How to Organize Office Files?

My favorite file folder is called TO FILE. Simply genius I thought at the time of it's birth. A place to store all the paperwork I need to file. Only the papers never got filed and this folder kept growing. I now have 3 folders labeled TO FILE.
A little while later and I now have this:
The Super-est most awesome-est organizi-est drawer.  YAY!!!!!!
Tools: All you need is a label printer and plenty of folders and you'll be on your way.
Initially I sat there for 20 minutes just feeling sorry for myself. Then I went to lunch. Stashed a slice of chocolate cake in my bag and told myself I could eat it only if I finished my filing.I took out all the old folders, and re-purposed them for the new categories I needed. This time round I was going to have a file for everything. No more saving the rain forest by combining subjects. This also meant that I got 50 more file folders. But honestly there were days when I couldn't find a document for hours. The most embarrassing is not having something for a meeting scheduled 5 minutes.Now when I receive a call, I can go straight to the file. Oh and I put them in alphabetical order. Initially I was of the school of 'like with like' and 'As I Need It'. What am I talking about you ask?

Like with like - related subjects like food, recipes and picnics would be together. Then also invitations and holidays seem related so they went together too. Right? It all seemed so simple at the beginning. However if I ever wanted to find something like 'moving and packing' I could never find the darn thing. It would mean me sitting and calmly thinking what is it related to and maybe it'll be in that folder? Yeah, I now call this method Stupid Idea No.1

The As I Need It method (aka Stupid Idea No.2) - is to make files as I need to file something. But I never wanted to waste time with the hassle of making files and everything got chucked into the dreaded TO FILE folder.
Alas now I have all my major categories demarcated and beautifully tabbed alphabetically on the left. I know where to find things! The lessor categories are filed within the major categories in their very own folders with tabs in middle and on the right hand side. And that's how to organize office files.

 Beautiful, Simple and It Works.

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