What Papers Belong in a Filing Cabinet?

Your filing cabinet might be an organized thing of beauty, or it might be a chaotic disaster. Either way, the archived folders in your filing cabinet should only be holding two types of documents -- Can't Lose and Extended Knowledge papers.



Can't Lose documents are papers you could be in a lot of trouble if you misplace. Documents such as signed legal contracts.



Extended Knowledge documents are papers that provide you with information you wish you stored in your brain, but you don't. And, they're kept because eventually someone else will need to access this knowledge when you're not around. For example, plan details and contact information for your health insurance provider.



Here are the parameters I use to help me decide if a paper is a Can't Lose or an Extended Knowledge document:


If I get rid of this, will I be in a serious bind, lose my job, get sued, lose an irreplaceable amount of money, or go to jail? If so, retain the document.
Do I want to have this knowledge at my fingertips and will I have a difficult time getting my hands on this information later if I don't keeps this document? If so, retain the document.
Will keeping this document make it easier for someone else if I am unavailable? If so, retain the document.


Any document in your archives that doesn't meet these requirements can be recycled or shredded. You may choose to keep a few documents that don't meet these requirements -- specifically, don't throw away any working documents that aren't a part of your archives and that you reference in your current work -- but feel welcome to get rid of the clutter.



If you have a giant stack of papers to be filed, I recommend first going through the pile to see if all of the papers meet the Can't Lose or Extended Knowledge parameters. Then, with the papers that remain, dedicate yourself to filing just an inch of documents a day. Eventually, your stack will completely disappear.