5 steps to organizing your household documents
That link will lead you to an interesting article from HP (FYI… my employer) that shows ways to move you toward a more paperless household. Is that possible? Business have been trying to do that unsuccessfully (why else does HP sell so many printers) for years. However, the article peaked my interest because, I’d never really thought of that before. Can I use my computer to capture electronic versions of my documents and eliminate some of my files? Hmmm. If your like me, the first things that come to mind are the usual questions.
What about backup? Well for a few years I’ve been trying to improve my home backup strategy. I’ve taken some insight from Scott Hanselman in his post about Losing Data and a Family Backup Strategy. Good advice, although I’m not quite there yet. I have installed a Windows Home Server and am actively backing up all of my home machines nightly. But when you begin to place all of your documents in electronic form you need to make sure that your backup plan is robust. Even to the point of documenting it as Scott has done. Especially if your planning on being completely paperless and having electronic copies of all, or most, of your documents. Something else to consider, if your a techie, like me, your electronic file backup plan is probably more robust than your non-electronic one. Does that mean that it would be safer to digitize your documents? Hmmm.
What about legal documents? I suspect that there are some things we’ll never be able to fully digitize. I see things like certified (and stamped) documents that have watermarks, or other markings on them for security purposes, will still need to be maintained in paper form. Also identifying documents like birth certificates, passports, drivers licenses, etc. should probably stay in paper form, at least for the foreseeable future.
What about security? Is storing things digitally really that secure? Very good question(s). How about this one. Is your current document storage method secure? Mine is probably not as secure as I think it is. I believe that placing some of my paper into digital form, may make our lives easier, but it’s important to do it with caution. Starting small with things that are already digitized may be a good idea. How about your electronic statements, do you download them and keep them electronically or just print them and stick them in a file cabinet? Should you?
Does technology make this easier? There are a lot of new consumer wireless all-in-ones available now that provide for scanning, printing and faxing. Could these machines enable us to move to a more digital world? If these machines provided a simple way for you to scan in a document and place it on your PC/home server, would you use it? I think it is possible. I can picture a person getting their mail from the mailbox opening the bill/letter, walking over to their wireless scanner and pressing “scan”. After the document is digitized I can see the printer prompting for some information about where to store the document. and then saving the file for you. Sounds pretty easy. I think the technology is pretty close to being there (possibly even there already). The question is whether consumers are ready to accept the technology and embrace it for this.
There are likely more concerns and questions floating around in your head and mine, but I think this sparks a discussion about something I’ve never really considered before. I will continue to ponder this and even begin to move myself toward a more paperless household. I think, done right, (and with the right technology) it could provide a lot of convenience without adding more work.
That’s all for now.