Many business owners still resist going paperless because they view it as something for the environment rather than something for themselves. The truth is, that going paperless isn’t just good for the environment, it’s what’s best for your business and for your personal life as well! It doesn’t matter who you are, if you want to improve how organized and secure your information is, you have many compelling reasons to ditch the notebooks and filing cabinets and to start scanning and digitizing every scrap of paper you can get your hands on.
Take Your Documents Anywhere
The number one reason to convert every scrap of paper in your office to a digital note is that you can take an entire storage room full of filing cabinets worth of papers with you everywhere you go effortlessly!
Imagine how simple it will be to provide your doctor’s office with the necessary documents and records they need when you have every important document with you at all times. No matter what you need access to, you can carry it on a smartphone, a tablet, or another device. You’ll breathe a sigh of relief when you realize how free you are with all your documents in the digital age!
Searchable Papers!
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always struggled with maintaining a filing cabinet! Whether you’re running a business, or just managing your household there are countless receipts, warranty papers, birth certificates, mail correspondence, and much more to keep organized.
All of those things lead to a big cluttered mess in my home and business and going paperless solved 90% of those issues for me. The main reason this works so well is that it’s easy to add tags, utilize virtual folders, and effectively organize every piece of paper into a logical category.
With help from a program such as OneNote from Microsoft, or Evernote you can easily tag documents, sort them into different sections, and every document in your life immediately becomes searchable!
That means when you need to find those gas receipts from last month you can effortlessly search them up in moments. Need to see a copy of your child’s birth certificate? Type in birth certificate and it gets displayed on your screen in moments! Searchable papers are like magic and they will simplify your life more than you can imagine.
Paperless Planning is Convenient
With powerful devices such as the iPad and Apple Pencil, it’s easier than ever to take hand-written notes for school, business, and daily planning. Whether you’re used to maintaining a planner, a journal, or other hand-written notes, you can do all of those things using a tablet equipped with a digital pencil and palm rejection.
There are countless templates in programs like Goodnotes5, OneNote, and Notability, and writing digitally is actually more convenient than on paper.
That’s right when you write using something like an Apple Pencil you can quickly erase your notes, drag items around the page, add images, resize elements, and more. Your notes are customizable and instead of re-writing notes, you can edit them at will. Imagine all the time saved once you’re used to this new workflow!
You’ll Save Money
Even if you aren’t concerned about trees in the least, your business or your household can save money by going paperless. Consider that businesses that go paperless save an average of $80 per year in supply and storage costs per employee. That’s money you’ll save on ink, paper, storage space, and employee wages year after year after you make the swap. Even if you’re only considering becoming paperless in your house, you’ll likely save money, space, and resources by making the leap into the digital age. Even if you spend some money on an iPad, a Surface Pro, or another digital writing device, you’ll earn that money back over time and enjoy all the other benefits that come along with the change too.
A More Secure Approach
Physical documents seem more secure to many people than digital files. That’s not necessarily true with the right approach though. Keeping papers safe and secure is difficult when you’re trying to guard filing cabinets or storage rooms. You’ll have keys to manage and you have to think about protecting the files from damage from fires, floods, and other natural disasters. Once those papers are made digital it’s easier to keep the files safe.
Easily use encryption and user accounts to limit which individuals can access sensitive information. Seamlessly backup vital documents using cloud storage or an off-site storage device and safeguard your vital business or personal information against fires and other natural disasters.
Going paperless is a powerful life-improving change that will streamline your personal or business life, free up storage space and make all your important documents more organized and accessible than ever before.