In case you’ve been hiding under a rock every Spring since you were born, April 15th is Tax Day - so you better make sure you’ve filed your tax return by then!

You should also know that last year there were many tax changes. If you found it a bit challenging to get all the pertinent information needed to file your tax return this year, why not use this as a reason to get organized for next year?

There are many ways to get organized and make a difference in the way your information is stored. Here are just a few tips for keeping important information in a safe place.

1. Invest in a sturdy file cabinet
Once you graduated into ‘adult’ status, you can no longer get by with just tossing papers into piles or into boxes in your office. Invest in a good filing cabinet, and organize all your important documents with folders. This will keep things like birth certificates, marriage certificates, social security cards and other important information organized, along with business information, financial information and all past tax returns in case the IRS comes calling one day.

2. Utilize an online project management system
Get your projects organized at work and at home by implementing an online project management system. Not only can this organize your projects and tasks, but it can store other business information, including client contacts, contracts, passwords and presentations.

3. Create folders in your inbox
If you are addicted to email like so many people are, try organizing your emails with folders. Create folders for the people with whom you communicate, for topics about which you communicate or even create a folder for all those funny forwards you get. Cleaning up your inbox like this will help you easily find emails in the future.

4. Clean out that glove compartment
Sometimes you do need to keep important information in your car’s glove compartment. Make sure the car manual, registration information and insurance card are kept neat and easy to find by cleaning out your glove box. You don’t need to use it as a candy wrapper storage container, nor should it hold those CD cases you can’t store anywhere else.

5. Simplify your desk layout
With your computer, keyboard, phone, notepad and pen, you have a lot of stuff on your desk already. Why clutter it up with old sticky notes, a million trinkets from home or the contents of your pockets? When you have a neat and tidy desk, you can focus more on your work, which will increase your productivity. This is always a good side effect of being more organized.

With better ways to organize all your business and personal information, you will feel better about getting things done, and be ready for tax time to roll around next year.