How Technology Can Help You Declutter Paperwork and Stay Organized

Moving can be equal parts exciting and stressful. As you begin to declutter your rooms and pack your belongings into boxes, you may often find yourself exasperated at the sheer amount of possessions you’ve acquired over the years. 

Important printouts, documents, and paperwork can easily accumulate into a disorganized and scattered mess; a seemingly never-ending pile of paper with no sense or structure to it. This in itself can be a gargantuan task, which is why it pays to ensure that any paperwork you do have retains some semblance of logical order. 

However, that’s easier said than done, as life does not take a backseat, and paperwork is not something that we often care to think about until the time comes to declutter or move. 

The good news is that technology offers solutions that can help you tackle that stack of paper easily and quickly, creating some order in the chaos. With some careful planning and research into the right mobile apps and digitization tools, your paperwork pile can be exponentially shrunk and streamlined, to make this task easier than ever. Much of this technology is so easy to access and affordable now, which makes it even better.

Read on to find out how you can easily declutter your paperwork with the help of technology.

Take an inventory of your paperwork

Before looking at any technology, take some time to gather and categorize the paperwork that exists in your home currently. No matter how much paperwork you’ve accumulated, ideally, before you begin packing each room down, set aside a container, folder or binder for your most essential documents.

This includes things like:

• Financial statements
• Medical records
• Insurance policies
• Warranties
• Instruction manuals
• Pension statements
• Tax documents
• Birth, marriage or death certificates, or any other legal certificates.

 

Unfortunately, before you can begin to digitize and go paperless, it’s important to rifle through your existing paperwork for both your personal and professional life. However, once this is done, the rest of the process is much easier. 

Stack and file any important paperwork that you need to keep, assigning it to a relevant category. This gives you a sense of how much paperwork you’re working with, and any areas that need further organization.  It can also help you find documents that you don’t need anymore, with expired or irrelevant paperwork dedicated to the ‘shred’ pile. Taking an inventory and selecting an inventory management system for your business or personal needs can save time and money.

Digitize through scanning

One of the largest hurdles in tackling paperwork is the sheer space it takes up. By scanning and creating digital copies of your most important documents, you can access them easily, provided your document storage is orderly. If you have accessible digital copies, it nullifies the need to house physical copies.

Invest in a reliable and high-quality scanner that allows you to:

• Scan in bulk efficiently
• Save files directly to the cloud or external hard drive
• Organize scans into folders just like physical files

Make sure that your document file names are clear and descriptive. For example, name your car insurance policy “Insurance Policy Documents 2023-2024” rather than the default file name “IMG_SCN_001”, for quick searching and retrieving. 

Getting into the habit of digitizing important documents will prevent an overwhelming scanning marathon before it’s time to move, and you won’t accumulate paper that takes up valuable space in your home. After all, if you could avoid taking it with you come moving day, why wouldn’t you?

Automate document management

Take your document organization to the next level by automating it. There are highly sophisticated tools out there that can:

• Extract important information from forms and records, and store it digitally.
• Route paperwork to the right files, folders and archives.
• Tag documents with metadata for easy searching.
• Optically scan PDFs and scans and lift text to make them searchable.

For instance, you can find digital apps and tools that can help you seamlessly manage your digital paperwork, much less your physical copies. You can integrate these with your phone’s calendar apps and set reminders for key actions, such as policy renewal dates, tax submission deadlines and bill payment collection dates. 

Don’t buy any off-the-shelf product without doing your research, and avoid cheap knockoffs as these could be hotspots for cybercrime. Look for secure, patched, and automated solutions that are backed up by 24/7 managed detection and response capabilities for optimum cyber security. You don’t want your data to end up in the depths of the internet.

Utilize cloud storage systems

Cloud-based storage provides you with the flexibility to access your documents wherever you are, whether you’re at home or on the go. Rather than trawling through masses of files in a cabinet, keeping your documents stored in a secure cloud platform allows you to:

• View files from any internet-connected device
• Share documents securely with others
• Back up your data
• Sync changes automatically across devices

Encrypted cloud storage services like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive provide plenty of storage, that’s backed up by security measures like two-factor authentication and regular penetration testing to ensure vulnerabilities are patched. Many of these solutions have basic family plans at little to no monthly cost.

When using these solutions remotely, make sure to avoid public, unsecured WiFi networks when accessing sensitive files, and log out of accounts when done. Digital document storage makes managing your paperwork much easier, risk-free and more accessible. 

Minimize Paperwork with Online Payment & Billing

Bills, insurance policies, bank statements, invoices, mortgage statements, and similar paperwork can quickly accumulate and build up. Rather than dedicate time each month to sort through the clutter, go paperless with online banking, payments, and billing services.

Most financial service providers will offer customers the ability to make automatic and recurring payments digitally by allowing 24/7 access to accounts. Customers will be able to avoid late payment fees and interest charges and make payments immediately via a website or mobile application. 

Paperless billing removes unnecessary, hefty clutter from your mailbox, bank statements can be stored and backed up digitally, and you can keep track of incomings and outgoings in real time via a secure mobile app. The more automated, the easier it makes to manage monthly finance accounts.

Embrace Tech to Master Moving Paperwork

Moving provides the perfect opportunity to go paperless and simplify document management.

With the right mix of technology solutions tailored to your needs, you can handle the clutter of disorganized paperwork.This pre-planning  leaves you with one less thing to worry about during an already stressful move. 

Though it takes some time upfront to implement these systems, the long-term benefits are well worth the investment. You’ll gain back hours previously spent searching for paperwork and maintain peace of mind knowing your files are organized. After your move, you might want to organize certain belongings before they go into a permanent physical storage unit, technology can help. 

If you want professional, affordable, timely help with moving and packing up your belongings, driving and delivering them to your new home, look no further than Clutter. We can bring all the supplies needed to efficiently pack and move your items to your new home, keeping all possessions safe and secure throughout their journey.