Revamping the File Crate System

Well, it's the middle of June which means it's time for me to revamp my file crate for a new year - which in turn means it's time for me to write another file crate post! :)

Lol, I fear I'm saying the same thing over and over in these posts - albeit in subtly different ways - but honestly I'm hoping that each time I explain the system, I'll do so a little better than before. 

In a nutshell, my "system" is a variation on the tickler file - it addresses all areas of my life: personal, family, household and homeschooling matters. It is primarily a weekly system. And while it's not a perfect system by any stretch of the imagination, it does work pretty well for me, and has for several years.

First, a brief reminder of what makes up my file crate system:

a file crate

file folders (52+)

hanging folders (6+)

a month @ a glance calendar

8x11-inch lined notepad

a workspace/set location for these items

an everyday tote that can hold the calendar/current folder

a reasonable schedule for system maintenance

Note: I've highlighted in blue the parts of the system that need to be refreshed once a year. 

Also, the reason I say 52+ file folders and 6+ hanging folders, is I do add more sections in the back of the crate for storing other types of information: educational, menu planning, craft ideas, specific projects, etc.

Ok, first I'll give you the big picture, and then I'll get into the nitty gritty.:)

So once a year I take all 52 folders from my file crate, leaving just hanging folders behind, and set them aside. 

 

(More on those later.) 

I clean out the crate (inside and out with a damp cloth) and once it's dry, I insert 52 new file folders, divided into six hanging folders. 

 

Note: I change up the front panel of the crate to read 2009-2010. I just cut a pretty piece of scrapbook paper to fit this panel and attach it with double-sided tape.

 Also, a word on the folders themselves - I choose a new shade/theme every year. This year I went with recycled folders in earthy shades. I think they kind of match my dining room colors which is where I park my file folder crate. :)

Each folder represents one week of the year - so on the tab of the first folder I wrote: "June 1 - June 7, 2009." I also attached a piece of lined yellow paper to the folder, stapling it at the top edge of the front cover and snipping the upper right corner to fit; this will be my weekly planning sheet.

(More on these sheets later.) 

 

The June-July folders go in the first hanging folder and the August-September folders go in the one behind that - and so on. Once I'm done I have 6 hanging folders filled with 52 file folders, one for each week of the year. (Why six dividers? I separate the year into six seasons: high summer, early fall, late fall, deep winter, early spring, late spring.)

 And this is what I have now:

 

Now the file crate is ready to go. I also have my month @ a glance calendar and lined notepad.

As you can see below not only do I like to gussy up my calendar pages with seasonal stickers, but I stick the current weekly folders inside the back cover. They fit back there perfectly and tag along with me when I bring my calendar out and about.

 

So now that I've discussed all the "system components," I think at this point it's time to discuss how the system works in real time.

As I mentioned above, except for the yearly revamp, it is primarily a weekly system. So roundabouts the end of a week (Thursday, ideally) I start in on my planning.

I pull the folder for next week out of the file crate and bring it over to my workspace. I shuffle through the current week's folder (above, left) for materials to re-file in the next week's folder (above, right). I look over my calendar for next week's events/appointments/happenings etc. and start filling in the weekly planning sheet stapled to the front of the new folder:

This being Wednesday, I don't have much filled in yet. I have a space for a brief itinerary in the upper left hand corner, as well as dinner plans, to-do's for the week (phone calls to make, emails to send, things to remember to celebrate or notice) and random notes.

I then slip the folder inside the back cover of my calendar.

Here's a peek inside my current folders to give you an idea of what I put in there.

This week: 

a lemon cake recipe for Bookworm's birthday

 emails re our June Nature Club meeting

directions to a local Marine Science Center

flashcards to photocopy from Earlybird's speech therapist

an email re ~ lab classes next year

emails re ~ Bookworm's Teen Group

several library sheets for books to pick up

a mammogram schedule sheet from my doctor

torn catalog pages/Father's Day ideas

a recipe for rhubarb grunt

4th of July windsock craft sheet

Next week:

birthday cards for Bookworm

photocopied information on St. John's Day/Eve

a recipe for spiced St. John's wine

Over the weekend when I do further planning I move any materials that are still timely (i.e. didn't get done) into the new folder before retiring the old folder to the crate. 

I'm often asked if I keep the kids' work samples in the folders, and the answer is no, I do not. Not really. For example, back in February we attended an Owl Pellet class. The emails about the class stayed in the folder but the papers the kids did at class went in the work basket on the learning room floor. Maybe that distinction just makes sense in my own head, but I don't want these folders stuffed with every last bit of paper in the house - just those things that need action or are worth saving - either for posterity or future planning.

Now, let's go back to that big stack of last year's folders pictured at the top of this post. At the end of the year I go through them all to refresh my memory as I write up my end-of-year report. I also recycle materials for the following year. So, say I come across a wonderful recipe for a certain feast day or holiday, I'll re-file it in the appropriate folder for next year. If I come across information on a particular full moon or meteor shower or a seasonal craft idea (like sunflower head wreaths or homemade suet cakes), I re-file. I also re-file my holiday planning folders - Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.

The stack of folders gets saved along with last year's calendar in a file box of work samples. So far I've kept a box for every year but I probably should start getting rid of things seeing as we are entering our 10th year of homeschooling!

Now, there is a tendency to fret that a file crate system will take things out of sight out and of mind all too easily. Believe me, I share the same concern. I'm so distracted most days it's a miracle I remember to tie my shoes, lol. 

The important thing to remember with this type of system is two-fold:

Make a PLACE for it and make TIME for it.

I keep my workspace (every mum needs a workspace!) smack dab in the center of the house - the kitchen/learning room area. It's easy enough to move the crate and pack up the materials when a holiday or company is coming. My files are literally at my elbow so it's very easy to add something or pull something out as needed. 

But even more important is remembering to USE the file system. There have been plenty of weeks when I didn't bother and let me tell you those are weeks I'd rather forget. I make a point on Thursday to start my new folder and spend time acquainting myself with the upcoming week. Between Thursday and Friday I make a list of errands to run over the weekend. On Saturday or Sunday or both (depending on when we're busy) I sit down at the table and strategize. Come Monday morning if all goes well, I have a clear idea what the new week is all about and a list of things to get done.

As I said before, this is NOT a perfect system but it does help a lot. Usually a bad week can be chalked up to user-error. ;)

You know if it helps, you could leave me a comment asking me where I'd put something in particular and I can tell you how I'd file it. I love talking "shop" so I'm happy to answer any questions. (In fact I sometimes toy with the idea of composing little file crate "kits" to sell online. Maybe someday.) In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns with the system please feel free to leave me a comment below. I will do a follow-up post and address them all. 

Thanks for stopping by today and thanks for your patience in waiting for this post. Things have been super crazy around here lately what with me going away and the "school" year coming to the close ...

Thank goodness for those file folders, I tell you! ;)

Comments

[Maralena]

Hello Ms. Dawn. I just wanted to let you know that your File Crate System is such a Blessing to me! I am very sure that you hear that a lot! But I just had to write you and tell you that I am enjoying it so much! I have a creative side that doesn't get used much and this helps me stay on track and it gives me a creative outlet that I didn't have before.

By the by, the "Ms." in front of your first name is a southern thing we do down here in Florida. I hope you do not find it offensive. Everyone down here calls each other "Ms." in front of all their first names. It sounds Very sweet when the littlest ones do it!
Praising the Lord for your File Crate System!

[Audrey]

Your site is a blessing. I have tried for months to develop a system to manage my homemaking chores and I was becoming very frustrated. I thought something was wrong with listing everything step by step... I was happy to see that someone else did it the way I did :-)

Your filing system is a gem.

God bless you.

[Denise M]

Dawn,
I think that the paper you have there is notepaper for taking Cornell Notes. I learned about Cornell Notes when my second daughter was in public school. It was something that has helped her. But, I digress.

I have found notebooks like that at Big Lots. I haven't thought to look for notepads though.

Looks like it is also called Law Notes also.
http://www.cleansweepsupply.com/pages/item-top63394.html

I love your blog, and I am going to be implementing your filebox soon. :)

[Alisa]

Hi Dawn I am finally getting around to creating my own crate! I think this is going to work so well for us! I just want to thank you so much for sharing such wonderful things on your blog....I love visiting here!
I linked to your blog from mine and I just wanted to share that I created a PDF document for my sheet that I staple to the front of the file folder. I could not find paper like yours so I made my own.....and prettied it up. I have it offered on my blog as a free download to anyone that would like it. Here is my blog address http://allisgracehere.blogspot.com/2009/07/workboxes-and-planning-time.html

Blessings! Alisa

[Louise]

Thank you so much for this amazing blog, I have just discovered it and am truly inspired. Hoping to organise myself with your help ;-)
I am in the UK and have managed to source a file box http://tinyurl.com/mxkoxv ...can't find a crate anywhere!
But the folders you use, what are they called because the only ones I can find here are not tabbed http://tinyurl.com/nyhhep ....I need tabs!!
In the US you guys always seem to have such great stuff!
Blessings,
Louise

[Jo]

Ok. Now I'm confused. Are the spiral notebook and the journal two separate things or the same?

Also, FYI, my 10 year old son and I both journal this way and my 7 year old just asked me for his own journal!

[Marcia]

Dawn, I am not sure if this is directly related to the file crate system. What is your system for filing your children's completed school requirements? Where do you store them while the school year is ongoing so that when the time for preparing the annual report comes around, everything is ready and you don't waste time looking for sample work? Thanks so much; you're ideas are heaven-sent.

[Dawn]

Hi Dawn

Love your system. Just wondering how you plan your school year. Do you do it by month or year or something else? I wish to use the Charlotte Mason teaching ways this year and wonder if you use it at all. Thanks.

[Courtney]

Dawn, What type of month at a glance calendar do you use? Do you have any more pictures or old posts on your calendar? Do you include lesson plans in this system? Do you use any other type of planner? I'm hoping to get more organized this year and am so inspired by your system. Thank you so much!

[Briar]

Absolutely fabulous as always Dawn! =0) I THINK I've figured out the planning sheets, but I too am curious as to how they fit in.

The calendar holds the week as it actually happens, right? The events, menus and day to day existence. Then the journal is like a stream of consciousness, where thoughts that don't have a home live.

So would that make the planning sheets like the potential of the week? What you want to do, versus what you actually already have, well, planned?

[mel]

Dawn, thank you for another filing post. I have been using your crate for almost two years now and love it! I am thinking of making another this year for stowing school papers and such instead of my current system.

For the person who asked about filing websites,I have a "file crate" on my computer too. I have a favorites folder for every month of the year where I can file liturgical/seasonal ideas, and a folder for other sites too, like "Montessori ideas", etc. I love the monthly ones especially because I can go through, say, the July folder here in a few days looking for ideas for the coming month. It saves printing out a bunch of paper.

[Jo]

Could you tell more about what the weekly planning sheet looks like? Do you have separate ones for each boy?

Also can you share how you log your boys' learning? And more about how you choose and find what goes in the folders (as far as activities, ect.)

Thanks so very much!

[mamalion]

So where do you put the stuff you print off the internet that might not pertain to school? Or do you not print it off? I'm drowning in pieces of paper. And do you have a particular daily/weekly school schedule? Where does it go?

[Lorrry]

I hope I'm not too late to ask a question...
First, I should say I'm not sure how I found your sweet place here on the web, but I'm glad I did. I've enjoyed reading your posts and gotten many good ideas! Thank you for sharing.

My question is: Have you ever used a computer program to keep track of assignments or planning? If you did use a computer program would you still use your file system?

[Anne McD]

Dawn, I have a quick question about the folders-- why do you keep them after you start up the next year's folders? It sounds like all of the children's work is in another basket, and anything you'd use next year (info on feast days, recipes, etc.) have been filed in the next year's folders, so I don't see your rationale for keeping the old ones. Just trying to get a good handle on your system! :) I've set up this year's already, and have them centrally located this time around (I did this a year and a half aho-- out of sight, out of mind-- I never used them:(! ) and I'm really excited about the potential I see for a better organized home! Thanks so much for sharing!!

[Jen]

Dawn, this was a great post. In addition to being a homeschool mom, I am also an administrative assistant part-time. In every job I've had, the first thing I do is create a tickler system. For me, it is the entire key to being organized. I love your idea of weekly folders for the homeschool, rather than daily.

My traditional tickler system at the office has files for days 1-31 and then a file for each month of the year. At the end of each month, I will pull out that next month's file folder and review everything in it. Those items will then be allocated to the appropriate daily folders for the month. My question about your system for home is, do you keep monthly files labeled Jan to Dec for quick organization of recipes, craft ideas, etc. and then file these at the start of each month into the appropriate weekly file folder? Or do you file directly into a specific week? (For example, you come across a great recipe for the Advent season. . .do you immediately assign it to a specific week?)

Thanks for sharing your ideas with us! Ah. . .homeschooling and organization, my two favorite topics!
Jen

[Sarah]

I have a question not so directly related to the file crate, but indirectly: What type of planner do you use for your homeschool planning? I have threatened for years to reinvent the wheel & make a lesson planner of my own, but then it occured to me that you probably already have! I just haven't run across it on your site yet. Any tips? Thank you, Dawn, for sharing so much of yourself with us.

Sarah

[Dawn]

I am very impressed. I'm not sure if I could stick to this, but I think I'm impressed enough to give it a try. Thank you for posting your idea. I currently have a somewhat modified weekly schedule in a spiral bound notebook, but your idea seems cleaner and easier to move things around.

[Audra]

Thanks so much for this! I too am "organizationally challenged" This makes sense to me & definitely seems doable!

[Lecia]

What a great system! I think this is what I have been looking for. I tend to store ideas in my head where they seem to get lost, never to show up again! I think it is a great idea to look ahead so you can pick up needed supplies, etc. over the weekend. That prevents Monday morning scrambling to run out and buy what you need for the day.
Do you list everything you are doing on your planning sheet or do you just list the things that are not the regular daily things?

[Jo]

I second a post on what you do with the boys work. I have been saving my children's work in the file folders and for some reason thought I got that idea from you. Please tell more!

[Aunt Pippy]

Dawn,

I, too, never tire of your organizational posts. I have read and re-read your file crate posts numerous times.

I do have a question. Do you write out weekly "lesson plans" for each child and where do you keep up with them? Just wondering how this fits in with the file crate system.

Thanks so much. Look forward to up coming posts answering all the questions. :)

[Vicki]

I'm helping my husband organize his home office this weekend as well as planning out my school year. Your post is so timely for me and I really like your ideas. Thanks!!!!!! PS: You're amazing!

[Gwyn]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I am 'organizationaly challenged'. I have been using your spiral notebook idea for several years. I use it to plan menus among other things. I to am interested in how you intergrate it with the folders.

I have read your entries on organization for several years and never get tired of new ones. Even though I have read older ones on the file crate, this one has hit me in a different way, and I am going to start it this weekend. I have another question about integration. In the past you have posted on a homemaking notebook. Do you integrate it with your folders? What size crate do you use?

Thanks again.

[Tracey (Connections)]

Dawn-

Thanks for the tips. I am wondering if you can explain how you "recycle" ideas from year to year. It is my understanding that you retain all of the folders from the previous year. If you have great ideas in those folders that you want to use again the following year, how do you organize those?

Also, I would love to see an entire post on how you DO save the boys' work samples and creations. It sounds like you may hold onto paper (much like myself) and I would love to hear any tips for storing all of the papers they complete and create!

Thanks.

[cindy dodd]

Absolutely wonderful!
Cindy

[Arlene Grimm]

I really enjoy your organizational posts Dawn. I have an empty nest now and can pretty much use my calendar to keep up with things. I wish I had had your file system when my kids were younger. It would have been a big help. Thanks for sharing.

[Marcia]

Dawn, that weekly planning sheet stapled to the cover of the current week's folder is a gem! My goodness, of they should be together! I have been using your file crate system, but I use a store-bought diary to write my weekly plans on. Physically separated, the weekly folder and the weekly plans become more difficult to use as parts of a system. You are one smart lady. Thanks!

[Jo]

Just a thought. Maybe your systems could be published one day? Thanks for sharing.

[Rebecca]

I love your blog, as it inspires me in so many ways as a homeschooling mom. You have such a positive attitude and joyful spirit! I'm definitely going to give your file system a whirl. It really appeals to my desire to have things planned out nicely for my kids. That seems to be the only way that we actually do the things I imagine myself doing!

[Heather]

oh yes, one other thing, with the daily system, I write Saint's Days and bdays on the outside cover so I know when I pull that file that this is an important day.

One good thing is that I don't have to remake the files every year, I can just reuse them (although that takes away from the fun doesn't it?).

[Heatehr]

Dawn you are the Goddess of Organization! Thanks for the inspiration! I have a daily file folder system which I haven't used b/c I can't access it at the moment. Yep, every day has a file. This way I can put direction to field trips, etc., in it or mark saint days and activities for it.

Now I have to get back to it, get my crate and put it by my side so I can use it this year! Or, do I switch to use the weekly system which looks so appealing....?

[Faye]

Thanks so much for this Dawn. When I discovered your blog recently, I spent many a night going through all your organisation entries and picking my jaw up off the floor. I look for any excuse to buy stationery but your file crate system gave me free reign to have a field day at my stationery supplier :) I haven't been organised enough to start using the system though *cough*

For about a month I used a weekly menu planner and I would compile a grocery list on the weekend and shop on Monday. Those few weeks were the most organised when it came to my kitchen. I stopped following it (no excuse there!) and surprise surprise, meal times are hectic as I am trying to think of what to prepare without much notice!

My question for you follows:

I have bookmarked so so so many websites in the hopes that "one day" I will go back and look through them all when it comes to planning lessons and themes. Reality dictates that I probably never will look at those sites again. How do you file and retrieve useful information you have found online? For eg, do you print out the resource as soon as you see it and file it, or do you just bookmark it on your computer for "a later time?"

thanks!

[Baleboosteh]

I love your organisation posts Dawn and never tire of them. This coming school year will be our third year of using your file crate system - it really works! We live in a small home and don't have a great deal of space so it is great to have such a compact and easy to manage system. It helps me not to worry and fret about what we should be doing and where I've put stuff. Up until now I have only been homeschooling one child so I have been able to keep quite a lot of the work in the crate as well. Where I fall down is the weekly 'maintenance' aspect - but that is my fault, not the system's. I really do need to be more disciplined about weekly planning and filing. I don't keep household stuff in the crate but that may change this year. I've been using a separate binder with my own calendar pages but am finding it a little unwieldy.

Thank you so much again for your inspiration and for taking the time to share this with us. I only wish we had as nice a selection of stationery supplies in the UK as you have in the USA!
Michelle

[Greta]

Hi Dawn

Thanks so much for this file crate post. I am curious to know where you buy your office supplies. I would love some file folders in pretty colors.

[Jenny]

Dawn, I love your organization posts! I, too, am curious about how you incorporate the spiral notebooks, and if you still use your clipboard?

Thanks so much for sharing - your blog is a wonderful inspiration!

[Kristie]

Wow, for a person who struggles with organization, this is something I might actually consider using. Imagine, planning for the week before the weekend so you can run errands? I've never thought of something so simple. I tend to overcomplicate, and although this sounds way more detailed than I think I could handle, it also sounds very simple. Thanks for sharing this system! It's almost like planning for the whole year at once (very overwhelming for me), only it's not.

[Lisa]

Thanks for the posts like this one--It always helps me to rethink my system.

[Sara]

Dawn,

I'm curious how you organize mail and bills, etc? Is that a separate system or integrated into this one? Thanks!

[Kat]

Oh no, here it comes...that good ole feeling to plan again...Thanks for the inspiration Dawn!

[Jane]

Oh no, another organization post, I'm being overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy!!!

[Teresa Slaubaugh]

Dawn,

I never tire of opening your blog and seeing a post on organization of the home and school!!!!LOL. We have incorporated many of your ideas and I have to say, this was our best school year. So hats off to you! You are a kindred spirit (Anne of Green Gables). I do have a question.
How does your spiral notebook with clippings and tidbits fit in with this system??? I have been using it also. That is where my menus have been written down and projects I sketch out to attack. I recently tore our schoolroom/ diningroom down and reworked it on paper first, then attacked it over a few days.
Does any of your systems overlap into which you are rewriting dates, meals, etc????
Thank you for answering these questions.
Teresa

PS. Thank you for sharing the spiral notebook. It has been one of those tools that has been a life saver. It is nice to save just a recipe instead of a whole magazine, or one decorating photo instead of a whole magazine and all those little scraps aren't cluttering the whole house!!!

[Penny in VT]

wow. Bowing to your organizational genius AND your ability to write it down so that even *I*, the organizationally challenged, can understand and maybe even feel hopeful about (gasp) becoming more organized.

I can't wait to see how this translates into your schoolroom. :)

Thank you so much Dawn. Staples thanks you too! LOL

(and I'm really glad you had a great weekend with your friends! :))

[stephanie]

I think this post answered my questions, but maybe you can clarify - do you use a year-round system of folders or only have folders for the time of year that you school? (I believe I understand correctly that you aren't a completely year-round schooler?) :) It seems to make sense to have a folder per week for the whole year because the activities don't quit just because the full gamut of homeschooling does. Thoughts?

Always love to hear about organization ... thank you for sharing. :)

[Jaala Rogers]

I think this system would work perfectly for our house! TFS! Now I am curious about the recipe for spiced St. John's wine!! Can you share? :) Thanks!

[Jennifer]

I really like this system - as a lover of systems in general - and am praying through how to best implement something like it for us. I'm forever regretting that I missed a full moon or a saints day, and wishing I had kept myself together - not to mention figuring out how to store all those recipes and activities and book lists related to each one. Great idea... and if and when I get a system going (probably August, in time for school to start in September... I'll be sure to let you know!

[Jennifer Mackintosh]

Hi Dawn! I never, ever tire of hearing about the file crate system! It's terribly inspiring and happy to look at!

My question is where do you get the yellow lined paper with the pink line that is very usefully more towards the center of the page allowing for two columns to write in??? That would be a very handy thing indeed for planning and noting action items!

Thanks for the time it took to get this post out! Always fresh inspiration here!

[Nicole Coffin]

Dawn,
I noticed that there is a menu section for the front of the weekly folder. Is this just for special items related to the week's lessons or do you list your meals there also?
I always write out my meals on a sheet of paper and then create my grocery list accordingly.
I often debate if I should save my weekly menu lists (I never do as I tend to purge the house of paper quite often). I think of how interesting it would be to see a weekly menu and grocery list, handwritten by my grandmother when she had young children at her home and a husband away at war....
I wonder if you have saved such things, just as you have saved lesson plans from years past.