Introducing the Paperless Document Organization Guide

Introducing the Paperless Document Organization Guide

Paperless Document Organization Guide

Hello all,

As promised on the blog back in February, the first DocumentSnap product is now ready to go.

The Paperless Document Organization Guide helps answer the question “now that I’ve scanned my documents, what the heck do I do with them so that I can find them again?”

Learn more or pick it up here.

What It Is

Good question. The Guide starts with a 10,000+ word PDF with tips and strategies to help both Mac and Windows users figure out how to organize their electronic documents once they have been scanned. The guide covers folder and naming conventions and compares and contrasts the major paperless software packages for Mac and Windows, including “what’s not so good” and “who should buy it” for each one. It also covers tagging and how to secure your documents on your computer.

Since I know you are all sick of hearing from me, I have also done seven (and counting) audio interviews: four with DocumentSnap readers just like you that have gone paperless (or are well on their way) and three with professional organizers.

Finally, if you are like me you learn visually. I have recorded six (and counting) video screencasts showing how to do a number of going-paperless activities in Mac and Windows, as well as one that takes you through my workflow and how I do things.

Who It’s For

You have started down the path of going paperless and are stuck, or are not sure where to start. You have a scanner (or know which one you want to buy). You are tired of looking all over the Internet for bits and pieces of information and would like to just have everything consolidated in one place.

Should you use folders or software (or both?). Which software is the best for you? How do you keep your documents secure? These are the kinds of questions that we look at.

Who It’s Not For

This guide won’t tell you which scanner to buy or go through every single backup option. Those are very important, but not the focus of this guide.

No guide or piece of software is going to “go paperless” for you. At the end of the day, you have to actually do the stuff outlined. If you are not at the place to be able to do that yet, this may not be for you.

That’s it! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed putting it together for you.

Here’s the link again if you are interested.

About the Author

Brooks Duncan helps individuals and small businesses go paperless. He's been an accountant, a software developer, a manager in a very large corporation, and has run DocumentSnap since 2008. You can find Brooks on Twitter at @documentsnap or @brooksduncan. Thanks for stopping by.

Leave a Reply 9 comments

Searching for Accurate Maps - Evernote and GTD on an iPad - April 20, 2014 Reply

[…] excellent advice on DocumentSnap – if you’re serious about paperless, do consider getting his Paperless Document Organization Guide (I don’t get anything for plugging this, I think it’s a wonderful resource, I refer to […]

Searching for Accurate Maps - GTD with Outlook 2010 and OneNote 2010 - April 20, 2014 Reply

[…] from its original location, doh; I’m surrounded by idiots).  (Once again, I do recommend Brooks Duncan’s guide to going paperless, especially the section on naming and archiving […]

Searching for Accurate Maps - The “Where the Hell is My Wallet” Hack | Bridging the Nerd Gap - April 20, 2014 Reply

[…] first, I discovered how it can help me go paperless (thanks to Brooks Duncan’s excellent advice on DocumentSnap – if you’re serious about paperless, do consider getting his Paperless Document Organization Guide); […]

Searching for Accurate Maps - More on Evernote - April 20, 2014 Reply

[…] Brooks Duncan’s guide to going paperless […]

Vicki - February 20, 2013 Reply

I thought the scansnap 1300 and 1500 came with software that does the organization for you?

Paperless Home - April 23, 2012 Reply

"Going paperless" Can save a lot of money.

Paperless Document - April 23, 2012 Reply

I use a kindle DX to bring my PDFs with me wherever I go if I need them.

GTD with Outlook 2010 and OneNote 2010 – OneNote Setup « Dynamic IT | A Blog by Michael Wheatfill on Microsoft Technologies and Productivity - October 11, 2011 Reply

[…] from its original location, doh; I’m surrounded by idiots).  (Once again, I do recommend Brooks Duncan’s guide to going paperless, especially the section on naming and archiving […]

The “Where the Hell is My Wallet” Hack | Bridging the Nerd Gap - October 5, 2011 Reply

[…] first, I discovered how it can help me go paperless (thanks to Brooks Duncan’s excellent advice on DocumentSnap – if you’re serious about paperless, do consider getting his Paperless Document Organization Guide); […]

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