The dream of the paperless office emerged in the early development years of the PC. Computers were going to save us from the mountains of paper that seemed to rule the world, but with computers came printers and copiers and faxes, all of which threatened to snow us under this enormous white blanket. I remember going from less paper to more and more paper. The dream of the paperless office remained just that, a dream.
We needed paper it seemed to conduct ourselves, our business transactions with people. I remember thinking and saying that paper was the glue that held the world together, indeed our very way of life. Without paper the system would collapse, and yet I never completely let go of the dream.
This article outlines some of my experiences and learnings in setting up a almost paperless personal organization system.
The technology catches up
There was a time when it was just not possible to go paperless. The technology was not there or was prohibitively expensive for most. This, however, has changed dramatically with the advent of inexpensive high capacity hard drives, wireless home networks and multifunction printers/scanners with document feeders.
Will I be able to read my documents into the future?
For some people the question of being able to read their documents into the future is a valid question. When digital formats change that information may get locked into archaic formats that are unreadable with modern equipment. I have answered this question by keeping all my stuff in one place on a drive large enough to hold it. Should the format change I will move the information to the new format. I will also need to monitor software formats but at this time feel that PDF, DOC, JPEG, GIF and HTML are here to stay for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile audio, and video formats have always been locked on media retrievable only with the correct equipment. Our digital world is actually a much more stable environment to store data than the analog world of the recent past.
The benefits of digital
Now with each passing day I am going more and more paperless. During the past year I have been making a concerted effort to reduce my reliance on paper and the benefits are astounding. Electrons really are easier to keep track of and store and search. I now scan most of my paper documents and store them in a PDF format on my computer in my home. Those that are not paper I keep digitized. I also keep my photos and music as well as ebooks. Although, I have been quite good at keeping paper under control in my life, I have noticed that scanning them into my computer system not only frees up space in the home by not needing a filing cabinet, but I can more reliably find items I need.
Certainly, digital has other advantages over paper in that it is potentially more durable as electrons rather than ink or paint on paper. It does not degrade as long as the storage media is maintained and can be replicated as much as required keeping it even safer.
I love the lack of paper clutter. Paper is now reserved for those books I like to curl up with and read on a cool winter evening or for that small amount of memorabilia that is there to look and reminisce about with my spouse.
I still use paper to jot down notes or to think through an idea, but now I just scan the notes into my computer available for when I wish. I also have access to my documents and ideas in other locations through the use of an ftp client. I can locate and download what I need from my personal server whenever I have a need, even thousands of miles away. It is a very freeing feeling to have access to my important documents whenever and wherever I am as long as I have a computer and an internet connection, which today is most places.
I can more easily transfer documents using email as well. On a recent extended trip to Asia I carried copies of my passport, credit card and health insurance on a password protected jump drive for safe keeping in case I needed the information due to loss. As well, I emailed them to my hotmail account for the time I was away.
All my stuff in one place
I essentially like having all my “stuff” in one place. I back it up regularly and feel more secure about my documents than when they were paper. I still have a few legal papers like insurance policies and house titles that I keep a paper copy of, but most other items become digitized, or remain digitized and the paper copies put in the disposal. I only have one place to look for my documents, music, video, photos and even ebooks.
A simple folder structure
I have a simple directory structure that includes:
- Archive - items I no longer use but I am not ready to delete
- Backups - roboform and website
- Documents - documents I crafted as well as scanned documents such as invoices, legal papers, meeting minutes, worksheets
- ebooks - documents others have crafted
- Movies - all movies or videos including ones I have created
- Music - all music files
- Pictures - all image files
- Software - programs, drivers and documentation
- Temp - a temp directory that I empty every so often
I try to limit sub folders to only two more levels so that I do not have to dig too deep for a file. I simply give the sub folders any name that seems to make sense at the time but pay particular attention to filing by entity. For instance, I will file my Mastercard statements under Mastercard and bank statements under the name of the bank, rather than combining them in a folder called statements. Except for the broadest categories I always try to file by entity. Of course, the computer orders the folders alpha numerical which reflects my old paper system.
I have also moved all my music that was on CD’s to my computer and although I do have a lot of photos from the past in print form, (they will likely stay that way), I have in recent years (primarily due to having a digital camera) stored my photos as digital images. From time to time I get prints of specific photos I wish to frame. I find that a laptop or an iPod is a great way to share my photos with others.
Backup
I have mirrored drives on a Network Attached Storage (NAS) drive that is synchronized with a password protected portable drive. I keep the portable drive in my briefcase and take it with me when I am away from the house. If something were to happen to my NAS I still have the portable drive.
A changed lifestyle - electrons now hold my world together
I do not get a newspaper delivered to the door any longer and get most of my news from the internet or over the radio while driving in the car. I feel really good about not consuming paper as much and recycle all that still finds it way to my door.
All in all, this has been a very positive move for me. I still like to sit in a comfortable chair with a good magazine or a good book but all in all I find that it really is more and more possible to go paperless. My Blackberry keeps me in touch with the office as well, but that is another article.
Having moved to paperless, I have no intention of going back and everyday I look for more and more ways to reduce and recycle my previous reliance on papers and let electrons become the new glue of my world.
Tips to a more paperless existence
- Set up the technology
- Create one digital place for all your stuff
- Commit to making all items digital as possible
- Backup
Time is on your side
Setting up a more paperless life takes time and commitment. If it is something that is important to you then each step you take will get you closer. Setting up the technology is the most time consuming and difficult if you want a networked system. A simple system with a scanner hooked up to one computer should not take long at all. Commit…time is on your side.