Janet Schiesl, Basic Organization
November 10, 2020
A paperless life is a myth. But you can achieve a “less paper” life by making a few simple changes. Follow these suggestions to leave those paper piles behind and closer to a paperless life.
Do one To-Do each month, for the next 6 months.
- Sign up for online bill paying. You can go through your bank or through each service (like utility companies) to pay each month. If you finances are secure, consider setting up automatic payments.
- Sign up to receive your bills and statements by email. This task will take some time, since you will have to go to each organizations website to sign up. You will receive email notices that your bills are due and your statements are available, so it’s easy to stay current.
- Set up folders on your computer for your statements. This will eliminate having to store paper in a file cabinet.
- Back up regularly or automatically – Now that you are keeping electronic copies you need to make sure that you are backing up your computer or using a cloud service to save your documents.
- Scan old documents. Now that you have gone electronic with your current paperwork, move to scanning your important, older documents and move more closely to a paperless life
- Slow incoming paper. Register to stop receiving junk mail and catalogs and get into the habit of recycling any junk that slips through the cracks by not even bringing it into your home.
A paperless life is a myth. But you can achieve a “less paper” life by making a few simple changes.
Check out these additional posts on reducing paper:
Conquer Your Paper Piles
5 Steps to Super Simple Paper Management
Organizing Paperwork in the Kitchen
How to Live With Less Paper by JotForm
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Janet Schiesl, Basic Organization
