Is Finding Important Paperwork Impossible?
One of the main functions of your office space is to provide an environment that inspires both productive work and creativity. If your office space is part of your home environment, then you not only have a messy office but you have a messy house when paperwork gets out of control. As you work in your office, there is an inevitable influx of endless paperwork. An office space can become messy and out of order in a heartbeat just because of piles of papers. When you need to file those all important legal documents, a messy office environment may make it impossible to find the papers you need.
Needless to say, your first step is towards an organized home office is to find a unique solution to the problem of your office space and excessive hoarding. It used to be that the only effective method of organizing paperwork was endless manila file folders in numerous file cabinets. No matter how hard you try, keeping these file drawers and folders in perfect order is both laborious and time consuming.
Digital Paperwork
The advent of the computer and the digital world makes it very possible, and almost a necessity, to have a paperless office. There are websites dedicated to storing your digitally scanned information, or you may prefer scanning documents to disk for safe keeping. By scanning your documents, you will have instant access to any document any time you are connected to the internet or when you load your disk.
Most of your paperwork can be scanned and stored digitally without the need to store heaps of hard copies. This way, if a legal document does go missing, you will have the scanned digital copy ready to print if needed.
Step 1—Frequently Used Office Forms
Office forms that you use frequently like fax cover sheets and invoices can be scanned into your PC and turned into PDFs. This way, they can be easily filed out, emailed, printed or faxed and then stored in easy to locate files.
Step 2—Piles of Receipts
Receipts can be a real nuisance and add quickly to clutter as almost every function of the office will result in some sort of receipt. Receipts are important little bits of paper that must be kept but can be easily lost in the shuffle. When receipts begin to pile up, scan them into the computer and keep them organized so when it is time for filing your tax return or compiling your expense report, they are safe and sound and easy to assess. The small investment in a sheet-fed scanner will be more than worthwhile. If you feel you need the hard copies, you can store them away in labeled envelopes. The receipts can be saved as PDFs, images or stored by type or date to make access easier.
Step 3—Handling Volumes of Incoming Mail
When your mail comes in, deal with it right away and scan any important pieces directly into your computer. You can even scan postcards, brochures or any other kind of pertinent information you would like to be able to reference at some point. Take a "one-touch" policy with mail. Promise yourself to only deal with mail once. Scan it, shred it, or recycle it the same day you get it.
Step 4—Replace Your Dusty Rolodex
Business cards are small but really important bits of paper that need to be keep handy. Scanning them into your computer will insure that you can find them easily when needed and that they will not get lost or misplaced. Most email programs have information tabs for each contact where you can add all the information from a business card. Using a ready made system like this will make it easier to organize and find contacts.
Step 5—Switch to a Digital Organizer
Using a Pocket PC or digital organizer will not only allow you to keep your appointments organized, but will also allow you access to information you need plus pictures, games and more while you are away from the office. You can keep your notes and thoughts in one place and then transfer your personal data to your office computer for safe keeping and instant access. There are as many models to choose from as their are types of users, so do a little research to find out what it right for your needs.
As you can see, your office space and excess hoarding of paperwork can be easily handled by using digital document management software. You probably already have all the software you need on your computer. All of your important papers will be safe, secure and easy to access at any time they are needed. Today's office can now consist of a small amount of hard copy paperwork, a good computer system, a scanner, and a mobile organizer. Once you have all these tools in place, make sure to use them on a daily basis to conquer office clutter.
