We all have tons of paperwork to handle every day. Whether it’s our bills, contracts, medical records, warranties, receipts, all of these can be challenging in their own right. If you misplace just a single document, it can lead to lots of headaches and challenges. That’s why the best approach is to figure out a way to handle everything appropriately, and going digital is usually the best idea.
Why should you go digital?
It depends on the situation, but going digital is usually the better option because it gives you plenty of benefits:
- It allows you to save time, documents are easier to store and finding them will be much easier as well.
- You can use a variety of security methods, ranging from encryption to multi-factor authentication.
- It’s easy to comply with tax and legal requirements if you keep track of all the documents.
- You can help protect the environment, since you’re reducing paper waste, while keeping the environment safe in the long term.
- Accessibility is key here, because it’s possible to retrieve documents at any given time, without dealing with clutter. And yes, you can also save quite a bit of space if you move paper documents to the digital format.
Start using scanning tools
If you want to better organize your paperwork, a very good starting point would be scanning tools. Apps like Microsoft Lens, Evernote, CamScanner or Adobe Scan provide you with the means to scan documents and keep a copy online or on your device. Some of these apps also have cloud syncing and other similar solutions. Those can be very effective, and they make it easy to save time and resources as well.
Store documents in the cloud
Yes, the cloud can be extremely useful mainly because you don’t have to store items on a drive or anything else. Just remember the cloud login credentials, and that’s it. Not only will it save you a huge amount of effort and time, but it can provide a more consistent result than you expect, and that’s totally something to keep in mind.
When it comes to what cloud tools you can use, there are plenty of options. iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive or Microsoft’s OneDrive can all be very good tools. They even provide you with things like file version history, along with folder sharing, multi-device access and so on.
Use a document management system
A DMS can be very useful mainly because it helps you keep track of all documents in an organized manner. You can start placing tags, creating various categories and setting reminders as well. These tools make it much easier to manage your documents, especially if you work with a multitude of document types, so keep that in mind.
Good tools in this niche will be things like DocuWare, Evernote, Notion or WorkDrive from Zoho. It depends on the use case, of course, but in the long term, you can obtain a much better ROI than expected. Plus, you will know where you can find your documents, without worrying about losing access to vital data.
Automation systems
Automating various repetitive tasks is a great way to save time. And naturally, that helps a lot in the business world. Automation can be difficult, unless you have the right tools. While most of them are paid tools, they do provide quite an interesting return on investment and very good value. Zapier, IFTTT, Shoeboxed or Dext are great tools that all help automate different types of tasks. Whether you want to reduce file sorting, eliminate errors and just streamline your workflow, this is by far one of the best ways to do it.
Securing your files
When you handle a lot of documents, you run the risk of dealing with security breaches and similar problems. It’s very important to implement security systems, and there are plenty of options here to take into account. Use a password manager such as LastPass in order to remember passwords.
You can also use encryption software like VeraCrypt or even tools like Backblaze for cloud backups. The truth is that you always want to focus on security and on eliminating any possible problems or issues that could arise. Once you start doing that, you never have to worry about any concerns or problems that might arise.
Use task managers
Many of us are dealing with a plethora of tasks every single day. So it makes a lot of sense to try and use a task manager. These tools make it easy to schedule tasks and set a reminder for them. Once you start using them appropriately, it will help immensely, and it will make the experience much easier to manage.
What tools are great for task management? There are tons of them out there, with Todoist, Trello, ClickUp or Google Calendar being some of the most popular. What’s great is that most of these tools are free with premium features. It’s easy to test them out, and then you can see which ones deliver the best possible value.
Electronic signature tools can be useful
Signing documents the old-fashioned way can be expensive and time-consuming. That’s especially true if you need to sign documents overseas. Now, with digital tools, you can do that locally, without a problem. You just use Adobe Acrobat Sign, Nitro Sign, DocuSign or other similar tools.
These offer legally-binding signatures, you don’t have to worry about scanning or printing, and the turnaround is very fast. Plus, being able to sign international contracts quickly and effectively has become a game-changer worldwide, which is why you need to take that all into consideration.
Backup tools
Using backup tools is crucial, because it can be very easy to lose documents or not remember where they are. Even if that might not seem like much at first, losing a document and not having a backup can be very problematic. In this situation, the best approach is to create a backup in the cloud, with tools like iDrive or Backblaze being very useful.
You can also create a backup of your bills using the utility bill generator, in case you need proof you paid your utilities. Then, once you have a copy, you can place it in the cloud, or you can also buy an external drive.
After you do that, you also want to review your digital tools and ensure that they are working correctly. Delete duplicates and update file names when necessary. Ensuring that you have working backups is also handy. You never know when you might need those backups, so the last thing you want is to not have them working. Even old files shouldn’t be removed, you want to archive them and still have access to those, just in case.
Conclusion
Everyday paperwork can become a hassle to handle, and that’s why relying on digital tools can be a very good idea. It allows you to better optimize your work, focus on results, while streamlining your workflow. The advantage is that digitalization helps you save time, resources, and it can help implement things more effectively. At the end of the day, using digital tools is the right approach, and it can provide excellent results going forward. Just make sure that you pick the best tools that fit your workflow, and they will deliver excellent results.
