I'm a Virgo. Wait! I promise I'm not about to get all astrological on you - credulousness must have its limits. But the problem with being a Virgo who's convinced horoscopes are nonsense is this: I really am a Virgo, character-wise. Those born under most signs get to be brave or loving or wise; Virgos get to be "neat and tidy". I bear my burden stoically: after all, it can't be everyone's destiny to win wars, or set hearts aflame, otherwise who'd be left to line up all the pens at a precise right angle to the side of the desk? I have some non-astrological theories on this - about Virgos being the oldest kids in their school years and feeling responsible for keeping things orderly. But the point is that I am a neat-freak and it's only right to acknowledge this before leaping into the marvellously weekendish, relaxing-with-your-croissant topic of filing systems.

Of course, it isn't just neat-freaks who use filing systems: we all have some way of organising our email, bank statements, office files, books and CDs, even if our chosen method is "in a stack on the floor". At work, many of us have to grapple with systems created by others. But what makes the subject so uninteresting to non-neat-freaks, I think - especially to people who pride themselves on being "spontaneous" - is that filing things away is a question not just of effort, but of effort with no clear payoff. Cooking a meal, putting up shelves: these require work, but at least the benefit is tangible. Spend 30 minutes putting your credit card bills in chronological order, as many books on "getting organised" would have you do, and it might, one day, save a few seconds. But it might not. So we try, then we lose heart, instead creating that testament to self-deception, the "to file" file.

But neither the anal-retentives nor the spontaneity-lovers are quite right. On the one hand, a good filing system will help, not hinder, spontaneity, as David Allen, one of this column's governing deities, says - when your brain trusts you'll be able to find things when you need them, you let go of trying to keep a mental handle on where everything is, freeing your head for creativity. On the other, almost all filing systems are indeed pointlessly laborious. Here's a middle way (with borrowings from the blogs zenhabits.net and 43folders.com):

1 For paper files, a simple A-Z system is best. Keep a list of filenames on computer, for easy searching.

2 For electronic documents, you should need only one folder, labelled "archive": any decent computer can search it all, lightning-fast. If you're still filing emails according to who sent them: stop it!

3 The degree of orderliness should be proportional to the likelihood of needing to locate things. Some documents might theoretically prove crucial, but probably won't ever be needed; throw them in a box and forget them. Don't bother imposing order on the mess until they're required - if they ever are.

4 File less; discard/recycle more. If you probably won't need a document and could find it online, why keep it? Heretically, it's even worth considering junking books: if you could buy them again in an emergency, might you benefit more from the freed-up space?

oliver.burkeman@theguardian.com