You may not realize that there are a lot of different ways to file paper... If your files are bursting and you find that once a year or so you have to spend hours cleaning it out, maybe it’s time to re-think your system.
Read MorePaper Clutter Part 2 - Creating an 'Action Station'
Paper comes in through the mailbox, from your kids backpack, from work, the HOA, all kinds of places. Create an action station to help you stay on top of it. That location – be it the kitchen, the foyer, or your home office, should be a place it is both convenient to ‘dump’ stuff, and also a place where it
won’t get forgotten. Sorting that file will help you stay on top of your business.
Read MorePaper Clutter Part 1 - Bar the Gate!
Even in this digital age, paper has an incredible way of taking over our lives. Without proper maintenance your paper and digital stuff will overwhelm you. So let’s work on this this month.
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What if you could remember everything?
We all get in a habit of saving little pieces of paper as a reminder. A business card, a flyer, an advertisement. Unfortunately, it often just ends up becoming paper clutter. One of my absolute favorite solutions to this problem is EVERNOTE. Evernote is a note-taking app that allows you to save just about anything in a way that is searchable, and accessible on all your devices and the web. Notes are completely searchable, and can be organized into notebooks. Notes can be shared with others, or made only available locally if you don’t want them in the cloud. It’s a wonderful product. Using Evernote gives you an easy way to deal with all those random little pieces of paper we gather and don’t know where to file. Even if you don’t remember if you saved that smoothie recipe, you can search “smoothie” and see if you did.
I've used it for many years, I keep finding new ways use it. Having it on my computer and phone has saved me in more situations than I can count. Maybe you have heard of it, even tried it - but haven't yet figured out how to make it work for you. To illustrate its value, here’s a sampling what I have saved in Evernote:
Packing lists for different types of vacations (has checkboxes!) I print out for each kid to pack their own suitcases.
Lists of meals the family likes to help with meal planning
Pictures of plants my neighbor recommended for my front yard (Taken on my phone within Evernote)
Articles & Recipes I saw on the internet (saved with one-click using the Evernote webclipper feature in my browser)
Notes from my daughter’s annual checkup (I update the stats each year)
My dog’s vaccination records (saved as a pdf attached to a note, which also has her microchip and breeding info in it.)
PDF of my our school directory (easy to search for any parent’s number)
Picture of the back of my printer so I have easy access to the serial number.
Contact information for an interior designer I met (take a picture of a business card and it creates fields for each piece of info.)
To help you get it even more, check out this little video dive into my Evernote app:
Evernote markets itself as “your second brain”. The older I get, the more value this has. :)
What if the paper took up NO space?
For the foreseeable future, there will be a place for paper in our lives, and there are some things you simply MUST keep a hard copy of. But much of the paper we accumulate doesn’t need to stick around. Still afraid to let go? Ok, then, make it digital.
There are three primary ways to make paper into digital files:
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How about you make it EASIER this year?
Tax day is still over two months away, but Jan/Feb is the time when all those important pieces of paper you’ll need to do your taxes start showing up. Take a little time now to create a system to get your papers organized so that when it’s time to give it to the accountant, or sit down and prepare them you can be a little less stressed.Read More
The GO File
There have been heart-wrenching stories coming out of California recently, of families being forced to evacuate their homes in a hurry as fire spread across their beautiful wine country neighborhoods. Emergencies like this are rare, but do happen, and that’s why I have a go-file, and you should too.
We’ve just finished National Preparedness month, and while it is good time to stock up on batteries and candles, fresh water and other emergency supplies, the go-file is an essential element for emergency preparedness that is often overlooked.
So what’s a go-file? Well it’s a file that’s ready to go, of course. A single container to keep your most important documents that you can grab as you leave the house in an emergency. It can be a file box or a binder (I recommend a nice standout red one) and it should have everything in it you would need to prove your identity, file an insurance claim, access your important accounts. Many people have fire/flood proof safe for some of these things, and this isn’t meant to replace that – the go-file can have copies in it. Life in Case* is a great product for this that makes it super easy to get this done.
Once you’ve gotten everything together, consider these additional steps & things to include: a flash drive or DVD with digital versions of the essential documents, and/or a drive or disk with your most precious family photos.
Lastly, consider having an additional backup in the cloud. SafelyFiled is an excellent easy to use online filing system with military level encryption.
The go-file is also an invaluable resource if the family member who manages the important paperwork is incapacitated or passes away suddenly.
Preparing for the worst is never fun. But being prepared when the worst happens makes all the difference.
Click here for a checklist of what should be in your go-file.