How To: Create a Table of Contents for Your Files

At Apartment Therapy, we bring you ways to organize your space and make it more efficient. You can also safely say that I have a healthy obsession with all things organized. A place for everything and everything in its place are words we live by. But we also know that the system has to be easy in order for a neat outcome...

Paper tends to be the biggest hurdle when it comes to getting organized. It’s not searchable and you won’t file your papers unless you have an easy system. To help conquer frustration when filing and recalling papers in your filing system we’ve devised what we call “The Table of Contents” (or TOC) for your files. This Table of Contents is a list, much like the table of contents in a novel, where the parts of a book are organized in the order in which the parts appear.

In just two easy steps you'll have your own Table of Contents.

Step one: Write down (or type) all of your file tab names on a sheet of paper with the last file written down first (and your first file when you open the filing cabinet will be last). The file tab names are written from back to front so that the list matches your filing system as you open the drawer.

Step two: Affix your new TOC to the top or side of your filing cabinet (depending on where you can see it best).

This system is a great first step to make filing easier. Before you even open your filing cabinet to file or recall paperwork, look at your TOC to see where your piece of paper will be filed or what file to look out for to find your important papers.

I like to use "Ready Tab Hanging Folders" by Pendaflex. Form can also meet function with these good-looking files from the Macbeth Collection. Happy filing!

Comments (18)

I really like that dish.

I have the exact piece of corningware in the same size.

I have it too! It was my mom's.

I just bought that dish at a yard sale. But I don't have a lid
:-(

Ummmmm..... am I missing something here? What's wrong with simply filing alphabetically. No need for a TOC, just remember your ABC's and file in order.

receipts is misspelled; it is "i" before "e" except after "c"

;)

i'm with daily nuance... confused about what organization it adds, other than an extra place to get the exact same information that is printed on the tabs on the files...

I have the coordinating mixing bowls (my mom's), and thank you Lady J, the spelling was driving me nuts!

"Receipts" AND "maintenance" are spelled incorrectly here. What gives?

maybe they know people enjoy catching spelling/grammatical errors. They certainly caught my eye, like a laundromat sign hung upside down.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/05/12/99-grammar/

We have become so digitized that the idea of visual organization for quick scanning seems almost quaint. But, gee, it works.

My filling system is alphebetical in terms of I name the folder for which it contains, such as Qwest for phone/DSL and file it under Q and to further distinguish things, I have a single drawer for those types of files, and a seperate area at the front for things like the maintenance folder for my truck, taxes, any papers I need to hold onto, like my rental agreement etc, the rest get filed alphabetically in the back, then I have a 2 drawer filing cabinet, the top one is for things like owners manuals, and the like while the bottom one is the lesser important items, also filed alphabetically by the first letter of what that file is.

As for virtually filing on the PC, I tend to file and then subfile there, so for instance, all of my raw photos from my digital camera get a main folder w/ the name of what the DVD will be called, plus the dates on that DVD from the first photo to the final photo and it's also the file I check for total size so when it gets as close to 4.7GB as I can without going over, I can then burn the DVD in one session and inside that folder, I have broken them down by the season/year, so for this first DVD, I have fall 2007, Winter 2008 etc and in each I have labeled the resulting folders by date and subject, ie, "walk, Oct 24, 2007, Broadway development" and any random images get put in a "fall misc" folder and each season will have its own misc folder. I know it sounda a bit anal, but it will make life easier when I need to find things.

The big problem is staying on top of filing everything in a timely manner. :-)

I have that Pyrex container!!!!

I just bought the exact Pyrex container at the flea market this weekend. I have matching mixing bowls with the same "butterprint" motif.

It would be much faster to get a label maker and just make nice printed labels for all of your files. Open the drawer, and you have just what you need - a quick visual reference.

If you don't know what drawer to open, your filing system is probably too complicated. Just go A-Z and label the drawer accordingly.

Sorry, but I think a table of contents is a terrible idea, because you'd have to update it every time you add a new file. If it's that big a pain to create a new file, you'll likely file stuff in marginally appropriate categories (e.g. putting life insurance stuff with car insurance because you have a file for the latter but not the former) or worse, just leave it in a "to file" pile on top. That defeats the point - it should be as quick to file something as it is to retrieve it, or you won't use it.

good point, geektronica.

"Ummmmm..... am I missing something here? What's wrong with simply filing alphabetically. No need for a TOC, just remember your ABC's and file in order."

If you have a couple of filing boxes or cabinets, it's easier to put a TOC on the outside, for example, so you'll know which cabinet to look in when you're looking for a certain thing. That's how I interpreted it, I guess!

Hey, why stop with a "TOC"? All it takes is a couple of additional simple steps! One: Jot down a list of every piece of paper in your filing cabinet. Two: Carry it with you wherever you go. Optional: Make copies and keep them in your workplace, car, and parents' home. Don't forget to add to the list each time you file something, or cross out whatever has been purged! So simple and easy - you will always know exactly what's in your files!