Recently a client wrote to me with a very good question. I always advise that folks file their papers into hanging folders and when they do this to insert the individual papers with the top heading to the right.

Here is what my client wrote:

This is question that pops in my mind every time I file something . . . .
what is the reason for filing papers with the tops on the right side of the folder?  I cannot remember nor figure out the benefit of it but half my papers are filed that way and half the other way.  Every time I file something I pause to think which way to put it.  Please advise!

Thanks, Sharon

My response:

There are two very good reasons to file ‘heads to the right’

1. 80% of the time, the important info is on the top left corner. When it is heads to he left you see the important info without having to remove the file from the folder

2. When folks paperclip, fold or staple and file papers in the file ‘heads to the left’, papers catch together and also have a tendency to fall in-between each other.