Organization · 5 min read
Color-Coding That Actually Works
Color-coding fails when it's too clever. The systems that last are the ones with three or four categories, consistent meaning, and labels you can read at a glance.
Limit yourself to four colors
Pick four categories that map to how you actually work — for example: active, reference, financial, and personal. More than four and you'll forget which is which.
Assign each a color and write it down. The system only works if the meaning is fixed.
Label, then color
Color tells you the category from across the room; the label tells you the specifics up close. Use both. A color with no label is a guess.
Make it physical and digital
Mirror your colors across folders, labels, and your calendar. When the physical and digital systems match, you stop translating between them.
Mentioned in this article
Tools that help
A filing language the whole desk can read.
Ten folders for every kind of paper you carry.
Twelve colors for thinking out loud.