There are 2 main methods of filing, which are Loose Leaf method and secondly, the Collective method.

1.    Loose-Leaf method

Documents are filed individually in a normal file, holes are punched in the documents and then they are filed.

Advantages

•    Documents can be filed and de-filed very easily.
•    Does not occupy too much of space.
•    Easy to sub-divide by just using simple dividers.

Disadvantages

•    There are high chances of the documents being torn or damaged.
•    Retrieving and searching for documents is very time consuming.
•    Documents can be misplaced very easily.

2. Collective Method

There are 2 files, one an inner file and the second one, an outer file.

Advantages

•    Less chance of misfiling as each main category is marked.
•    Similarly, locating any file becomes easy as each category and sub-category is marked.

Disadvantages

•    Takes up more space as the filing method is a 2 step process.
•    Working with the same method in an unknown workplace is very difficult.
•    Also the filing process becomes time-consuming and tedious, and hence may decrease efficiency and cause inconvenience.