Update on Major Genealogy Re-Organization

 Stage 1 of the genealogy re-organization in preparation for the move shows some of the tubs and boxes I'm using for the sorted files.

These are some of the files that are going up to the loft once the filing cabinets are moved.

My method is to go through every filing cabinet drawer in my current office space. I'm sorting and tossing - a huge purge of papers!

Once I've sorted a file folder I decide if it's going to the loft (where my new office space will be) or to the basement filing cabinets (so I can still access it if needed) or to basement storage

Basement storage is where I put items that I don't need to access in the foreseeable future but don't want to throw out. It also includes paperwork relating to my business which I must keep for 7 years.

The image on the right are cardboard file boxes that I had to purchase in order to pack up some items. The bottom two are going to the basement for storage even though one is research for a book I hope to write one day. The key words are "one day".

I will store the research material out of my main office until I am ready to start compiling it. The box labelled PEER BOOK is going to the loft but once there it will be sorted.

The first volume of my planned series on the Peer family of N. America has been published so I'll remove the research material I used for that book. Volume 1 research materials will be given room in the basement storage area but the rest will stay in my new office so I can access it.

So my basic simple plan is to sort into 3 types of files:

One is current and important papers and documents (genealogy, business, personal) that stay in my new office and I can access easily. These are things such as research for a current book I am working on, client work, and so on. These will go in my new office space.

Two is papers and records I might need in the next few months or year. These will include research on books I have planned to write but are in the queue waiting their turn. These will go in the basement filing cabinets.

Three is papers and documents that I may never need again but I can't bear to throw them out! This also includes the 7 years worth of business receipts and records that I'm required to keep by law.  These will be boxed, labelled and put into the basement storage room.

I'm almost finished all the filing cabinet drawers. I just have 1 1/2 lateral filing drawers to sort and 2 smaller legal size drawers in another cabinet.

Once I'm finished those drawers I'm moving on the piles and piles of loose papers on my desk, on my credenza, on the floor and stacked in tubs. Oh boy. I've got a plan in mind as to how I'm going to sort and re-organize those loose papers and will talk about that in my next blog post.

Above you can see the huge box I'm filling with papers for hubs to burn. This is my second - he already burned one full box!