Fresh filing systems for young adults: 2 examples

Many clients have said, “But no one ever taught me to file!” That’s why I love to work with young adults to create files as their very first important docs come about.  Suddenly, a lot of you have kids home for an indefinite period of time... College kids might be retuning to rooms at home that could use some organizing, and are dumping school papers on top of it.

Now can be a great time to plant a seed for some mindfulness about managing paper as life brings more of it in.  I’ve done this many times for teens and early twenty-somethings, and have *never* been met with resistance. In my experience, young adults are fun to work with (at least if you’re not one of their parents!), decisive, and very quick to toss if given time to focus. Here are two examples of simple starter filing systems for young adults.

One client's young adult son needed help getting organized for a job search.  I had actually been helping him organize since he was in high school.  We organized for college, study abroad, and moving out of home, so it was fun to follow him into life as a motivated professional.  We managed to toss all paper except for those that fit into these folders. 

I had been helping him organize since he was in high school. We organized for college, study abroad, and moving out of home, so it was fun to follow him into life as a motivated professional. We managed to toss all paper except for those that fit into these folders.

His simple system pictured here is a mini version of systems I've created hundreds of times for folks in every stage of life. It’s a microcosm of what most adults typically need. We created a number of files that fall under just four larger groupings:

• Financial

• Professional

• Memorabilia

• Vital Docs

For some of you who are older and more established, but light on paper, these four categories still may be all you need.

If your life is more complicated and you’re buried in paper, but you don’t know where to start with creating files, try copying his four categories. (Maybe add two more: Personal and Medical.) You’ll be surprised at how much of your paper falls under just these categories. From there, you will likely branch out. For instance, you may need a few “Financial” tabs, such as:

• Financial - Banking

• Financial - Insurance

• Financial - Investments

• Financial - General

A similar system I created was for a freshman in college. As we were sorting memorabilia in her room at home, we came across some papers that were important enough to keep, and created a mini system out of a file box she already had.

Pictured here is:

• Banking (Imagine a red “Financial” tab in front of this file.)

• Photos I’ve Taken

• Old Schoolwork (Separated out by high school grade.)

• School - Funny
  

  I actually still have my own micro system that I started in high school! Mine looks much more like this second example. It’s a hilarious time capsule from that time in my life. If you have a young adult in your life, use these two examples as a guide for starting their very first filing system.