I need less paper. A LOT less of it. On my recent Evernote Ambassador trip to the mothership, I met some people who are way inspiring.
So, this year, I’ve decided to greatly reduce the paper and things I have in my life. Seriously, they are just things. Starting with the paper was easy. Over the next year, I’m working to (mostly) get rid of my filing cabinet.
Down to one-ish drawer.
A few weeks ago, I went through my four drawer filing cabinet. I’ve never liked the thing. It’s big, ugly and a huge festering eye sore. It’s gotta go. So, I developed myself a plan. As of today, I’m down to one-ish drawer, and so help me, I’ll get it down to under one drawer of active files. (Archives are in a plastic box tucked away in the garage, on a seven year rotation.)
The tools. Here’s what I’m using, and it seems to be going well so far:
Evernote (um, DUH)
FileThis Fetch: Yes, a new favorite. Filing all those statements in dead tree forms? No longer. I pull those bad boys into my Evernote account (which is password protected, btw). They are archived, and better yet? SEARCHABLE. That’s what I’m talkin’ about.
Scanner: I’ll admit I have two on my desk at the moment which I will shortly be auditioning for the part of “my favorite scanner” in this year’s “Simplify” production. Honestly? I like both of them so far. Also, there’s my iPhone, which is working quite well with Evernote, as it’s simple to pull out, and practically fused to my hand.
More inspiration and learning: I may have been a professional organizer for seven years (yes, SEVEN), but there’s still lots to learn about the digital space. Ok, so I’m no newbie, but hey, a girl’s gotta keep current. I’m quite inspired by these folks, whom you may also want to check out. They are rockin’ the paperless trails, and I’m learning quite a bit from them:
Carley at digitwirl.com
Jamie Rubin’s “Going Paperless” weekly tips
Joshua Zerkel: He’s my organizer pal, and honestly, he’s uber smart and disgustingly rational. He knows his shizz. Plus, he’s awesome sauce to hang out with.
Deb Lee at SohoTechTraining.com: She’s rad. Seriously. Get in there and learn about all the stuff she knows. Also, she has the cutest baby ever.