Going paperless in your home offers several benefits, consider how much time you spend going through your mail, printing, copying, searching for documents, and sending documents to others.
If you are dependent on paper documents, you can end up spending valuable time managing and searching for those items. Cutting down on your reliance to paper can make you more efficient and reduce the paper clutter in your home. There will always be paper documents you need to retain, but you can decrease the amount you keep and receive.
How to Get Started
Start by making three document piles, “keep, digitalize, and trash”. Put all the documents you currently have that you must keep in the keep pile. Things like birth certificates, the deed to your home, marriage license, Social Security card, and other items that you must retain. Scan these documents to your computer and organize them appropriately into folders on the computer so that you have not only the paper copy but a digital copy as well. Then put the originals in a safe location. Having a digital copy of the documents you are keeping acts as a backup and also allows you easy access to those files.
The digitalized pile should contain documents that once scanned can be shredded and thrown away. This can include receipts, bank statements, utility bills and other documents that you don’t need once they have been digitalized. Once they have been scanned to your computer put the paper copies in the trash pile and then shred all the documents in the trash pile and throw them away.
Once you have taken care of the documents you currently have take steps to reduce the amount of mail you receive. You can do this by signing up for online bill pay and statements so that those types of documents are not mailed to you and instead you receive a digital copy. Almost every business has paperless options, and you can easily log into your accounts online to download any documents you need.
Benefits of Going Paperless
Improved Organization & Accessibility
When all your documents are digitalized and organized on your computer you will know just where to go to find what you are looking for. You can easily search for and find the documents you need and if you store copies of your documents in the cloud you can access them from anywhere, at home and away.
Share with Others
Having a digital copy of your documents allows you to easily share them with others when necessary.
Backups and Disaster Recovery
Once you have everything digitalized if there is a natural disaster, theft, fire, or other event that causes you to lose paper copies you will always have a digital copy to replace it. Once your documents have been digitalized you want to have a backup and recovery plan in place so that your computer is backed up on a regular basis.
Essentials of Your Data Backup Plan
Enhanced Security
Paper documents are susceptible to loss, manipulation, damage, and theft. A paperless system protects you from losing years of valuable information.
Reduced Paper Clutter and Trash
Landfills are overflowing with trash and anything that we don’t throw away reduces waste. Less paper means fewer trees are harvested and it cuts down on energy and pollutants that occur during paper production and distribution.
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