(Credit: RaShawn Dixon; Ground Picture, Ingrid Balabanova, Victeah/Shuttershock.com)
How many pieces of paper are on your kitchen counter, dining room table, or some other place where they don't belong? Do you hang onto receipts? Is there a stack of papers from the vet that you keep in case you need to remember exactly what meds your cat took three years ago? All that paper sits there waiting for a time when you'll be able to deal with it, which never seems to come.
It's time to get rid of the paper and all the guilt that piles up along with it. It's time to go paperless.
What Does Paper-Free Mean?
I've been paper-free for more than a decade. By paper-free, I don't mean I have zero papers in my life. I still need my paper birth certificate, of course, and I prefer using a traditional notebook for taking certain kinds of notes, like in language classes and when I'm making pottery.
For the most part, though, I don't hang on to paper. Instead, I scan important documents to a storage service and keep digital notes in a note-taking app. I write my to-do list and shopping list in a task-management app. I pin restaurant recommendations in Google Maps. There are so many simple tricks that can help you remove paper from your life if you're willing to pick up a few tools to do it.
Going digital is easy. The hard part is not letting paper creep back in. If you're ready to get rid of most of the paper in your life, here's what you need to know to get started and to keep it up.
1. Ignore the Backlog
The first step in going paperless is to forget about whatever paper backlog you've already accumulated and instead focus on the new habits you need going forward. What will you do differently starting from this day forward? It may sound counterintuitive, but it works.
Having to deal with a backlog can feel overwhelming, and when people feel overwhelmed, they procrastinate. So forget about it for now. In short, don't look backward. Adopt a go-forward approach instead.
You'll get to your old piles of paper someday—or not. For now, don't let those old papers hold you back.
2. Get These 4 Apps
To make real progress going paperless, you need four apps/services:
a to-do list app to write down and organize tasks, chores, shopping lists, and other reminders—I recommend Todoist
an online storage service where you will store the majority of your digitized papers, and which lets you easily and securely send large files to other people
a scanning app to quickly digitize physical papers (unless your online storage service already comes with one, which it might)
an e-signature tool for signing documents—you probably already have one installed on your computer, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader or Apple Preview (shown below), or one might be included with your online storage service
A to-do list app is fairly straightforward. Find something you like and commit to using it. Try to limit yourself to no more than five tasks per day, and three is probably better. People who assign themselves too many tasks and then don't do them end up ditching their to-do lists.
The online storage service is the most important app/service you need, so I talk about it in more detail in the next step.
While there are some good scanning apps on the market, including Microsoft Lens (free), the one that comes with your storage service is the most convenient one to use. Dropbox has one in its mobile app, for example, so you can scan papers and upload them straight to Dropbox in one go. Same goes for the app or tool you'll use to digital sign documents.
3. Pick a Storage Service
Let's dig into the storage service a little more. The storage service is where you keep digital versions of your paper documents, and, as mentioned, perhaps also share and deliver documents to others.
Ideally, you want a storage service that makes your files accessible no matter where you are and backs them up. One option is to use a cloud storage and file-sharing service, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive.
There used to be specialty services designed to help you go paperless by automatically detecting and classifying different types of documents you uploaded, such as tax filings and medical bills—but they've more or less all gone under. So stick with something mainstream.
No matter which storage service you choose, pick one and stick with it so that you can put all your documents in one place.
For any storage service, make sure you understand the privacy and security settings and rules, as well as the sharing options. Keep your private and sensitive documents separate (in different folders) from any files or folders you might share.
If you want very specific guidance for naming and filing your documents, I wrote an article that how to organize tax documents using good file-naming conventions, and the principles apply to any kind of file. So read that for tips.
4. Sign Up for Digital Statements and Payments, and Remove Yourself From Mailing Lists
If you still receive paper bills and statements, sign up to receive them by email anywhere you can. Additionally, switch to online payments wherever possible.
The last holdouts for online payments tend to be landlords and management companies. If you're stuck writing a monthly rent check, try explaining to the landlord they'll get their money faster and more reliably if they accept digital payments. Even the smallest businesses can accept direct bank transfers with little or no fees attached, and many now accept funds via mobile payment apps. When you can pay all your bills digitally rather than with checks and envelopes, you get one step closer to being paperless.
If you must send checks, see if your bank offers online check writing. It's a service where you write a check from your online account and have the bank mail it to the addressee. Some banks even pay for the postage.
To reduce the amount of junk snail mail that you get, your best bet is to follow a two-step approach, according to the Federal Trade Commission's info on consumer junk mail. The FTC recommends first opting out from marketing companies using DMAChoice.org (note that there is a $5 processing fee). Second, remove yourself from lists for insurance and bank offers using OptOutPrescreen.com.
I once set a goal for myself to unsubscribe from all the mail catalogs I received between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I did it manually by reaching out to companies or looking for unsubscribe pages on their websites, and it was surprisingly effective, though it took some effort. It got me better results than any service that offered to remove me from all catalogs.
5. Scan and Shred New Incoming Papers
Once you've cut down on incoming papers, it's time to start developing new habits for all the paperwork that still manages to flow into your life. The process that you'll do the most is scan and shred, or scan and recycle. Start to think of scanning and shredding/recycling as a new habit you're trying to adopt.
I like to scan papers using a mobile app, but you can certainly use a desktop scanner or the scanning function on a multifunction printer if that's more comfortable for you.
The important thing is to make a rule for yourself that goes something like this: When I get a new piece of paper that I need to digitize, I'll use my phone to scan it right away and then place the paper in the recycling bin or shredding pile. Better yet, send it straight to the shredder if you have one. Why wait?
Forcing yourself to follow that habit may be hard. "I don't have the time to scan this right now," you might say. Practice your new habit by scanning a document or two from your backlog, just to try it out. How long does it take? Which app did you use? Did you need to troubleshoot at any point?
As you scan, you need to name the document, maybe add tags, and file it into an appropriate folder. One trick is to make your default scanning location a folder called Inbox. Scan everything to the inbox, and if you don't have time in the moment to rename, tag, and sort the file, you can tackle everything in the inbox when you do have time.
You might also find that scanning documents in natural light goes more smoothly than doing it with indoor lighting, so sometimes it pays to wait until daytime and scan near a window rather than scan at night. Once you get a feel for how to do it and how much time it takes, you might have an easier time following through.
6. Develop Other Workflows
Scanning and shredding is one workflow. As you get comfortable with your paperless lifestyle, you need more workflows for other situations.
Here's an example: When you buy a new product, take pictures of the receipt, warranty, and serial number. Upload those pictures to your storage service and then get rid of the extraneous papers.
Another workflow is to save a pile of papers that you think you should shred but aren't sure right now, and then go through them on a dedicated day. Pick a time and date, whether every Saturday or the first Sunday of the month, and use that time to clear out your stack.
Sometimes you may want to scan papers while also keeping the originals, in the case of insurance certificates, homeowner's documents, and so forth. By digitizing them, you create a backup copy and ensure you have access to the information they contain, even if you can't get your hands on the original. It's also much quicker and easier to search for these documents digitally rather than physically.
7. Don't Overthink It
At some point in going paperless, you'll question whether to keep original copies or shred certain documents after digitizing them. When facing a tough call, don't overthink it. Being paperless should make your life simpler and easier—not more stressful. When in doubt, save the original. Stash it in a folder, accordion binder, or filing cabinet. No one is going to come and take your Paperless Club card away if you hang onto a few papers.
That said, don't hang on to or bother digitizing papers that have no purpose. If you're the type of person who diligently hangs on to paper believing you're doing the responsible thing, it can feel scary to shred and recycle anything. But will you ever need that receipt for a sandwich or an explanation of benefits statements from two years ago? Shred them and let them go.
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