Moving can be an exciting but stressful event when you’re trying to organize your moving boxes. It doesn’t matter if you are moving down the street or across the globe. Whether you are moving your residential space or your office space or business, packing everything and relocating can be a daunting task. Even simple decisions such as what to pack and when can create confusion. Pack too early and you may need to still use something but will not be able to find it. Pack too late and your move will be a disorganized disaster.
The best approach to take is to go ahead and pack early, but use Paper Tiger Filing System Software to keep yourself organized. Should you need to retrieve something that has already been packed or even find something after the move, you’ll be able to locate it. In addition, Paper Tiger filing system software for document management can be a great start to implement organization in your new office or home.
Here is an idea of how to make Paper Tiger work for your move:
Print an item list report to have handy if there is no computer or Internet available right away. When you arrive at your new home, office or business location, you may need something right away. Leave behind the frustrations of trying to read what was once scribbled for the contents of a box or opening each one until you track it down; there is an easier way!
You simply use the search function in the database or look on the item list report that you printed to determine which box number the item is in, and retrieve it. Gone are the countless hours spent opening boxes and dumping out contents, saving you from taking more time and making your new space disorganized. Implement Paper Tiger in your new space too. For example, in your office you can use this to keep track of all your paper files. In your home, you can use it to keep some items still boxed up but in the garage. However you choose to use Paper Tiger Filing System Software and Document Management when organizing your moving boxes, you will be able to stop disorganization in its tracks before it can follow you to your new place!
If you aren’t already involved in the war of the storage unit buying business, it has turned out to be quite lucrative for buyers acquiring inventory. Visit any major city or small town, you’ll find that every location has scattered storage unit rentals. The trend to buy units abandoned by the renter has really begun to take hold; even rousing a reality TV series. In some cases, you get to peek at what’s inside, and other times you take a chance buying it sight unseen.
Sorting through the miscellaneous items and deciding what to get rid of and what is worth reselling is rather challenging. The reselling can be done through sites such as eBay, Craigslist or other avenues. Of course, the test then really becomes keeping track of your own inventory. Sometimes, it becomes necessary to house items in storage sheds on your own property as well as in your own storage rental units.
What can you do when that item sells on eBay and you can’t remember exactly where you placed it? Or maybe the collector you personally contacted decided they would be interested in all of those old beer steins you put in a rented unit a year ago, or at least it seems like it’s been a year since you last saw them. Paper Tiger Filing System Software and Document Management is perfect for making your storage unit buying business venture a success; keeping track of your inventory will be effortless.
Trying to generate a cataloged library of your inventory and figure out where each item is housed can be a nightmare. The time alone that’s wasted trying to drive to different locations and dig through inventory could take up most of a day, that is unless you have a way to keep better track of your merchandise. To do this, you need Paper Tiger because it makes sense because the software is flexible to enable you to index anything that you can put a number onto and is user friendly.
The finest thing you can do to your new trade to make sure it makes business-sense is to use Paper Tiger for your inventory. This sounds easy if you are referring to simply filing papers, but what happens when you have everything from antique baseball cards to bulky lawnmower parts? Well, the good news is you can still file it and forget it, until you need to find it.
Paper Tiger is very simple to personalize software by allowing you to search for items just by typing in a keyword search based on the information you’ve indexed. For each box, large storage bin and even containers or parts within a storage unit, you simply number the container, type in the contents and any possible alternative keywords into the correlating item number in Paper Tiger’s database. When it is time to look for the “vintage mason jar collection,” Paper Tiger will bring back your search results, including the container number. In addition, you will even know where you have put that container for safekeeping. Stop digging through all your inventory in each storage unit in search of one item when Paper Tiger can tell you exactly where it is.
The kitchen counter is a magnet for clutter. It’s the same routine everyday: set mail on the counter; pull out recipe card for chicken cacciatore; jot down telephone messages; flip through new magazine, clip a few coupons. After doing all of that, the kitchen counter is a mess and the disorder only grows with each passing day. Where is the electricity bill that’s now three days overdue? Did you read the letter from your pen pal in Peru?
Finally, gain back your peace of mind with Paper Tiger Filing System Software and Document Management. Not only can Paper Tiger help make your countertops visible again, but also neat and organized! Here are three ways Paper Tiger can help you minimize clutter in your kitchen.
Open Mail - It’s a hard habit to break, setting the mail down without looking at it upon arriving home. How can we organize with Paper Tiger if we don’t know what we have? Open the mail as soon as you get home. Junk mail? Trash it! With Paper Tiger’s easy database and locations, important documents or keepsakes received in the mail can always be easily filed and found. Paper Tiger’s indexing system allows you to conveniently file paper in its original form; no scanning is required! Set a location for your hanging files and in Paper Tiger, index your paper files using keywords for important documents, from your medical, tax or education records. Keywords remove the hassle of naming a document and trying to remember it. Find your documents with ease through Paper Tiger’s effortless search box!
Sort Through Bills – How many times have you racked up late fees on a bill that you couldn’t find? It has been said that 23% of adults pay bills late and incur fees due to lost statements. Are you a part of that statistic? It’s very easy for bills and monthly payments to slip through the cracks. Of course, Paper Tiger won’t pay your bills for you, but with a little bit of work on your part, Paper Tiger can help your pennies add up. Sort through bills and figure out which ones need to be paid immediately and which ones aren’t as pressing. You may even have an “Urgent” location in Paper Tiger to help you deal with bills that aren’t quite ready to be permanently put away. The “Action Date” feature will assist you with time-management. Watch late fees disappear as Paper Tiger helps clear clutter simply by having a place to file your papers and a system to be able to actually find them again. Finding past statements will never prove impossible again!
Shelve Cookbooks and Magazines – Cookbooks and magazines are great to look at, but they deserve a home. We already know that Paper Tiger is not just for paper filing and document management. Cookbooks can take up quite a bit of space and cause disorder. Use Paper Tiger to number the spine of each book and choose a location for quick reference. Keywords can help you find different cuisines. Recipe cards can also be easily organized. Classify the similar recipes together and choose a location for them. Again, use keywords to help you easily find various recipes. Panang Curry tonight and Homemade Lasagna tomorrow is an easy feat.
Can you remember the last time you were able to sit and enjoy a whole magazine? Maybe you prefer to clip tidbits out the magazine that you find interesting, or maybe you like to tuck away the book for further reading. Whatever your preference, Paper Tiger can make sure magazines aren’t on your kitchen counter, but put away for your leisure when suitable. Index the entire magazine using the straightforward labels or index your clippings in hanging file folders.
Utilizing Paper Tiger paper filing system software in just these few ways will have your countertops cleaner. Of course, there are other things on the counter, but minimizing paper is a gradual process. Follow these few tips as a start and Paper Tiger will have your entire home organized before long.
During this webinar, Anne discussed the basic concept of Paper Tiger to organize both paper files and other physical items of which you need to keep track so that you can find them when you need them, and the concept of Digital Tiger, powered by Google Docs to organize and find your digital files. She demonstrated how to use Digital Tiger more effectively for digital filing, in addition to the following to show how to use Paper Tiger with Digital Tiger, so you can get organized and be more productive.
Find Anything In Your Office In 5 Seconds or Less…Guaranteed! Watch the webinar to learn more.
As information, Anne is a professional speaker, productivity expert, professional organizer and author. If you want to learn more about Anne and her services, please visit her website at www.StrategizeAndOrganize.com.
She may be in Colorado (and sometimes in Arizona!), but she’s nationally recognized as an expert and works with people throughout the US in person and virtually.
You can contact Anne at amcgurty@strategizeandorganize.com or by phone at 303 881-0174.
See more information here on Paper Tiger Filing System Software for Document Management
Q: I am very interested in reducing the amount of papers to be filed or that perhaps are not needed at all. What papers are critical to keep, even after scanning them?
A: We have several blog articles under our Category of “Retention Guidelines: How Long Should You Keep Records”
Q: I want help with useful item and category names.
A: See this blog post which contains suggestions for Location names, Item names, as well as Categories: “Customize Your Filing System with Paper Tiger’s Indexing Method.” Hopefully this will be helpful to you.
Q: How do I switch over from the old version and is it hard?
A: After creating your Paper Tiger Online account (Pro or one of the multi-user plans), email support@thepapertiger.com, attach your database(s) and let them know that you need it imported to your online account under which email.
Prior to sending your database, make sure all pending items have been confirmed by clicking the Confirm box, and empty the Trash for each database. Then export your database(s) to .CSV file(s) by following the instructions below for all databases if you have more than one database. To export a Paper Tiger CSV file from Paper Tiger 4:
1. Open Paper Tiger and the appropriate database.
2. From the File menu, select Export.
3. Check the Select All box.
4. Click the Browse button to select the preferred directory so that you will know where the file will be saved to and type in a file name for the CSV file, click the Save or Open button
5. Then attach the .CSV file to your email that you’re sending to our tech support team
Q: What is the difference between paper search to digital search?
A: Paper Tiger searches your paper files that you’ve indexed into Paper Tiger, and the Digital Tiger function allows you to also search your digital files that you have in Google Drive. Digital Tiger is a free add-on with a paid Paper Tiger Online account (Basic and Pro plans for now and then later for multi-users), to connect your Paper Tiger Online account to your Google Drive account, then you will be able to search from one place (Paper Tiger) to find both your paper/physical items that you’ve indexed into Paper Tiger and your digital files that you have in Google Drive. Since Google Drive in this case would be your digital file storage location, you can prepare for Digital Tiger by creating, scanning or uploading your digital files to Google Drive. Again, Paper Tiger is for indexing the paper files that you need to keep in hard copy format and other items, such as passports, instruction booklets, or CDs, DVDs, Books, home or office inventory and/or storage, etc.
Q: Is there a mobile app for Paper Tiger?
A: No we do not have a mobile app for Paper Tiger, but it works well on the iPad and other tablets.
Q: I would like to organize my jewelry, and I have a lot! What do you think the best way would be to do so? I did purchase clear-lidded jewelry boxes and have also taken the photos! I was trying to figure out about the photos. I am thinking of also putting info to Google Doc’s so that I don’t have to store all this information in a drawer.
A: We recommend arranging your jewelry so that you can number each piece, then index each piece in Paper Tiger matching item numbers as you go. You can photograph your jewelry with corresponding numbers, and upload the pictures to Google Drive. Be sure to put keywords in the title of each photo that you upload.
Comment: I love the fact that you have “loaned to Frances” under your keywords for your books. It is way too easy for me to not get borrowed books returned to me. Using your method would help me put a stop to this.
A: Awesome!
The doors to the Fall Semester are groaning towards a close. One of the few times a year that forces most college students to start thinking about the dreaded F word; FINALS. You remember all the essays and term papers you wrote while in college, right? Four or five classes a term meant about ten papers if there were midterms and finals. It’s a liberating sensation to turn in fifteen and twenty page papers after a few fidgety nights chained in the library, but what does one do with the masterpieces after they’ve been graded and returned? Certainly not trash them, at least Shakespeare never did!
How many times have you searched for an old essay, rummaging through countless papers with no success? What are the benefits of keeping term papers following the semester? One might need to glance at that paper next semester for a prompt review. Whatever the reason, it’s often a good idea to keep projects and papers from the previous terms. One never knows when these term papers will come in handy in the working world.
Saving ten papers a semester unquestionably adds up. Reminiscent of a leech, these papers suck up memory on a hard drive and are dispersed throughout a tiny dorm room to add to all the other clutter. After a few weeks of severe procrastinating and searching for last’s semester’s Economics paper, all hope may vanish.
Renewing all hope, both Digital Tiger AND Paper Tiger will eliminate endless stacks of papers as well as the forever-growing pile. The pursuit for past essays will be a trouble-free, effortless and painless one.
With Digital Tiger, powered by Google Drive, digital files are stored in Google Drive. Students will have a variety of options; a hard copy, a digital copy and free space on their hard drive. Google Drive offers the most economical storage options for a college budget, with 100 GB of storage for less than a hamburger and fries! Sharing docs with friends working on the same project will be a cinch. The reliable Google Cloud will store all documents securely. Finally, with the way the zombies — *ahem college students — are glued to their tablets and phones, Google Drive works with mobile devices allowing virtual access to documents anywhere!
And for all the hard copy documents, an online Paper Tiger account takes less than fifteen minutes to set up. Once all the term papers are sorted and ready to be filed, Paper Tiger’s indexing system allows for:
- Organization by subject
- With the keywords section, there’s no need to worry about what name to file under nor do you have to worry about remembering the file name
- Both physical & digital file location search functions
- Printed labels for document identification
After mastering those easy tasks in Paper Tiger Filing System software, Digital Tiger will work just as fast. Have you filed away last semester’s theory essay? Paper Tiger will still allow for physical filing of these final papers, and with the Digital Tiger function, be able to locate both hard copy and digital files relating to the same subject.
With the Digital Tiger and/or Paper Tiger, college students can start the next semester always armed with those valuable papers and projects from the past. With a tidier dorm and more desk space, students can organize essay after essay each semester until graduation. Who knows, maybe grad school is calling their name.
This article from the blog of Denise Landers, founder and CEO of Key Organization Systems Inc. and a Paper Tiger Expert, provides insight to us of the disadvantages of pulling an “All-Nighter”. It may feel worthwhile, however it ultimately affects both productivity and organization. Denise also recommends Paper Tiger Filing System Software and Document Management to help with organizing so that instead of an “All-Nighter”, you can have a good night’s rest, and still get the work done — whether you’re a student cramming for finals, an employee working to impress the boss, or you’re the owner of the company working to impress a client.
Why an “All-Nighter” Does Not Help You, Your Company, Your Career
Most of us have pulled all-night work sessions at some point in our careers. For most of us, the habit usually begins with a cramming session in high school or college, supposedly to help us make it through the test or paper that we were not prepared for. Eventually, it becomes something we get used to, especially later in our careers when the projects are bigger, and the deadlines tighter.
In fact, lots of people are proud of their ability to work through the evening and into the next morning – considering it proof of their work ethic and dedication. But are all-nighters really good for your productivity, your health, or your career?
Research suggests that it is not. Lots of studies have been done, and they all show that the work we do when we stay up too late is not as good as we think it is. That is even true for students, who tend to score lower on tests after being deprived of sleep.[1]
As it turns out, staying up all night is almost always counterproductive. Here are a few reasons why:
Most of us already know intuitively that we aren’t as creative or insightful when we are tired. The research backs this up: Being sleep-deprived is as bad for your productivity as being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
When you haven’t had enough sleep, you overlook simple, obvious errors. That can amount to typos in a presentation, calling the client by the wrong name, or making a major accounting mistake.
That is not a good trade to make, especially if you are pulling an all-nighter because you are behind on other work or projects.
When you think that you can be successful by staying up all night to finish the task, you encourage procrastination on the next important project. Sooner or later, that is bound to catch up with you.
If you really want to do great work without missing deadlines, get in the habit of following solid time-management tips, prioritizing projects so you don’t take on too much, and eliminating time-wasting habits. That might not seem as exciting as burning the midnight oil to finish a last-minute project, but it is a lot better for your life and career and your productivity.
[1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18412035
http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2012/02/27/the-anatomy-of-an-all-nighter/
Denise Landers
Key Organization Systems Inc.
Author of Destination Organization
productivity@keyorganization.com
Have you ever tried to “get organized” only to be frustrated after a day, or a week, or a month? Destination: Organization recognizes that reaching your organizing goals is a journey, not a one-time event, as you develop processes to cope with daily demands that constantly change. For help, call Denise at (281) 397-0015
Sherry Borsheim, a Paper Tiger Expert of Simply Productive, has published a short article with step-by-step guidelines on desk drawer organization. On her journey to go paperless, she chronicles how important a role the office desk plays in one’s success.
This past year I have been making it my goal to go increasingly paperless. If you’ve been following along you know the process is ongoing! While you may first think of your paper files when you think of “going paperless” your desk is a prime offender as well. As your primary workstation having a clean organized desk is crucial to your daily success. Having a clear top of your desk to start each day is important and having organized desk drawers helps this happen. It’s time to learn how to organize your desk drawers.
Learning how to organize a desk doesn’t have to be complicated, these 6 steps will have you on your way!
What do you think is the most important thing to remember when learning how to organize your desk drawers?
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Sherry Borsheim is the president of Simply Productive. You can visit Sherry, access her free article archive and grab lots of free stuff at http://www.simplyproductive.com. Sherry lives in Vancouver, BC Canada with her husband (her high-school sweetheart).
Contact Sherry for a JUMP-START on ORGANIZING your office, home and life. She will give you her trade secrets and steps to setting up your organizing systems, including recommending Paper Tiger filing system software if it is a good suit for the way you work.
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Thanksgiving. Christmas. New Years. Easter….and all the holidays in between! With the holiday season vastly approaching, decorations are becoming an everyday sight. Are your fall decorations stuffed in the pits of your hall closet? Is the Christmas tree in a box never to be found again in the attic? Do you dread wasting hours untangling lights?
According to IBISWorld, Americans spent 13.34 billion dollars on holiday decorations and costumes alone in 2010. Can you envision how much that number has grown since then? Year after year we purchase more and more decorations in addition to the ones we already have. The countless ornaments and lights could take up a lot of space in your garage or attic and become quite pricey. But, what if there was a way to put the fun back in decorating AND save yourself from becoming another shopping statistic? What if you knew exactly where your favorite set of Christmas candles were?
Now you can with the Paper Tiger Filing System Software for document management. As the seasons and holidays change, so can your home, with just the click of a button. I bet you thought Paper Tiger was just for paper! Paper Tiger can file virtually any physical object. You can still win 1st prize in the Homeowner Association’s best-decorated home contest without buying new decorations each year. Paper Tiger allows you to give each set of holiday decorations a home of its own.
Imagine if you found all the decorations you’ve purchased for each holiday, each year in one place. Imagine no more! Not only will all the decorations be right where you left them next holiday season, but also the combination of all the decorations will allow you to be really innovative when decorating next year. Maybe take the stockings you’ve accumulated over the years and form a mixed pattern above the fireplace. No fireplace? Use decorative ribbon as a bed for glass ornaments in a fruit bowl as a centerpiece in the dining room for a jovial meal. Before you run rampant with all the new decorating ideas, let’s organize the decorations.
-First check every nook and cranny of your house for decorations. Take your flashlight in the attic with you. Make sure last year’s Christmas lights aren’t still hanging from the gutters. Gather the decorations so that you can begin to sort them.
-Then, sort the decorations by their various holidays. Santa and his reindeer, the Thanksgiving harvest table kit and pastel Easter eggs should all go in separate piles. If you don’t already have storage boxes or containers, grab a couple from your local retailer to organize your items.
Now allow us to add Paper Tiger to the equation. Choose both a physical location and a Paper Tiger location for your decorations. The decorations have trickled into four piles; Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter & Memorial Day. Paper Tiger will create labels with numbers for you to attach to each of these boxes. Set keywords in Paper Tiger to help you easily find decorations in the search engine like filing system. For example, we might not remember that we named the Thanksgiving bin “Fall Decorations” but if we put “Thanksgiving” or “turkey” in the search bar, Paper Tiger will automatically populate it based on these key terms.
With Paper Tiger Filing System Software for document management, the decorations are stored and the disarray that once consumed you is replaced with the joys of the holiday season. Paper Tiger will preserve the life of your decorations because they will always be stored away neatly. Money will be saved and the efforts of searching for decorations will be swapped with a few strokes on a keyboard. Never worry about holiday decorations scattered throughout the house again, but know and embrace what you have and build upon it with creative new twists.
You most likely loved how many shelves your home had when you first moved in. With all good intentions, little did you realize the amount of clutter that would accumulate on those shelves. In fact, it may seem like the shelves have become a magnet for clutter seeming to attract things you did not even realize you owned. Even those items you wanted to showcase on the shelves now seem to be lost in the shuffle.
Of course, there are a couple of reasons for clutter, so first let’s think about why clutter accumulates.
But there is a solution with Paper Tiger Filing System Software for document management! You can now finally take the clutter off your shelves, create a home for each item, and enjoy the look of your shelves again, and be able to find them when you need them. Let your shelves return to being decorative, not just functional. Even if you want them functional, but more organized, you can still accomplish this as well.
It’s no magic trick or even that big a secret. The best way to declutter your home is to use Paper Tiger, which is an indexing system to help you get organized. Paper Tiger is not just for paper filing and document management!
You may be proud to have the biggest movie collection this side of Hollywood, but getting a little tired of it taking over your shelving space. Or maybe you have an extensive collection of DIY books you refer to often, but would rather not have them taking over all of your shelving space.
Whatever the items may be, you can still regain control of your home or office again. The best part isn’t about simply letting go of half of your collection to make it happen. It is, however, about creating a home for everything or packing these items up into storage bins. Don’t panic! You will still be able to find what you need by indexing the items into Paper Tiger’s system.
Choose the items you know you need to have on hand that you use the most often, and organize them in a neat and attractive way on your shelves. The remaining items can be packed into bins or another appropriate place. Then in Paper Tiger’s database, you simply type item the name or description and keywords for the items that you’re organizing in each bin or box or other ‘home’. Later when you want to find a particular item, you can simply conduct a search based on the keywords you’ve entered into the database, and you’ll be able to find exactly which bin or box number to find it in.
This is especially handy if you are going to keep boxes stored in the garage, attic or an offsite storage facility. It is even more crucial to use Paper Tiger if you are going to have these boxes or bins located in multiple locations. By making a note of where each numbered box is stored, you will be able to find the item you are looking for, the bin number to find it in and where that bin is located.
So let’s say that you have magazines stacking up on your shelves. Decide if you’re going to keep all of them or some of them. Throw away or recycle what you’re not going to keep. For those that you want to keep for reading later, find a home for them. Depending on how many you will keep, you may want to file in a hanging file folder in your file cabinet. Then schedule time on your calendar to go through one or two at a time until you’re caught up. Think about cutting out the articles you want to keep on file instead of keeping the entire magazine. You can enter the article title and keywords and/or a description of the article into Paper Tiger’s database, then drop the article into the hanging file folder to match the item number in Paper Tiger.
How do you organize seasonal decorations when putting them away after a holiday? Give your decorations for each ‘season’ or ‘holiday’ a home of their own as in the example below.
Of course, this could apply to any type of item. For instance, you may have a large collection of tools that you need to keep track of. In Paper Tiger’s database, you might name a Location “Workshop”, and in this Location, you can index the list of tools in your workshop, what tools are in what drawer, and what tools are hanging on the wall, and what tools are in the cabinet with doors, etc. So anyone in your family will be able to search the database and know exactly where you keep the drill and the drill bits, and they will know exactly where to put them back!
Where is all this stuff!?!
The bottom line is that once you use this simple system you can reclaim those shelves in an organized manner, whether your shelves have stacks of paper files, or books, or decorations, or tools. When you bring new items in, include them in Paper Tiger’s indexing system and you can always keep those shelves clutter free. When you declutter and get organized with Paper Tiger, you’ll know where everything is so you can easily retrieve what you need, when you need it!
Being a teacher or professor is one of the most important jobs, however, it can be a bit of a challenge to keep everything organized. In order for a teacher to do the most proficient job possible, it is key to have a structured organization system in place. If you are a teacher or professor, you already realize how much there is to keep track of and try to find a way to keep straight.
If you are planning on becoming a teacher or about to graduate and become one, you should have an idea of what to expect. Not only that, but you should also go ahead and plan to implement an indexing filing system in order to have everything make sense, and to start out organized so that you can easily retrieve what you need when you need it without a lengthy search through stacks and stacks of paper files.
In addition, you’ll also have books and notebooks to keep track of and depending on your subject matter, you most likely will have different kinds of supplies that you need to keep track of. All of which can be indexed into Paper Tiger’s filing system software.
Teachers and professors have to come up with lesson plans and keep these on file for years to come. They can refer back to these lesson plans to reuse them throughout the years. Educators must also bring home students’ papers to grade and may sometimes keep copies of these papers to refer to later for various reasons. Teachers also have to give out assignments and may keep track of the assignments they drafted as well as copies of their students’ work. The bottom line is that there is a great deal of paper work involved with being a teacher.
It was once nearly impossible to keep track of all these papers from the past. Filing them under some type of alphabetical system kept them neat, but far from an easy retrieval or finding system. In fact, unless you could remember exactly what you would have filed something under, these filing cabinet drawers and tons of paperwork can be useless. Fortunately, Paper Tiger Filing System Software for document management, an indexing filing system software can help you get your paper files organized and turn your filing system into a ‘finding’ system.
Now you can have your lesson plans, past assignments and tests on file and find them easily. Instead of having them alphabetical when one file could be under several different names or titles, you can simply include any and all keywords that you may use for your files. This is especially important for those who teach more than one subject. Your substitute teachers can also benefit from getting your files organized.
You no longer have to file everything under the title you think you should, which can end up causing duplicate files in some cases when files could be filed under different names. When you want to retrieve something, will you remember if you filed it under H for “History test” or F for “final exam.” In fact, for copies of students’ papers, how could you possibly recall what the title of a student’s paper was from two years prior in case you need to retrieve it again?
Instead, you use keywords, any and all of the keywords and search terms you can think of to help categorize your papers. That way, once you index your files into Paper Tiger’s indexing software by entering item names and keywords into the indexing system relating to the documents in your hanging file folders, you can find anything by conducting a Google-like search of the information in your database based on the keywords you’ve typed in previously. Search results will direct you to the exact hanging file folder. You can add keywords anytime, especially when you need to file a new document into an existing hanging file folder.
With Paper Tiger, you would number your hanging file folders to coincide with what you index into the database, enter the data into the software relating to each document or set of relating documents such as the item name and additional keywords that you might relate back to the files in each hanging file folder. You can also rest assured that you, and others working with you, will be able to find the file at a later date.
Really no matter what profession you are in, with Paper Tiger Filing System Software for document management, you will never again have to spend hours searching through file after file, … or through shelf after shelf of all your books, or through your boxes for the supplies you need to retrieve, … when all it takes is a quick search in your filing system database to find what you need when you need it! See our training videos and a webinar or two on our Training page and get started today!
This article by Michelle Panzlaff, and the newest Certified Paper Tiger Expert, gives some great tips in paper filing and purging, and how to organize your paper files so that you can stop the paper clutter. Michelle also recommends Paper Tiger Filing System Software for Document Management to get everything in your life organized — not just for filing paper!
Paper clutter is a real challenge because of the volume of paper we all seem to accumulate. It’s just a fact that pieces of paper easily stack and hide each other.
Here are some quick tips to help you purge your paper clutter and get organized!
Look for related paper files and gather them together.
You’ve done this a million times: sorted through a stack of papers and divided them into small stacks, such as Bills to Pay, Bank Statements, School Papers, To-Do Lists, Ideas You’d Like To Try, Things I Might Buy, and blank yellow pads. But you probably stopped there. Keep going through the next three steps, and you won’t end up re-stacking all those papers, only to go through them again later.
Dispose of unneeded or duplicate items.
Did you find duplicates, or old documents you no longer need? Toss them!
Examples: Expired warranties, magazine articles that you kept but can’t remember why, information that you could easily find again, financial statements whose information is repeated on later statements. Make sure to shred or destroy properly.
Choose appropriate containers for each stack.
After you have purged and you know what you are going to keep, take a look at each box or stack of papers and consider what kind of container will work best. File folders are a natural, but consider other alternatives where appropriate:
Three-ring binders can be stored on shelves, and contents can either be hole-punched or placed in pockets and page protectors. (TIP: have a hole puncher in reach at all times if you go this route.)
Box-bottom folders handle bulkier items well.
Large envelopes can substitute for file folders if you don’t have a filing cabinet or if the papers are various sizes and apt to fall out of a file folder.
For voluminous stacks, you don’t need to organize further, try a box. If you do need to further organize a big stack, think about an accordion file or a notebook with dividers.
(TIP: whatever options you are considering, ‘do’ think long term on how it will work for you before you go to set up.)
Choose a home for each container.
If you use it a lot, it needs to be in your reach! Store frequently used papers in convenient locations. You might also locate files easier if you line up all the tabs on hanging file folders in a straight line, rather than alternating from left to right. (TIP: Decide on what side to put ‘Main Category’ header tabs and keep them in a tidy row too. It makes for easy scanning later.)
And remember that as you have new papers that need to be filed, take the time to label them properly, index them into Paper Tiger, and place them where they belong sooner than later. If you ‘Put it here FOR NOW’ you are asking for trouble later! And those stacks of paper will start piling up again.
Floating Pieces of Paper/Notes
Eliminate floating pieces of paper by having only one place to write things down. Be sure to identify a home where it will always be kept as well. You may keep your notes in a notebook that stays by the phone, a small pocket notebook that you carry in your pocket or purse. Or maybe a note-pad on your Smart Phone that you know is always going to go with you.
Just follow this rule… never jot something down with the idea that you’ll rewrite or type it in later. NOW is the time. ‘Putting stuff here for now’ is how we get into trouble in the first place, so write it down in its permanent location to start with, and you’ll be saving time also.
Original article posted at ‘Oh my, it’s paper, paper, paper everywhere!‘
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Tidy Tiger Solutions
Michelle Panzlaff
To Michelle, serving as a Professional Organizer is all about creating more functional and enjoyable spaces, productive workflow and effective filing systems, while helping clients feel inspired and more productive.
As a skilled professional, Michelle now possesses over 23 years of office, service and administrative experience. Michelle relies on her exceptional skill set to solve complex challenges for her residential and business clients alike.
Phone: (778) 866-6942
Email: info@tidytiger.biz
How many times in your day do you find yourself shuffling through paper files, wasting a lot of time looking for one item in particular that seems to be lost in countless papers in front of you? This has happened to all of us at one time or another, whether we are in busy offices or just trying to keep household paperwork in order.
Getting organized will reduce stress in your life and help you be more productive, and an effective filing system method, like Paper Tiger Filing System Software for document management can help get your life in order, both personally and professionally. Think about how much time you could save and how much more you could do if you’re not always searching for things.
It is said that the average American spends over 150 hours per year, just looking for lost information. Some estimates are even higher than this! How much does lost information cost you and your staff?
The problem often is, once you have a disorganized system, it can be difficult to get out from under it. Many people claim to have a “method to their madness” or that the filing system they have in place, with random papers stacked on every flat surface of a room, “works for them.” Truth be told, though, this most likely isn’t true and they waste a lot of time searching to find what they need.
It takes more effort to deal with clutter and spend time trying to find documents and other physical items than it would if you had a system in place. Besides, if someone else had to work with that same system, he or she may not be as able to adjust to the madness. Also consider the stress having this type of home or office causes. Even if it is subconscious, people who live with clutter in their home or office life are reported to feel stressed out, depressed and generally overwhelmed all of the time.
It is easier to start off organized, but even if you have already started to live in or work in a world of paper chaos, you can still change things and turn it around. If you’re not organized, there is hope. Paper Tiger is a great tool to get you started on your way to filing and being able to find what you need, as well as make it simpler to get an organizational system into place and then maintained. Paper Tiger is flexible enough to fit your needs and preferences.
If you have done any filing, you most likely know that some documents can be filed under different file names, for example you might file your “auto” records but someone else is looking for “car” records or even “vehicle” records. It almost doesn’t matter how pretty the system in place is if you have to look under 3 or more hanging file folders to find the file you need. It is also very easy to duplicate files, having some documents under “auto” and some under “car” and “vehicle” so you’re still wasting time and file space in this instance.
When you use Paper Tiger Filing System Software for document management, you can use keywords so that any one of these terms could be typed in to search for the location of a document. It keeps everyone who has access to the filing cabinets and the filing system software on the same page.
If it can be numbered or indexed, it can become part of your filing system. This very same program you use to get your papers in your home or office in order can be used to keep your books or garage or storage shed in order as part of your effort to get organized. Imagine a life free of clutter and finally making sense when it comes to how things are organized. So, you keep tools in the garage, basement, the backyard shed and an offsite storage rental unit. Because of that, how will you have any idea of where to find what?
No more lost items! Doesn’t that sound good? All you do is take the time to enter the item names and keywords relating to the items you are organizing; indexing them into Paper Tiger’s database, whether it be paper, books, CDs, DVDs, collectors’ items or tools, or anything else you can put a number onto. Then when you need an item, you can conduct a quick Google-like search in the software database and find any of your belongings at the time you need them instead of having a time-consuming search. Implement Paper Tiger Filing System Software for document management and see for yourself how quickly you can get organized!
Don’t let the idea of getting organized overwhelm you. Asking for help can be a sign of wisdom, not weakness. If you were not born organized, or if you haven’t thought about getting some training in how to get organized or be more organized, then give yourself a break!
Ask someone in your family or a friend that can help you. Hire an intern. Or better yet, organizing and productivity consultants are available to help you create a customizable work flow and help you implement Paper Tiger so that you can get organized and work more efficiently. Click here to see Paper Tiger Experts who can help you.
It is said that the average American spends over 150 hours per year, just looking for lost information. Some estimates are even higher than this! Can you imagine working in the office in the picture above? How would you ever find anything?! How much does lost information cost you and your staff?
Paper Tiger Filing System software is an indexing system for your paper files or other physical items that you want to organize and be able to retrieve easily and quickly. Paper Tiger software has an easy-to-use search engine built in so that lost information is virtually eliminated in your office. You would simply type in the information into the database relating to your paper files that you need to keep in hard copy format (you do not have to scan it), and other items that just can’t be scanned, such as passports, instruction booklets, or CDs, DVDs, Books, home or office inventory and/or storage, etc., to get organized. Then you’ll be able to find what you need when you need it, without time-wasting searches by conducting a Google-like search in the database.
*You can’t decide what to name something;
*You don’t like making new folders when you need to file;
*You can’t remember where or what name you filed something under;
*Staff sharing files in the same filing cabinets, everyone thinks differently so relating files are named differently under separate hanging file folders;
*Staff turnover or the one person in the office that knows where everything is gets sick or on vacation.
Paper Tiger Online connects to Google Docs/Drive to activate Digital Tiger. To further explain, Digital Tiger is a free add-on with a paid Paper Tiger Online Basic or Pro account, and is the function that connects your Paper Tiger Online account to your Google Docs/Google Drive account, then you will be able to search from Paper Tiger to find both your paper/physical items that you’ve indexed into Paper Tiger, and your digital files that you’ve created, uploaded or scanned into Google Docs format.
While Paper Tiger is for helping you to file and find your physical items, it is also beneficial to be able to find your digital files in a timely manner. We recommend Google Drive to file and find your digital files through a Google or Gmail account. Google has the cheapest cloud digital file storage cost on the market, and it is easy to work with. The new Google Drive (just recently converted from Google Docs, is an extension for Google email account holders that allows an account holder to download a Google Drive folder to their personal device(s), such as, your desktop PC, Mac, Laptop, Mobile Phone, iPad, etc., in order to save/store digital files into the folder which are then synchronized into your Google Drive account within Gmail. Google Drive is compatible with the Mac and Windows operating systems. So if you have multiple computers that you have documents saved to, you’ll now be able to synch those digital files to one cloud location and be able to access from any computer where you sign into your Gmail account.
In this case, Google Drive would be your digital file storage location, where you would create, scan or upload your digital files to Google Docs format. Using Google Drive will also allow your staff to share and collaborate in real time. Google Drive makes sharing and/or collaborating on your digital files very easy. Now you can scan in your paper and immediately share the PDFs with your business associates.
When you store your digital files with Google Drive in Google Docs format or the files’ original format, you will also be able to work on the files in the same location that they are stored. Google Drive is part of the Google Eco System that includes Google Apps – there are modules to perform word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, email, calendar, to-do list, contacts, photos, music, etc. This makes it very easy to work on the files you are storing in Google Drive. In addition, if you want to continue to use your Microsoft Office software (Word, Excel or PowerPoint), you can do that and get many of the benefits of the Google Cloud.
See more information about Google Drive at http://support.google.com/drive/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2424384
So whether you’re filing paper or digital files, or both, you need to be able to find what you need quickly. Using Paper Tiger Online Pro for indexing your paper files and other physical items, along with Google Drive to store your digital files, is a great combination in your efforts for getting organized. Filing and finding what you need to retrieve will be a snap.
The paperless office has been a myth up until just recently but does going paperless mean having no paper at all in your office? Of course, that depends on your office and the type of documents you have. Legal, accounting or medical offices would probably have a harder time going paperless due to the types of records in these offices.
There are lots of questions to ask and your answers to these questions would determine if your office should go paperless. So would you say that a paperless office might mean less paper instead of no paper? It may be very hard to go to a ‘no paper’ environment for any office, and there are pros and cons.
Cost Effective: If your office and workflow does not have to have a printed copy for every document, your printer ink and paper budget will decrease. Think about how you process your mail and if you could possibly distribute via email instead, which will also cut down on your postage. Simply rethinking about how you print and distribute from your office will be a great savings to you.
Environment: It goes without saying that reduction of paper will help the environment in reducing landfill waste, all that goes into production of paper, greenhouse gas emissions, energy used by printers, and production and disposal of ink cartridges.
Easy access: If you decide that going paperless would mean that you put your digital files in the cloud, Google Drive is a great tool to use. Google is a secure cloud environment, and it is included in your Google or Gmail account so every time you sign into your Gmail account, you also have access to your digital files. Google has also priced the digital file storage to be very economical.
It takes time: As Sherry Borsheim of International Association of Business Organizing (IABO) says, “going paperless is a process.” It is not an overnight process, and it will take time. Depending on the amount of paper files you have in your office will depend on how much time it will take you to transition to a more paperless environment. Time to make a plan for transitioning, and time to implement the changes in your staff workflow.
Changing current processes: The first step of transitioning to a paperless environment will mean that you’ll need to review your current processes and systems. Think about the types of paper files that can be switched to working with digital files instead of printing them out. Is there a way to work with some types of files digitally instead of everyone in the office printing the same document? Do we need to keep receipts for accounting and tax purposes? And what about contracts and other legal documents that need to be kept in the original format?
Cost of digital storage: There is a cost for digital file storage whether you decide to back up all your digital files to Google Drive as mentioned previously or in-house to CDs or Flash Drives or external hard drives, or other cloud services such as Carbonite, or Dropbox. You will need to decide what is best for your office. There are always concerns about cloud service security, but also think about how safe your in-house back up situation may be because you would be responsible for thinking about loss of these devices, system failure or crashes, in addition to weather circumstances such as flood, fire, tornado, etc. In addition, you have to think about digital formats that are no longer supported, such as moving digital files that you had on the old floppy discs to Flash Drives or external hard drives, and upgrade your older files from time to time to make sure they remain usable; or again decide to go to the cloud with your digital filing. Do you have a business continuation and back up plan?
Decide on your target goal. What is your objective in reducing paper in your office? Do you have a records retention policy? What types of documents do you need to keep and how long should you keep records? You and your staff needs to agree on a records retention policy for the types of paper and digital files you retain to use as a guideline for how you want records kept and how long certain files should be kept. We have several articles at records retention guidelines that you might find helpful.
Remember not everything needs to be switched to digital at one time. Some of your old records may not need converting to digital at all, and just simply discard them when they reach a certain age. It may not be efficient for you to scan every document in your office if you won’t need to keep them or retrieve them later. Then start with your current workflow processes, and you’ll most likely see what can be converted during your daily activities. Make a policy for these workflow processes that you can easily identify. Get comfortable with one daily activity at a time, then move on to another.
Decide what files will need to be kept in paper hard copy format and what files can be digital format. Be sure to decide on a naming system for filing both your paper and digital files. If you use Google Drive, decide if you want every digital file in Google Docs format, which makes the contents searchable.
For the paper files that you decide that you need to keep in hard copy format, index them into Paper Tiger Filing System software so that you’ll have a system to keep track of where they are. You can file with ease of mind that you’ll be able to find them later. Paper Tiger allows you to put an item name on every document, but also allows you to input all keywords relating to the documents in each hanging file folder, because as you know some files could have multiple item names that just won’t fit on the file tab. You will be able to search for any keyword that you’re thinking about on any given day for the file that you need.
Paper Tiger Online connects to Google Docs/Drive to activate Digital Tiger. To further explain, Digital Tiger is a free add-on with a paid Paper Tiger Online Basic or Pro account, and is the function that connects your Paper Tiger Online account to your Google Docs/Google Drive account, then you will be able to search from Paper Tiger to find both your paper/physical items that you’ve indexed into Paper Tiger, and your digital files that you’ve created, uploaded or scanned into Google Docs format.
Google Drive is an extension for Google email account holders that allows an account holder to download a Google Drive folder to their personal device(s), such as, your desktop PC, Mac, Laptop, Mobile Phone, iPad, etc., in order to save/store digital files into the folder which are then synchronized into your Google Drive account within Gmail. Google Drive is compatible with the Mac and Windows operating systems. So if you have multiple computers that you have documents saved to, you’ll now be able to synch those digital files to one cloud location and be able to access from any computer where you sign into your Gmail account. Click here to see more information about Google Drive.
See one of our previous articles Not Just Any Filing System to Get Organized! that might help you see how Paper Tiger and Digital Tiger, powered by Google Docs works. Whether you use Paper Tiger together or separately from Google Drive, using these two software tools is a great way to organize your paper and digital files so that you can get organized and find what you need, when you need it!
Sherry Borsheim, a Paper Tiger Expert of Simply Productive, has published a short video to help us understand that ‘going paperless’ is a process, and may mean that you have ‘less’ paper, instead of ‘no’ paper. Not necessarily that you have to get rid of every piece of paper to go paperless.
Sherry’s Organizing Bootcamps will give you a JUMP-START on ORGANIZING your office, home and life. She will give you her trade secrets and steps to setting up your organizing systems, including recommending Paper Tiger filing system software for document management, to be organized and manage the paper files that you need to keep in hard copy format and other physical stuff in your life.
Sherry says,
Making the decision to go paperless is a great step in the right direction. But it isn’t a single step … going paperless is a process. Even after I thought I had cleared everything, I still find it is important to keep going back in and clearing more out! Staying organized is about staying on top of your systems.
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