Photo by Declan Jewell
Becoming paperless is on the one hand quite a task to fulfill and on the other hand something you’ll enjoy for the rest of your life.
I am now busy becoming paperless and I am halfway there. I already reap the benefits and I am happy I have taken this step.
For me as a musician I can now access my sheetmusic really fast wherever I want without having to search through a pile of papers. I think everyone can really benefit from a paperless office in their own way.
Also the feeling of simplicity that goes with it suits my lifestyle and I see more and more possibilities as my paperless office progresses.
Here are the major benefits of becoming paperless:
– You are going to have all your documents on your computer and uploaded to an online storage space. (A safe back up)
– You can acces all your documents from anywhere in the world. You just need a laptop or IPad and you can run your business from anywhere. You can also go to a public library or internet cafe and work there.
– You can send your documents to people really fast. You don’t need to search for it anymore between those big pile of papers somewhere on one of those shelves in one of those closets.
– You’ll have more space and less clutter.
– You’ll save the environment.
– It feels good.
How to do it:
Sorting out
Sort out all your paperwork and narrow it down to just the essentials.
Get rid of as much documents as possible. Think twice over every piece of paper before you try to keep it. Are you really going to need it? Are you really going to use it anymore? Is it that much important? If you still keep old magazines, rip out that one great article and get rid of the rest.
Be ruthless!
Scanning
Scanning can be a massive task and it can be overwhelming but it doesn’t have to be. Just take small steps. Give yourself 1 hour each day to scan a pile of documents. Don’t think about all the documents that still have to be taken care of. Live in the now. Just scan for an hour and let it go for the rest of the day. Make sure you stick with it. If you don’t have an hour each day, then make it half an hour. Just scan a few docments each day. After a few weeks you’ll see the result and it will feel pretty awesome.
Uploading
Upload all your documents / files to Googledocs, Skydrive (Microsoft) or Dropbox. Name all your files and put them in folders with easily found names so you can retrieve your documents as fast as possible.
Backing up
Don’t rely on just one online backup storage. Use mulitple ones. If you prefer Googledocs or dropbox then use those mainly, but (auto) backup on Skydrive for example. If for any reason you can not retrieve your documents on Google docs you will always have an alternative. Also backup on an external hard drive just in case.
Enjoy the benefits!
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