This post is part of the paperless stories feature at DocumentSnap. Some stories are from readers that have successfully gone paperless, some are still going through it. Would you like to share your story too?
Today’s featured DocumentSnap reader is Sophie Perreault from Quebec, Canada.
What problems were you trying to solve by going paperless?
Getting rid of paper clutter, and being able to find (and stop losing!) any piece of paper in less than a minute!
What were the biggest stumbling blocks?
Having time to scan everything!
The other hassle has been the backlog of old stuff. Going through the file cabinet, or piles and scanning the huge pile is a big job.
Tell us about your paperless workflow
My Fujitsu ScanScnap 1500 sits on my desk. Whenever I get a piece of paper, I put it in the drawer underneath the scan. Whenever I have a few minutes to spare, I scan whatever is in the drawer. I use a file system to separate personal vs business documents. For business stuff, I change the title of the document to YYYYMMDD–supplier/client–description–amount. Easy to sort in chronological order, and having the amounts right there makes tax time that much faster!
Is this for a business?
Yes. I am a freelance translator and I work from home. While most of my work is done electronically (translating in Word, sending PDF bills via email), I still had paper coming in (check pay stubs, contracts, bills for whatever supplies I boughts, etc.)
Thanks Sophie, I really like the tip about having the amount in the filename. I can see how it would make things easy to find and enter into spreadsheets, etc.
If you have questions for Sophie, leave a comment and I will try to get them answered.
(Photo by brad montgomery)