Resources Highlighted in The Organized Admin

Take a peek inside my filing system! As I mentioned in the book, I love the Smead Viewables for printing and color-coding my file labels. I use the color orange for my vendors and suppliers files. I use the color blue for business or product development and purple for human resources. We try to use standard naming conventions for our files so they maintain a consistent look and feel from drawer to drawer.

If you have a lot of recurring things to manage, it might help to develop a weekly or annual tickler file system. This becomes your system for managing the day-to-day tasks and projects and is much more effective than big piles on your desk. Here is how I have my tickler file setup.

Daily/annual tickler folders: I created a hanging file folder for each month of the year – January through December (12 files total). Then I created a hanging file folder for each day of the month – 1 through 31 (31 files total). I put each item I need to remember in the appropriate month folder for when it needs to be handled or for when I need to be reminded to take action.

At the beginning of each month, I place the daily folders (1-31) behind that month’s main folder. I review the items in the monthly folder and place the specific items in the appropriate day of the month it needs to be handled. This requires I check the tickler file on a daily basis so I don’t miss any important tasks or deadlines.

I keep these files in the top file drawer to the left hand side of my keyboard so they are within arm’s reach of where I sit and work at my computer during the day. This way it’s always quickly accessible and easy for me to use the system throughout the day without hassle.

Other ways you can do this include:

Weekly/annual tickler folders: Another way you can create a tickler is with a weekly and annual setup. As with the first option, create a hanging file folder for each month of the year – January through December (12 files total). Then create a hanging file folder for each week of the month – Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, and Week 5 (5 files total).

Put each item in the appropriate month folder that it needs to be handled, or you need to be reminded to take action. At the beginning of each new month, place the five weekly folders behind that month’s main folder and put each item in the week of the month that it needs to be handled. This will require you check the tickler file on a weekly basis so you don’t miss any important tasks or deadlines.

Monthly tickler in print or digital format: Not everything you need to remember may have a folder or printed notice to go with it. So it’s important to have a system that keeps those things on your radar at the appropriate times throughout the month and year, too.

If you’re a mostly digital person, maintaining these tickler reminders in your Outlook Tasks or email program may work best.

If you’re a paper person, being able to print them so you can place them in your paper planner or your daily work folder may be another option.

Maintaining your tickler file in a print or digital format is ideal for the monthly or annual recurring items you need to remember as part of your normal job responsibilities. This may include things like monthly staff meetings, quarterly board meeting preparations, legal reminders, membership renewals, and more.

You can also add the one-time only tasks to your Outlook Tasks with start dates and due dates or type them into your monthly tickler list that you print so you don’t lose track of them.

To make filing easier, you need the right tools. I love the Smead Viewables system for color-coding and printing labels for my hanging and interior file folders. You can view the file information on the hanging file tabs from the top, front, or back of the label.

For interior files, it prints so your label has the information the front of the file and the back of the file tab. And color coding is built into the software, so all you need to do is determine which colors you want for which categories of information, and you’re set!

For quick and easy file labels on-the-spot, I highly recommend a portable label printer.

Smead Viewables

Brother Portable Label Printer

Disclosure: Julie Perrine International, LLC is a compensated affiliate through Amazon.com. We only recommend professionals and resources we have personally worked with or used in building and growing our own business, or that we’ve used with clients we support. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive compensation for promoting the product here. Thanks for your continued support, and we hope these tools benefit your career development.

I use cloud-based file storage tools for access to my files no matter where I’m at or whose computer I’m connecting from. Here are the two primary ones I use with my team.

Create an Events folder on your computer and subfolders for the types of events you coordinate (e.g., board meetings, staff meetings, client site visits). Create a subfolder in each of these folders with the date of the event you are planning. Then save the planning details for each event in its respective folder so you (or anyone helping you) can always find what you need.

Journaling is it’s own art form. There is no right or wrong way to do it. Here are a few ways I use journals to capture thoughts and ideas, create plans of action, and implement.

Fun, Theme-Based, Spiral-Bound Notebook

Leather-Bound Journal

Disc-Bound Notebook (e.g. Levenger or Staples Arc Notebooks)

Ledger Size Paper, Coil-Bound Notebook

Weekly-Style Appointment Book

LiveScribe SmartPen

Here is a sample of my event planning form:

For project management, my team and I use Teamwork.com. It is one of the most user-friendly, simple to use, easy to setup project management tools I’ve found yet. You can set up two free projects to test it out yourself with the button below.

Teamwork Projects

Disclosure: Julie Perrine International, LLC is a compensated affiliate through Teamwork.com. We only recommend professionals and resources we have personally worked with or used in building and growing our own business, or that we’ve used with clients we support. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive compensation for promoting the product here. Thanks for your continued support, and we hope these tools benefit your career development.

My favorite travel folder resources! I love the poly zip files, button, and tie, and snap envelopes from www.JamPaper.com. Explore their site and order some samples to give them a try. There are no minimum orders for most items on this site, so you can order one at a time and see how you like them.

I also love the poly file jackets from Smead and the Avery Flexi-View presentation folders. When you’re traveling, it’s nice to have everything in one nicely organized folder that is flexible enough to be crammed into the outside pocket of a travel back. Once I discovered these Flexi-View folders, I quit using 3-ring binders for my own travel needs.

Disclosure: Julie Perrine International, LLC is a compensated affiliate through Amazon.com. We only recommend professionals and resources we have personally worked with or used in building and growing our own business, or that we’ve used with clients we support. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive compensation for promoting the product here. Thanks for your continued support, and we hope these tools benefit your career development.

To create and print your own business cards, check out a few of our favorite tools and resources:

VistaPrint.com

Clean Edge Biz Cards

This article will also help you get started: Developing Your Own Personal Business Cards.

Disclosure: Julie Perrine International, LLC is a compensated affiliate through Amazon.com. We only recommend professionals and resources we have personally worked with or used in building and growing our own business, or that we’ve used with clients we support. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive compensation for promoting the product here. Thanks for your continued support, and we hope these tools benefit your career development.