Organize your paper files such as bills, receipts and invoices by good old fashioned green hanging folders, which you then keep in a filing cabinet. Filing cabinet too large for your home office? No problem, there are plastic bins that you can buy and then store in closets and shelves.

Then again, keeping files would be useless if you don’t have a filing system to begin with. You may invent your own system, it’s okay. The important thing is that you stick to the system, and not just inserting paper into different folders. To help you keep track of this, color-code folders and then print-out a master key which you can tape on your cabinet or bin. This way, you don’t have to search your brain for the appropriate folder when you need to file something away.

Keep things in your files only if they’re important. You can throw the rest away after a certain time period. This way you don’t have to worry about an overflowing filing cabinet. So how do you determine which files to keep? If you haven’t needed or touched a particular paper or file in a year, throw it away. Tax returns should be kept forever. Tax reports and receipts can be stored for 6-8 years. If you just feel paranoid, what you can do is to scan papers and store these digital files a portable hard drive, and then you can throw the paper copy away.

This goes as well for business cards. You can staple cards to specific files and folders if you have them. You may also opt to store them in a single address book. If you’re a little tech-savvy, then scan the cards and keep them in an electronic address book.

Make it digital. Create digital copies of paper files so you will only have to keep the really important ones in your filing cabinet. Just don’t forget to back-up your digital files time and again.