When dealing with papers around the house do you ever feel like this? I sure do, almost always…
Filing papers is like doing laundry – there’s no end and you are never ‘done’. Even with so much going digital, there is always a mound of papers in my house hiding in various nooks and crannies. One day my husband and I took some time to consolidate the papers and see what we needed, what should be recycled, and what should be shredded. The ‘to be filed’ papers are still sitting in box in our garage but at least we made a bit of room on our tables.
We were just talking about how much easier it would be to scan in everything instead of keeping paper copies. After all, online document review is so much easier to sort through, reference, and access when away from home. Nothing replaces that handy-dandy search tool!
Another format that we’ve been using a lot more are PDF (Portable Document Format) files. They are easy to manipulate, keep all necessary fonts and images, and you can even merge PDF files for better organization. A few companies are starting to utilize this format more. For a couple of contracts that I recently signed, I was given a digital pdf copy. Now that’s a good idea! That way I have proof of the deal and can get to it any time I need it. If, for any reason, changes need to be made it only takes a click or two to convert PDF to word, edit, then save it as a PDF again.
I don’t know if all that is more work or less. But, if it can save my tables, desks, floors, shelves from paper-overflow it might just be worth it!
8 comments
We did that… and then our server died! Digital is great and I’m right at 60/40 myself. But for some paperwork, having a paper file in hand is so worth it and for important legal docs I have a digital copy and a paper copy in my safe deposit box and with my lawyer (wills, POA, trust information, etc). I would LOVE to go 100% digital (and now we have a server AND a backup) but don’t see that happening for awhile. 🙁
Yep, it’s not easy making the switch. We also have a backup for digital files – external hard drives are so cheap these days. Good idea about your more important documents though!
I am still SUCH a paper girl LOL For as techy as I AM – I still have tons and tons and TONS of paper. I cant seem to let it go.
One week post-computer crash I am even MORE convinced that I will always have paper… even if the paper is my “back up” 🙂
True, it certainly has a place. It’s just that stinkin’ filing! If only we opened the mail and it instantly went into the filing cabinet in the right place and order. I’d pay big bucks for that!
It would reduce the paper clutter for sure. I’m HORRIBLE with paper accumulation!
I know, filing is such a bore. The worst thing is when you sit down to go through piles and end up making more 😛
I’ve been thinking about going digital, but the thought of another item on the “to-do” list gives me heartburn. 🙂
True, true – and we wouldn’t want that now, would we 😛
Comments are closed.