders and file folders, and file the hell out of everything. For example for product manuals, have a hanging folder for kitchen appliances, put each separate manual in a file folder, label the folder with your labelmaker, insert file folder into hanging folder.
General clutter guidelines apply, like handle everything once, think about whether you really need this ever again (this is where scanning really helps you, as you don't have to agonise too much about the decision), etc.
What remains depends on your life situation I suspect, but for ideas, here is what I do:
Some papers are truly important. I like to put those in one of those expanding files with multiple slots and a carry handle. I have one for my personal papers (will, passport, birth certificates etc), one for taxes and one for the house documents. These should be stuff that if the house is on fire, you want to grab and take with you.
Having taken care of the stuff you don't need in physical form, and the really important stuff you must curate carefully, that leaves a bunch of other stuff. In my case that is mostly product manuals and warranties, and personal and travel memorabilia. While I am not a hardcore GTDer by any stretch, I do follow it for filing: get a filing cabinet, a good label maker, hanging folders and file folders, and file the hell out of everything. For example for product manuals, have a hanging folder for kitchen appliances, put each separate manual in a file folder, label the folder with your labelmaker, insert file folder into hanging folder.
General clutter guidelines apply, like handle everything once, think about whether you really need this ever again (this is where scanning really helps you, as you don't have to agonise too much about the decision), etc.
Search for and download those product manuals and put them in a digital shelf. You never look at them, anyway, do you? Most manuals can be easily found on the web these days.
Unless I plan to resell a small electronic, I don't keep the manuals. Small electronics I keep the box, manual, everything, but in a box in a closet. It does help resale vlaue.
Otherwise 100% agree. I'm just amazed you're a scanner, but you keep paper manuals.
Unless I plan to resell a small electronic, I don't keep the manuals. Small electronics I keep the box, manual, everything, but in a box in a closet. It does help resale vlaue.
Otherwise 100% agree. I'm just amazed you're a scanner, but you keep paper manuals.
I'm just amazed you're a scanner, but you keep paper manuals.
Don't worry, I understand it sounds peculiar.
One reason I keep manuals is for when I re-sell the product later, like you said. I also freecycle a lot of stuff, I feel it's nice to give people the manual. Also they are not zero-effort to scan - some of them are larger than letter size, you have to take the staples out if you have a feeder-scanner and so on. Given I can fit them all in one filing drawer, it doesn't seem to be worth the hassle. And if that is all you are filing, it is actually faster to pull the manual out of the drawer than it is to look for it on a computer, print out the page with the diagram you want, and so on.
If it helps, I generally throw out boxes. I used to keep them for resale but it got out of control, so the only boxes I keep now is for stuff where the box comes with special packing inserts that I would need if I had to move - that means computer cases and monitors basically.
Don't worry, I understand it sounds peculiar.
One reason I keep manuals is for when I re-sell the product later, like you said. I also freecycle a lot of stuff, I feel it's nice to give people the manual. Also they are not zero-effort to scan - some of them are larger than letter size, you have to take the staples out if you have a feeder-scanner and so on. Given I can fit them all in one filing drawer, it doesn't seem to be worth the hassle. And if that is all you are filing, it is actually faster to pull the manual out of the drawer than it is to look for it on a computer, print out the page with the diagram you want, and so on.
If it helps, I generally throw out boxes. I used to keep them for resale but it got out of control, so the only boxes I keep now is for stuff where the box comes with special packing inserts that I would need if I had to move - that means computer cases and monitors basically.
Ok, but I've never had to scan them - it's been literally years since I haven't been able to find a manual online.
We all have our quirks. I just hate paper/clutter. More than I love books, which means my book collection is in limbo...
We all have our quirks. I just hate paper/clutter. More than I love books, which means my book collection is in limbo...
Here's my system.
Every piece of paper gets a number written on it in bold felt-tip pen.
This number is near unique - usually the date that I'm filing it, sometimes a "natural date" such as a date on the paper itself.
I file them all in a single box, in order.
In a file I have a line per item. It starts with the number, then has as many "tags" as I can think of. This takes about 20 seconds per piece of paper.
grep is your friend.
Finding any item is now easy, and there are no decisions to make when doing the filing. I copy the index file to my handheld and laptop. Occasionally I print it, although I haven't done that in ages.
A few items are filed in separate files, but those are obvious.
Every piece of paper gets a number written on it in bold felt-tip pen.
This number is near unique - usually the date that I'm filing it, sometimes a "natural date" such as a date on the paper itself.
I file them all in a single box, in order.
In a file I have a line per item. It starts with the number, then has as many "tags" as I can think of. This takes about 20 seconds per piece of paper.
grep is your friend.
Finding any item is now easy, and there are no decisions to make when doing the filing. I copy the index file to my handheld and laptop. Occasionally I print it, although I haven't done that in ages.
A few items are filed in separate files, but those are obvious.
You could use one of those stamps automatically counting one up when used.
I'll try this. What hinders me from scanning is that you flip through paper much faster than through a bunch of pdf-files.
I'll try this. What hinders me from scanning is that you flip through paper much faster than through a bunch of pdf-files.
The Bodleian library in Oxford is one of the largest in the world, and they have a very simple way of organizing books: They are numbered as they come in, go onto a shelf in that order, and an entries are made in a database saying where to find each book.
I use more or less this same approach: Everything goes into a stack, and when I need something I just do an interpolation search through the pile using the date of the document as a key.
I use more or less this same approach: Everything goes into a stack, and when I need something I just do an interpolation search through the pile using the date of the document as a key.
I had a great system for the kind of documents that you will only need in the far future, or not at all, but for which it would be a major issue if you actual need them but can't find them: tax stuff, receipts, statements, bills...
For this kind of documents you want to minimize the probability of loss, minimize the time to file them, and are not too concerned of the time to retrieve them. For this a drawer is perfect: just put them in the top of the drawer, and do not use this drawer for anything else. It does not look very professional but is very effective:
- It takes 1 sec, thus diminishing the probability of not doing it and losing the paper.
- Documents are organized chronologically, so you can find what you are looking for quite quickly. Just be sure to religiously keep everything in chronological order.
Once per year, transfer the drawer’s content to a folder. If you fill up more than one drawer per year this system might not be good enough for you.
Alas, my gf did not see the beauty of this system, and insists on having a highly sophisticated and complex storage system that I think is strictly inferior on every account.
For this kind of documents you want to minimize the probability of loss, minimize the time to file them, and are not too concerned of the time to retrieve them. For this a drawer is perfect: just put them in the top of the drawer, and do not use this drawer for anything else. It does not look very professional but is very effective:
- It takes 1 sec, thus diminishing the probability of not doing it and losing the paper.
- Documents are organized chronologically, so you can find what you are looking for quite quickly. Just be sure to religiously keep everything in chronological order.
Once per year, transfer the drawer’s content to a folder. If you fill up more than one drawer per year this system might not be good enough for you.
Alas, my gf did not see the beauty of this system, and insists on having a highly sophisticated and complex storage system that I think is strictly inferior on every account.
I use the noguchi filing system (http://www.lise.jp/noguchi.html). Basically, it's just an LRU for documents. No categories, no filtering, just insert everything on the left side (whether it's new or something you just accessed).
I think any filing system you use needs to have O(1) no thought required inserts because inserts are so much more common than reads. I'm willing to tolerate a bit of time looking for what I need (though I can usually find everything fairly quickly) since I only do it a few times a year.
I think any filing system you use needs to have O(1) no thought required inserts because inserts are so much more common than reads. I'm willing to tolerate a bit of time looking for what I need (though I can usually find everything fairly quickly) since I only do it a few times a year.
Dropbox saved my life. I scan everything except for the last seven years of taxes (required in the US).
Copies/scans of most everything are accepted by the IRS (Rev. Proc. 97-22).
Accepted for filing, yes. But if you get audited you are required to provide paper records:
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p552/ar02.html#en_US_publink...
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p552/ar02.html#en_US_publink...
What's the point of accepting for filing (during which for many things you don't submit the record to the IRS anyway), and not accepting for audit? That seems more backward than even I'd expect the IRS to be.
The link you sent doesn't seem to back up your claim that paper records are required. As far as I can read, it simply states that if you keep records digitally that they must be kept to certain standards. Those standards seem in line with the initial submission standards.
It then references 97-22.
The link you sent doesn't seem to back up your claim that paper records are required. As far as I can read, it simply states that if you keep records digitally that they must be kept to certain standards. Those standards seem in line with the initial submission standards.
It then references 97-22.
From IRS perspective, your filings are taken on faith, while during an audit, you are expected to have records to back up those filings.
Perhaps this article will explain my previous link more clearly:
http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/04/02/afraid-of-an-audit-...
Perhaps this article will explain my previous link more clearly:
http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/04/02/afraid-of-an-audit-...
Yes, records, but not paper records. Your latest link again reinforces the idea that you can keep scanned copies. Earlier it seemed like your point was you shouldn't scan/destroy tax records because you need paper copies in an audit. I don't see anything that agrees with that.
I keep paper copies of my tax filings because it's easy enough to do. I'm just not seeing where, if my digitals never disappear, I need those paper copies to comply with the law.
I keep paper copies of my tax filings because it's easy enough to do. I'm just not seeing where, if my digitals never disappear, I need those paper copies to comply with the law.
why wouldn't you scan your tax returns?
I scan them however there is still a legal requirement to keep copies for 7 years:
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p552/ar02.html#en_US_publink...
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p552/ar02.html#en_US_publink...
Scan or take pics of them and add them to Evernote. Keep only the essentials. Works for me.
Anything that comes in gets scanned to PDF, filed, and backed up to multiple disks + the cloud.
If the physical copy is tax/business-related it's filed in the current year's tax folder.
Otherwise its shredded.
A nice big filing cabinet that's sorted alphabetically. It's been great. I put things in manila folders that are labeled with a label maker. Straight out of GTD. It's helped me a lot.
I've got a few filing folders with binders, each with different color of cover: red for bills, green for hardware guarantee docs, yellow for various (mostly government) docs.
ScanSnap S1300 and Mariner's Paperless (osx)
A box. A big box.
Seriously.
How often do you need to find mail that you have filed? Once a month or so? How often do you need to file mail? Much more often.
Optimize for many writes and few reads. Just throw everything in a box in chronological order. Everything will be easy enough to find and VERY easy to file. The most you should do is have a couple of boxes for broad categories of stuff to file.
How often do you need to find mail that you have filed? Once a month or so? How often do you need to file mail? Much more often.
Optimize for many writes and few reads. Just throw everything in a box in chronological order. Everything will be easy enough to find and VERY easy to file. The most you should do is have a couple of boxes for broad categories of stuff to file.
Any tips or experience on how to sort things and keep them organized?