"Knowledge is not a loose-leaf notebook of facts."
Jacob Bronowski (1908 - 1974) English historian, mathematician
Table Top Protectors
While it may not bring you Knowledge with a capital K, a loose-leaf notebook can be a great way to organize your information!
As the author of Can't I Just Shred It All? 101 Quick Tips to File - and Find - Your Important Papers, file folders are usually my preferred method for organizing paper. However, there are a number of situations where binders can be a better choice:
If you have limited floor space and can't fit a file cabinet, you can store binders on a bookshelf or wall-mounted shelves. It's often more convenient to access frequently-used information if it's in a binder, not in a file. Think contact lists, schedules, policies and procedures, etc. Keep the binder in a spot where you can grab it quickly. It can be much easier to refer to information that's organized in a binder with subject tabs and a table of contents than if it's in a folder. If you need to keep papers in a specific order, or ensure that they won't get lost, binders are great. If you have a lot of papers related to one topic, a file folder can get unwieldy but a binder will keep things neat. Special pockets can make binders a great choice for storing CDs, photos, slides, and all sorts of other items. If you are an "out of sight, out of mind" kind of person, you may feel better about having your papers in full view, in well-labeled binders. If you love using a hole-puncher, binders are for you! If you find it a chore but want to use binders anyway, spend the extra few cents and get paper that's pre-drilled with holes. You can also use plastic sheet protectors - just slip in the papers, no need for punching.
Avoid the mistakes that so many people make when using binders! Follow these tips to use binders effectively:
Label It! Almost every office I work in has "mystery binders" on the shelves. All the time you've spent organizing your information and putting it in a binder will be for naught if you can't easily locate it when you need it. Label the spine and the front of the binder. Seems obvious, and yet...
Think Goldilocks and the three bears -- get the right size binder for your papers. If the rings are too large, you're wasting space on your shelf. If they're too small it's hard to turn the pages, you won't be able to add new information, the rings will begin to split open and will catch on the page, you'll resort to shoving papers in front of the rings in no particular order, they'll fall out and make a mess... Trust me, it's not pretty.
If your binder has those curved plastic inserts that say This Side to Sheets, do yourself a favor and actually put that side next to the papers! It will keep them flat and make it easier to turn the pages.
PUT THESE TIPS INTO ACTION:
Think about the information that you need to access and create a binder or two to keep everything at your fingertips.