The Right Side of Organization: How to Use Side Tab Dividers for Notebooks and Binders

Can't go completely digital yet? That's totally alright! Click here to learn how to use side tab dividers to get organized.

According to business studies, professionals lose upward of 6 hours every workweek due to disorganization alone.

This means that most professionals are consistently unproductive and wasting time. Believe it or not, something as simple as keeping an organized binder can make a world of difference.

Breaking down your important notes and documents with side tab dividers will help you. From there, you can create a system that works for you.

Keep reading to learn how to organize your binder using these dividers.

1. Create Subcategories That Get You the Most Organized

Your first step is figuring out which categories require separation. It'll always be different based on your needs.

A lawyer setting up a trial binder will want to include subcategories for things like individual witness testimony, sample jury questions, pretrial orders, photographic evidence, opening statements, and closing arguments.

A teacher or professor might break their binder down based on chapters and curriculum. Find what works best so you can purchase all the dividers you need to make it happen.

2. Use a System That's Easily Adaptable

Think about your average workflow when figuring out how to organize your binder.

School systems have picked up on the usefulness of organized binders in the AVID program that many adopt. With this program, students are encouraged to use a single binder for all of their school subjects.

These subjects are separated by dividers, and students are encouraged to figure out a basic system that they find easiest to keep up with. The system you create for your binders will depend on your personality and whatever is best for your workflow.

Make it uniform and stick to it. This means deciding between Arabic or Roman numerals, choosing color-coded tabs, including a table of contents, and more.

3. Include Tabs and Side Tab Dividers That are Durable

Purchasing custom printed tabs for your binder adds to its uniqueness and makes you more likely to use your system. Take your time when shopping for these dividers so that you choose the most durable and easy to use materials.

These dividers are often laminated or made with plastic or sturdy paper. Choosing the right material makes it easy for you to differentiate between subjects and will keep your dividers from ripping easily.

Make sure that the tabs are also easily legible and able to carry the weight of however many pages you're flipping.

Companies can set you up with dividers that have 5 to 10 tabs or more. Having them custom printed adds more finality to your notebook, which makes you more likely to adopt the system.

4. Purchase a Solidly Built Binder

To get the best use of your tabs, you'll also need to purchase the most solid binder you can find.

These binders usually come in the 1-inch to 3-inch varieties. Binders make an excellent tool since they're so easy to use and you can store them neatly and carry them with you wherever you go.

Choose a binder that has sealed plastic that won't easily stretch or rip during constant use. You should also make sure that the binder rings are durable and won't break or get bent easily.

5. Add Some Clear Sleeves to Go With the Dividers

When purchasing dividers, make sure to also invest in clear sleeves and pockets.

Having plenty of these sleeves available lets you add any kinds of documents, not just those that are already hole punched. This is important in areas of business like the legal field, which uses a lot of documents and handouts.

6. Audit and Clean Out Your Binder Regularly

Clutter is the enemy to any good binder system, so run through regular binder checks to get rid of anything that you don't need.

This is why it's so important that you keep the dates of all documents that you're compiling. You can organize your binder by dates so that your older documents are much easier to phase out.

When phasing out older physical documents, remember to digitize them prior to discarding them. You never know when an important case file or financial record might become necessary, and having digital copies helps you to keep them forever.

Choose a time of the week or month that you go through your binder no matter what. It's better to clean your binder out on your own volition, rather than waiting for it to become too bulky or difficult to use.

7. Reassess Your Process Whenever Necessary

When learning how to organize your business with binders, you might make a lot of mistakes. Above all, make sure that you keep fine-tuning your system so that you can use it in a way that is most useful to you.

Assess your process and don't be afraid to make changes whenever necessary. A single tweak to your binder system can make you more productive as a professional, which is essentially your only goal with this process.

Set Up Your Binder to Help You Succeed

As you can see, keeping a neat binder is essential, and side tab dividers can help. You will fall in love with your binder system when you follow these tips and order some custom printed dividers.

No matter what you're looking for, Exhibit Indexes will gladly help you out. We've got something that can help your legal company and any other business that you run.

Ready to get organized once and for all? We've got everything you need. Shop for all of your binder supplies today!