How do you organize your paper files? By category? By date? By some other arbitrary system? What happens when you need to search them in a different way?

Relational databases have the answer. Like spreadsheets, they store most entries with a numerical index that increments with each new row. As you sort your files, given each entry a number. Plug that number into a spreadsheet alongside a name and a set of tags. For example:

37 | Tax Form 1014 for 2017 | taxes, 2017, personal, mortgage

Now you can perform a simple text search instead of pouring through files. Quicker, easier, and far fewer paper cuts. How well could this work for you?