Sure, one minute to give the tip, hours and hours to actually execute on that tip.

I have better things to do with my time than scan paper and then back up the files 20 times on different drives.

Scanner = $$ Drives = $$ Network = $$ Time = $$
Honestly, unless you are running your own business, 90% of the paper your keep can probably be thrown away -- it doesn't even need to be scanned.

That was a tip?

Here's a tip. Not all tips are for everyone. Relax people. If you didn't like the tip, move on.

Another tip. Try to be more positive. You'll be happier and thank me later.

I agree with @Jonrojas...positive!

Going digital does take time, but the idea is to save you time and energy. Yes @jefferyk all of this costs something, but at what cost? Most people find that this will be applicable when they lose all of the most important documentation in their lives.

Another fun fact is that most people move at least 8 times in their lives so think about how much money is wasted on moving fees that are associated with filing cabinets and paper.

The tip is more to get people thinking digital and ways to begin it. If I were to go through the process of how to do this effectively and efficiently it would be much longer than a minute!

I have actually considered doing this recently, but I end up wondering what sorts of things you should scan and what you should keep as an original, hard copy?

To address some of the previous comments, the cost is minimal if you already have a large capacity external hard drive. I bought one this year to free up space on my computer. Also, there are services like Dropbox and Amazon Cloud Drive that allow you to store files in online. Both have generous amounts of space available for free. You can scan a lot of documents in black & white, at low dpi, and save as a PDF; the file size will be fairly small. If you already have these things, then the only extra cost is your time.

going paperless at home is more of a frivolity i think.

Katarouge brings up a great point. I personally have moved 15 times in my life and 4 times internationally. My husband (who has also moved many times, and 3 times internationally) and I have a minimal amount of paperwork, but MANY things must be kept in hard copy format, e.g. international tax filings, residence permit/visa paperwork, banking codes and forms from overseas banks - and this does NOT include the paperwork I have had to lug around due to running overseas businesses as well. I believe in keeping my desk paperfree at any given moment, but alas, the dream of being nearly 100% digital remains a dream if your residency/citizenship is tied up in multiple places.

Nice video

Another tip that many people don't realize. Once you "go digital," keep those files organized as well. Just the other night, I was going through my computer documents the other day and literally deleted hundreds of old essays, school work, pictures, programs. It's a lot easier to forget about documents taking up space when you don't physically see them!

Been battling this for years so I thought I'd weigh in:

When removing paper clutter, it's more important to evaluate what needs to be kept rather than what needs to be scanned. You can scan tons and tons of paper and never refer back to it. This happens often with school stuff and bills. Lots of that stuff can be recycled without archiving.

Another tip is to consider using your smartphone camera rather than a scanner. A scanner is slow and large, and many people don't leave it attached to their computer. A smartphone, while less detailed, is fast and flexible. Consider taking a snapshot rather than scanning to preserve info you are less likely to print again. Add the amount of apps that will convert the image to PDF, create tags, and the ability to upload to external sites and you have a more flexible scanning solution.

This is actually a very good tip, but it does take some commitment, time and energy to execute it. However, it will pay off in the long run. There are very obvious things that you should keep a hard copy of ... Wills, Deeds to your home, etc. It is a lot easier to have a digital copy handy when you need to refer to a document quickly since, in theory, your original should be stored in a safe deposit box somewhere. The last time I moved (across the country) I put everything important into digital format and keep it on a jump drive, I keep the original documents in a safe deposit box, and I gave an additional digital copy on a jump drive to a family member. I keep other important records on my computer's hard drive in digital format as well, like health records, or pet records, thus minimizing paper records. Once the big part of the job is done, it's a very simple system to maintain. Didn't you once have thousands of CD's that are now all stored on your MP3 player?

I realize I'm one diagnosis away from being considered OCD myself, but my life is extremely well-organized and that keeps other areas of my life simple.

I second FightTheFuture on phone scanning for certain things (obviously, not photos or docs where it's important to get real quality.) I use an app called Genius Scan that is great for this, and it has a built in email/post/Dropbox interface for easier filing. It's really helped me with little bits of paper (like receipts, that I invariably can't find when I DO need them.)

So paper-free is a verb now?

I can't help but roll my eyes at the horrible abuses of language that this site perpetuates.

@ Katrinh,
paperless is a term used widely.
vocabulary does change and evolve and grow. sorry you're taking it so hard :)

Would you tech guys make these vids play in the window they're already posted in so that I don't have to have another tab open? Make the tech work for us, please.

@ Chartreuse: I watch the video in the same tab with no problems...what browser are you using?

We're slowly working towards paperless filing, but as others said definitely be aware and on top of "digital clutter".

@nisiepie

Paperless is, indeed, a common term but it is usually found with a verb, e.g. "go paperless"

Paper-free as a verb is not.

I'm all for change and growth of the language but not when it is reduced to ridiculousness. It wouldn't be so egregious if this site didn't routinely make mistakes such as "higher" for "hire."

@katrinh: I'm with you.

It's CDO. At least put the letters in the right order!

thank you captain obvious

I am still in the process of scanning half my documents, I love it, but it is a long process. I am also still scanning old photos, I was born in '83 before cameras were digital.

BTW scanning old family photos and putting them in a digital frame makes a great gift, my mom, gma, and great uncle loved it.

My mother used to tell us, 'if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.' It annoyed me growing-up. But after reading this unpleasant comment stream, I'm suddenly re-thinking that.

If you can't say something nice about a post, please move along to a post that's more useful for you.

OTOH, if you have something constructive to contribute, even if it's a different point of view on a topic or not entirely positive, please do it as pleasantly as possible.

It's no fun for those of us who are interested in a post, to have to wade through nasty comments that have nothing to do with the topic of the post. There is often a lot of really useful information in the comments, but when they get derailed by tangential complaints, as this comment stream has, it's hard to get to the interesting comments.

Whoa, Dulcibella. You consider the comments here to be nasty? Seriously? I had to reread them after reading your post and still couldn't find anything to be touchy about.

Just a personal testimony on that.

Years ago I've first sorted and then scanned all the paper I need to keep, in parallel with implementing the GTD method (http://www.davidco.com/about-gtd).

After a fews years running this way, I really appreciate :
- the earning of space (several meters of files at work and at home)
- the earning of time after the initial scanning (retrieving any document takes only seconds now)
- the ubiquity of my documents, thanks to my dropbox (http://www.dropbox.com)
- the facility to send any document to any correspondant

BUT it requires :
- time to scan (a fast scanner with a document feeder is necessary)
- a good and long-lasting basic software (I use Acrobat Pro to produce indexed and organized documents in a long-lasting standard digital format)
- an automatic backup system with a set of copies in another place just in case (I'm considering the Apple Time Capsule instead of USB disks)
- a real sense of organization !

Now the feeling of having everything on hand, anytime and anywhere, without any space consideration, is VERY VERY VERY pleasant.

And when I die it will be very simple to erase the stuff in a click, without bothering inheritants with the duty to sort tons of useless papers ;o)

I would really like to do this, but I am unsure what needs to be scanned. Utilitly bills? Tax bills? I just can't imagine fitting all important documents into a file folder that size - birth certificates, immigration documents, marriage certificates, past tax records. Could you provide a little guidance on what to keep, what to scan and for how long to keep things? Thanks!

@FIGHTTHEFUTURE @JANELLERENE I couldn't agree more...

Going paperless is indeed something we all need to think about, BUT just like some people stated on these comments, it is important to keep certain documents in a tangible form: Passport, DL, Deeds, Receipts over $500 dollars for insurance purposes, Visa's, Birth Certificate, SS Card, Death Records. Anything that is CERTIFIED as well.

That was... I don't know what that was.

The simplicity in something may be obvious but the practice of it isn't always as easy as it seems. Organize & Create Discipline everyone!

I went paperless almost 5 years ago. It was a huge time investment in the beginning. If you have access to a scanner with automatic document feed then use it. It will save your sanity.

At first I went digital to save space but there have been benefits that I didn't anticipate when I first went digital. I use Dropbox and I can access my files with my phone. It has saved me from having to run home for a forgotten document that I needed for an application, it has helped me answer questions at the doctor's office, and it has made dealing with personal business at the office much quicker and easier and has been invaluable when I find I need a receipt or proof of something because the business or agency can't find their record of the service or transaction. One of biggest benefits is having OLD documents available. There have been so many times in the past 5 years that I've needed a personal, "historical" document or receipt and the space those documents take up is minimal. In fact, the space in general for personal documents is minimal.

I also scan owner's manuals but first I try to find a digital copy on the net that I can download.

Here are my tips for going paperless

1. Choose a file format for your documents and be consistent. I scan everything in as a PDF.

2. If you can use a scanner with ADF, scan in everything at once and use a program like PDF Split & Merge to split up the documents.

3. Backup, backup, backup. It doesn't take much time or cost. I have my files on my hard drive, an external drive, a thumb drive and Dropbox. Use what you have available to backup your files before you go out and purchase something. There are so many gadgets these days that can store files that there should be a minimal cost to backup. I'm thinking old iPods or other music players, old smart phones, a significant others computer, the storage space your ISP gives you to create a website, cloud services, thumb drives or SD cards and probably more that I haven't thought of.

4. Scan new documents ASAP. It's so much faster and easier to scan one or two items than a large stack.

5. If it's something you're going to need for more than a few months then scan it.

What I scan...
a. receipts for large purchases or anything that I may need to make a warranty claim on in the future
b. pay stubs
c. insurance documents
d. auto maintenance and repair documents
e. Loan documents
f. Lease and housing documents
g. Medical documents like shot records, etc.
h. Vet records
i. Tax documents including tax returns
j. Legal documents
k. Bank & credit card statements (can usually download these)
l. Any other important documents

What I keep a paper copy of...
Not much but there are those odds and ends that shouldn't be scanned and shredded like savings bonds, diplomas, birth certificates, social security cards, sentimental documents (such as the foot prints the hospital made of my daughter after she was born), etc. Those items I keep in a fire safe box.

I had to watch this video twice. The first time I was just staring at this yummy, yummy man. More videos from him STAT!

If you are really interested in going paperless and are looking for some in depth advice have a look at http://www.macsparky.com/paperless/ a lot of good stuff there.

Going digital is so worth it and once you get it up and running and master your own system you will never want to go back to clutter or holding on to paper. For all the grouchy gary's here who think it takes too much time, money or whatever, please note that give the rise in really good technology you can get 1, 2 or 3 terrabyte drives for under $200 and a good scanner for about the same. So instead of being upset over the one minute tip. Look at it as inspiration for you to move forward with the same type of purpose as the OCD guy.

Great comments everyone. I teach people how to declutter and reckon a combination of many of your comments are right. I personally use Drop Box and Evernote but see more and more clever ideas weekly on how to manage paper. My only tip is to create a system that does actually make life easier and simpler but also a system you know you'll use otherwise there's no point!

I bought a duplex scanner a while back, and went through scanning every item. Problem was that sometimes the scanner would save the files to unexpected places, or scan simplex (somehow the settings got tweaked) or two pieces of paper got picked up at once. Be careful when you scan your docs because once you throw away the scanned papers, you might find that you don't have what you think you did.

Sincerely,
Girl with important missing documents

I think going digital is the way to go. Of course the initial transfer of old docs will take some time. But once this is done it can become a once a month Sunday "to do". I'm sold.

Now, which scanner to buy???????