Paper Tiger Blog

One of the things that many people worry about when it comes to their computers is how safe are their electronic or digital files. After all, there are many things that can happen to cause people to lose important files, like a computer crash or a virus that corrupts your harddrive, and often, it is pretty much impossible to get these files back once they are lost. Thank goodness there is a really easy way to get around this problem; and that is to use a digital filing system that is Internet based, like Google Docs. That way, no matter what computer you are using, you can access the files you want, and if something happens that causes you to lose files on your computer, you will be able to access them through the Internet. You will never lose a file again when you are using an Internet digital filing system.

Don’t Be Afraid of Computer Crashes

Computers can be truly wonderful things, but when they are not working right, they can also be some of the most annoying machines in the world. There are all kinds of little problems that can crop up for computer users, with one of the most common being computer crashes. Unfortunately, most of the time when a computer crashes, there is no way that you can get back the information that you had stored on it. This means that you will lose all of your files, including really important things such as family photographs, or that critical presentation from the office that would take hours to recreate. Instead of waiting for something like this to happen, you can have all of the files on your computer organized, or at least backed up to an online digital filing system. That way, even if you do have a computer crash and lose everything on your harddrive, you will still have access to all of your important files.

Work from Anywhere

Because of the Internet, it is possible for many people to be able to work from anywhere they want, and they don’t have to be chained to a desk in an office all day long. If you want to do work from home and your employer has given you the go ahead, you are going to need to be able to access certain files just the same as you would from the office. If your employer is using a digital filing system, you will be able to access all of the files you need to be able to do your job from anywhere, using any computer. This means that even if you are not able to make it to work, such as on a day when there is severe weather, you will still be able to get your work done, especially if you are on a tight deadline.

There are a lot of advantages to using a digital filing system. You can access files from anywhere in the world, so even if you are traveling on business and you have forgotten an important file at the office, as long as it is in a digital system, you can get your hands on it. If your employer is not already using a digital filing system, make the suggestion as soon as you can. You may even receive credit for saving the company time and money.

How Google Docs Works

Using Google Docs, you can store your digital files, and you will also be able to work on the files in the same location that they are stored. Google Docs is part of the Google Eco System that includes Google Apps through a Google or Gmail account – 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 Docs.

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. Google’s product “Cloud Connect” allows you to continue to use your Microsoft Office software on your local computer but store, share and collaborate. This is a great way to use software that you already know but have the benefits of the cloud, including automatic backup, using Google. See Google Cloud Connect…..Sync Your Microsoft Office Documents

Google Docs makes sharing and/or collaborating your digital files very easy. Now you can scan in your paper and immediately share the PDFs with your business associates.

Google Docs (all your digital files) can even be backed up offline to your local computer, as you can see from this article at Now You Can Backup Your Google Docs to Your Local Drive!; or you can select another service that will automatically and constantly backup all your files stored in Google Docs (including your GMail – Google Mail) to another entirely different system for safekeeping.

You can now Work Offline With Your Google Account and, Google Docs users not only have the ability to easily share and collaborate with others, to view data from any web device, but also have the peace of mind of automated backups, for an efficient document management system for organizing digital files.

Keeping Up With Paper and Digital Files

We recommend using the Digital Tiger function in Paper Tiger Online filing system software to connect to Google Docs for a combined document management software solution. You can still index your paper files that you need to keep in hard copy format and other physical items such as books and manuals into Paper Tiger Online, and use Google Docs through a Google or Gmail account for your digital file storage. Google Docs is the lowest cost digital file storage system available, and is more convenient than storing your digital files on your hard drive (or multiple computers) that would take up valuable memory, or keeping up with CDs or Flash Drives.

Some people are converting their filing systems to a more paperless environment, and Google Docs is great for storing the digital files that are scanned. Combining Paper Tiger’s indexing method, there’s a way to organize and index all those items that simply cannot be scanned, i.e., passports, contracts, binders, books, CDs, DVDs, etc. Then by using the Digital Tiger function in Paper Tiger Online, you will be able to search and find both your paper/physical items that you’ve indexed into Paper Tiger and your digital files that you’ve uploaded or created into Google Docs format relating to the same keyword search from one software system, Paper Tiger.  Digital Tiger, powered by Google Docs, is a free add-on with a paid Paper Tiger Online (Basic or Pro plan for now), to connect your Paper Tiger Online account to your Google Docs account.

If you choose to use the combined document management software solution with Paper Tiger Online and Digital Tiger, powered by Google Docs, you will be setting yourself up for enhanced productivity for the future so that you can find anything in five seconds or less!

Do you work from multiple computers, such as your computer at work, your home computer and your laptop? If so, then you probably already have a pretty good idea of how difficult it can be to keep all of your digital files in order and how much of a pain it is to look for a digital file, only to remember that it is on a different computer or CD or Flash Drive.

Let’s say that you had to call in to work sick, but there are things you can do from home that will keep you from getting too far behind. Sure, you have the capabilities to do the work, but unless you have the right files, which of course are going to be on your work computer, there isn’t a whole lot you can do but wait until you are back at the office.

Then you also have to think about keeping up with technology….remember the floppy disk? Did you remember to copy files to a newer digital file storage location before getting a computer that doesn’t accept floppy disks? This can be a real problem.

Organize Your Digital Files

There is one way that you can overcome the problem of not having the files you need on every computer that you use. All you have to do is get them organized, and take advantage of a digital filing system. Sure, you probably have some sort of system on each of the computers that you use, but this isn’t going to help you when you are using a different computer and need to access a file that is not on it. In addition to having a system on each of the computers you use, why not use an Internet based filing system? Then, you can access whatever files you need, when you need them, from any computer that you are using.

You don’t have to limit yourself to just storing your business files with a digital filing system. You probably have all kinds of personal files, from family photographs to personal documents, and you can organize all of these and access them easily from any computer when you have them integrated into an online digital filing system. Only you, and anyone you share individual files with (such as employees who need access to certain files), will have access to any information that is stored in these files.

Digital Filing Systems Keep Your Files Safe

It happens all the time – a computer crashes and we lose everything that has been stored on it. You could be losing a lot of important files, from business files to your own personal files, and there is no way that you will be able to get these files back, unless you have a good back up system. When you use an online digital filing system, you will never have to worry about losing anything again.

Instead of having to wade through a ton of paperwork to get to a file, or not being able to access a digital file because you are not at the right computer, have all of your digital files organized with an online digital filing system. You will be able to get to on any file you need in seconds, no matter where you are and what computer you are using.

We recommend using the Digital Tiger function in Paper Tiger Online filing system software to connect to Google Docs for a combined document management system software solution, you can still index your paper files that you need to keep in hard copy format and other physical items such as books and manuals into Paper Tiger Online, and use Google Docs through a Google or Gmail account for your digital file storage. Google Docs is the lowest cost digital file storage system available, and is more convenient than storing your digital files on your hard drive (or multiple computers) that would take up valuable memory, or keeping up with CDs or Flash Drives.

Some people are converting their filing systems to a more paperless environment, and Google Docs is great for storing the digital files that are scanned. Combining Paper Tiger’s indexing method, there’s a way to organize and index all those items that simply cannot be scanned, i.e., passports, contracts, binders, books, CDs, DVDs, etc. Then by using the Digital Tiger function in Paper Tiger Online, you will be able to search and find both your paper/physical items that you’ve indexed into Paper Tiger and your digital files that you’ve uploaded or created into Google Docs format relating to the same keyword search from one software system, Paper Tiger.  Digital Tiger, powered by Google Docs, is a free add-on with a paid Paper Tiger Online (Basic or Pro plan for now), to connect your Paper Tiger Online account to your Google Docs account.

How to Organize Your Digital Files for Most Efficiency

Again, we recommend using Google Docs through a Gmail or Google account. Google Docs is Google’s free, web-based office suite that provides word processor, spreadsheet and slide show solutions similar to Microsoft Office. Using Google Docs, you can create and edit new documents online, upload documents created on your local computer or document attachments sent via email. (Note: the 1st GB of digital storage with Google is free. Click here to see more information on Google Docs digital file storage and at Google’s knowledge base here: http://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1047457)

In addition, Google Docs can also be used as a reliable and budget friendly digital file storage solution for all your file types including document management for electronic files, video, music and image files.

Google Docs allows you to upload and store files in the cloud. You can upload both files and folders, including an array of file types ranging from document types to image types to video formats. Here are some of the things you can do when you upload files or folders to Google Docs:

• Access your files and folders from any computer, anywhere in the world by signing into Google Docs. The only requirement is that you have an Internet connection and a Gmail or Google account.
• Share files and folders with friends, family members or colleagues, allowing them to view the files in the Google Docs Viewer.
• Convert files to Google Docs format and collaboratively edit these files online.
• Upload photos and videos to view or share.
• Organize your digital files in folders called ‘collections’ and individual files can be organized to appear in multiple collections.

Commonly asked questions about uploading files and folders to Google Docs:

• Are uploaded files secure?

Uploaded files have the same privacy and security as any of your other documents in Google Docs. Additionally, the default visibility setting for uploaded files is “Private.”

• How big can an uploaded file or folder be?

An uploaded file or folder can be up to 10GB. If you’d like to convert a file to Google Docs format, the size limit depends on the file type. Learn more about size limits in Google Docs.

• Why aren’t my uploaded files showing in my Documents List?

If your Document List is sorted by Priority, uploaded files and folders may not show at the top. If you’d like your uploaded files and folders to show at the top of your Documents list, you should switch to the Last Modified view.

• Can I share and collaborate on a file I upload?

Google Docs also allows for real-time collaboration with other GDocs users, file sharing, and access documents on your mobile device. You can share any uploaded file with another person, and you have full control over who can do what with your shared files. If you’ve converted that file to Google Docs format, you can also collaborate on that document in real-time with other people, meaning that everyone that you share a document with can edit the document at the same time, and each person be able to view the changes real-time. So, when the shared file is updated, there is no need to re-send it as an email attachment, because it is automatically updated for everyone.

Click here to see more information on how Google Docs works.

As you can see from this article at Now You Can Backup Your Google Docs to Your Local Drive!, Google Docs users not only have the ability to easily share and collaborate with others, to view data from any web device, but also have the peace of mind of automated backups, for an efficient document management system for organizing digital files.

During this webinar, Anne discussed the basic concept of organizing both paper and digital files. She demonstrated the following to show how to use Paper Tiger more effectively so you can get organized and be more productive.

• Get started with Paper Tiger Online.
• Created a Database, created a Location, created Items, and print labels for items.
• Demonstrated a work-flow example by filing items from her inbox.
• Demonstrated how to connect Paper Tiger Online to Google Docs and search from Paper Tiger to find both paper and digital files.

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, 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

Filing System Q&A from the Webinar

Q: How secure are the digital documents that you scan in that are stored in Google Drive?
A: Information security is a top priority at Google… For more information, see Google Apps security whitepaper which is found at http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=60762

Q: Can you scan documents in and route to an action file?
A: You can set up a ‘collection’ or ‘folder’ in Google Drive for an action file.

Q: I would need 2 files, 1 for hard copy, titles, etc, the other electronic for all files, including vehicle titles?
A: With Paper Tiger Online and Digital Tiger, powered by Google Drive, you would be able to index your hard copy files, titles, etc. and upload your electronic files to Google Docs format, and be able to search  from Paper Tiger Online to find both your hard copy files and your electronic files. When Digital Tiger is activated, search results are produced from both apps, Paper Tiger Online and Google Drive. See this knowledge base article that gives an overview of what Digital Tiger is and includes a screen cast for activating Digital Tiger: http://thepapertiger.com/support/articles.php?id=20297536&catId=20008411

Comment: I want to use it to organize other things. I have a million tapes, CD’s, and papers and need to get a handle on the best ways to set up them.
Response: Assuming Anne’s webinar gave you a good idea on how to handle indexing your paper files into Paper Tiger by creating a Location for your Action files and a Location for your Reference files. Below is an example for your CD’s, and can be used to implement the same concept for your tapes:

Comment: I use Paper Tiger to keep track of car records and other hard items.
Response: This is a great example of Paper Tiger’s flexibility in getting organized!

You may already be familiar with the idea of using an indexing system to maintain better record management capabilities for your professional office paper files. In fact, you may even already be using Paper Tiger Filing System Software for document management for your office needs. On the other hand, you may not be familiar with what an indexing system is, how it works or what you can do with it.

The important thing to keep in mind is that you can use this same indexing software system to declutter your life and organize almost anything. If it can be stored somehow and numbered, it can be indexed. Also, the great thing about using this type of indexing system is that it works for anything that can’t be scanned. So while some people are converting their filing systems to a more paperless environment, it leaves them with no way to organize and index all those items that simply cannot be scanned, i.e., passports, contracts, binders, books, CDs, DVDs, etc.

Why an Indexing System

You put papers in a file for your car repair and then stick the file in your personal filing cabinet and that’s the end of that. When your spouse has to look up the amount of the last repair for some reason, he or she may not know if you filed it under “Toyota Repairs,” “Sheila’s Car” or “Mechanic Receipts” or it could be filed “Auto” or “Car”, so you see it could take a while to search through the alphabet in your filing cabinet(s) depending on how many drawers of paper files you have. With Paper Tiger’s indexing system, you simply number this file to coincide with the number assigned to it from the software, type in as many of those key search terms you can think of and file it away. When you or someone else has to retrieve the file, you use the search engine and can locate the file in a matter of seconds. It’s a hassle-free way to make your filing system manageable.

You don’t have to do this with just paper files though. Maybe you collect antique dolls, have a CD collection that is growing out of control or want to be able to keep better track of what type of seasonal clothing you are storing and where it is. By using an indexing system you can make all of this possible. Take the clothing as an example, which can be really out of hand if you have kids and therefore a great deal of clothing to put in some type of storage.

You may end up with some bins in the basement, some leather coats stored in climate controlled storage away from your home and more hanging in garment bags in the guest room closet. Trying to remember where all of these items are scattered can become confusing. If you use an indexing system you can number the bins or garment bags, type the item and location of each into your Paper Tiger database and always know where your seasonal items are even if they are not in your home.

This can be an extremely useful tool for those who sell items on places such as eBay and may store the items in various places. Just remember to update the system when new items come in and when one sold or is moved to a different location.

What Is an Indexing System

Paper Tiger is an indexing system for your paper files or other physical items that has an easy-to-use search engine built in so that lost information is virtually eliminated in your home or office. You would simply type in the information into the database relating to your physical files or other items to get organized so that you can find what you need when you need it, without time-wasting searches.
So for paper files, you would keep your paper in its original form (you do not have to scan it) and use the power of the computer to index the paper files that you need to keep in hard copy format, and also be able to index other physical items as in the examples mentioned above. Paper Tiger can index anything that you can put a number onto!

When you’ve indexed your items into Paper Tiger, and you need to find an item later, you simply conduct a Google-like search in the database to find where the item is located.

This solves problems with filing or finding any physical item, such as:

• You can’t decide what to name something because it could be named so many different things;
• You don’t like making new folders when you need to file;
• You can’t remember where or what name you filed something under previously;
• Staff or family members sharing files or other items, everyone thinks differently and anyone can search a keyword;
• Staff turnover or the one person that knows where everything is gets sick or is away for a time.

If you haven’t already, please view our videos on our Why Paper Tiger page, which may help you understand better how Paper Tiger works. Please also see our Not Just For Filing Paper page for great examples for indexing other items in addition to paper files.

Click Here to Read Full Transcript Feb 16th

During this webinar, Anne discussed the basic concept of organizing both paper and digital files. She demonstrated the following to show how to use Paper Tiger more effectively so you can get organized and be more productive.

• Get started with Paper Tiger Online.
• Created a Database, created a Location, created Items, and print labels for items.
• Demonstrated a work-flow example by filing items from her inbox.
• Demonstrated how to connect Paper Tiger Online to Google Docs and search from Paper Tiger to find both paper and digital files.

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, 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

Excerpt From Webinar Transcript

One of the things about working with Paper Tiger and Digital Tiger is having a change in your attitude in how you work. Getting organized is not just about making things pretty. It’s about having a methodology – a system to help you change your habits to be more efficient.

I think it’s important to know that when I started my business, Strategize and Organize, back in 2002, I was floundering wondering how was I going to help my clients get organized with their paper files. I was an executive in the corporate world for almost 20 years, and I always had tremendous staff and assistants to help me with my own paper flow. But the world has changed and for the most part, we are all doing it on our own now. Everyone has their own way of thinking about filing. Well Paper Tiger is unique in that it doesn’t matter what you name the file, because you can recall it later based on the keywords that you type in when you set up a file.

Say for instance you have a file and the first one is regarding your car. People could name that file Car, Auto, Ford, or Vehicle. So you could possibly have 3 or 4 possible names for the same file. In a traditional filing system, when you go to look for that file, you might look under A for Auto, a little further back for Car, a little further back for Ford, and then a little further for Vehicle. So it might take you a few minutes to go through all your files, because you don’t remember what you filed it under. Nevermind if someone else needs to find it. They might just give up because they wouldn’t think to look under Ford.

So Paper Tiger allows you to set up a file under any name and then use keywords that will help you find it later. Kind of like a Google search where it goes to the index of all the keywords and finds your file. So that’s a little bit about the methodology.

Once you have a Paper Tiger Online account, you are signed in and the first screen you see is the Dashboard…..

On the right side column of the Dashboard, you will see where you can create a new database or import an old database. For those of you who previously had the desktop version of Paper Tiger, you can import your old database….

To get started, you want to create a new database. The definition of a database is essentially the organization or entity in which you are going to be indexing all of the files. Once you name your database, you will see a link to open that database from the Dashboard. You can have different databases for different things, such as your office files, your home files, etc. Or larger corporations might have a multi-user plan in which they want different databases for employees that do not share the same file cabinets. (Click here to see the advantage of having multiple databases.)

After your database has been created, you then need to begin to add Locations within the database. (Click here to see how Locations are defined in Paper Tiger.)

In setting up your files in an office environment, generally people think of their files as simply files. They really never thought of their files as a function….

Filing System Q&A from the Webinar

Q: Are you saying that every piece of paper I receive I should scan and then enter into database, and then file, If I get 100 items a day to file, how much time does it take to enter every page? How much additional time does it take to enter the document into the database just for filing/indexing the physical paper file?
A: No, we are not saying that every piece of paper needs to be scanned and indexed into Paper Tiger to also keep the hard copy. You will first decide for each piece of paper if it should be kept in hard copy format or if it could be scanned and shredded.

• For those paper files that you need to keep in hard copy format, type in the item name and all relevant keywords into Paper Tiger.
• For those items that you don’t need to keep in hard copy format, scan them and upload them to Google Drive, then shred the paper.
• Of course there might be files that you would like to keep in hard copy and digital formats, and you would be able to index those into Paper Tiger and also scan and upload to Google Drive. When you conduct a search from Paper Tiger Online, search results would present both what you have indexed into Paper Tiger and what you have uploaded to Google Drive format.

Q: How do you activate Google Drive within Paper Tiger?  When I go to Database preference I do not see anything about Google Drive.
A: Google Drive is currently only available in Basic and Pro plans. When you sign into Paper Tiger Online, click on the Accounts tab from the Dashboard and locate the link to activate Digital Tiger to your Google Drive. Then for each database that you want to show digital results as well as what you have indexed into Paper Tiger, you would go to the Database Preferences tab and select show digital results.

Q: If one uses a Back Up service like CARBONITE, does it back up all the Paper Tiger filings?
A: For the desktop version of Paper Tiger, the database is stored on your hard drive so in that case, the Paper Tiger backup database would be backed up to Carbonite. You can also choose to auto-archive a copy of your database to a specific location. Click here to see how to auto-archive your desktop version database.

For the online version of Paper Tiger, the database is stored on our secure servers hosted by Amazon, so in that case, the Paper Tiger database would not be backed up to Carbonite.

Q: Pictures. We have so many digital pictures. What would you suggest. Does Google have a area to upload digital pictures then search through Paper Tiger?
A: Google does have Google+ or Photos where you can upload your photos, but they would not be searchable through Paper Tiger. Paper Tiger Online currently will only connect to Google Drive. If you should upload your photos to Google Drive, you would need to change the title of the photo to include keywords so that the Digital Tiger feature would have words to search.

Q: What if Google goes down? Will the Google files be in Paper Tiger?
A: The Google Drive files will not be in Paper Tiger, since Paper Tiger is not the digital files storage location. Google Drive is the digital cloud storage location. Google promises 99.9% uptime.

Q: I have a few locations.  Should they actually have their own database?
A: Not necessarily. Having different databases is only advantageous if you want to keep different filing systems separate and do not want to search for all files in all databases at one time. For example, if you have an Office database and a Home database, you do not want items to pop up from your Office database when conducting a search for an item in your Home database.

Q: The video on Paper Tiger’s website shows the exact physical location, not the name or type of files as is recommended in this webinar (Reference or Acton)
A: See this knowledge base article that describes what is a Location in Paper Tiger: http://thepapertiger.com/support/articles.php?id=205263&catId=230 where you’ll see that a Location can be named for the file type or to describe the physical location of the items you are indexing, so you are not limited to a naming system. Name the Location for how you think about the types of items you are indexing or the physical location of the items. It has even been suggested that a Location could be named ‘Ideas’ for indexing your thoughts/ideas.

Q: I can get to the Google Docs section, but still not sure how to get my files to be on line.
A: Sign into your Gmail account, then click on the Documents link at the top of the page, Then you can create, scan or upload your digital files to Google Docs. Also see videos on our Digital Tiger page at http://thepapertiger.com/digital_tiger, some of which we’ve copied from Google’s support. Also on our support portal, see 7 ways to easily upload your files to Google Drive

Q: How do you transfer documents from Word to Google Drive?
A: Sign into your Gmail account and upload & convert the Word document to Google Docs format. See Google’s support portal for instructions.  Also on our support portal, see 7 ways to easily upload your files to Google Drive

Q: What is the Avery label # you use for the file labels?
A: Anne just chose Avery #5167 or 8167 which is the return address label size and can be affixed onto the tabs that come with the hanging file folders.

Q: Do I upload files to Google Drive  with or without a folder structure?
A: Anne recommends structuring your Google Drive to be consistent with how you structure your digital files on your computer.

Q: Did Google Drive implement the drag and drop upload?
A: This has been implemented by Google and you should be able to drag and drop individual files to your Google Drive. File folder drag and drop has not been implemented as far as we can tell, but you can choose to upload an individual file or an entire folder from the Upload button.

Getting organized and staying organized with paper files can seem difficult for most people, and therefore many companies are opting to go to a paperless office to get organized. This type of filing system may get rid of most paper in your office to make your desk look organized, but it can also add countless hours of document scanning in order to keep files up to date. Then there is the problem of renaming and finding the digital files after they have been scanned. So, how do you keep up with paper and digital files so that you can actually find them when you need them?

Paper Tiger Filing System software is different. It does not require scanning, but with the new Digital Tiger feature in Paper Tiger Online, this document management system can help your office have less paper and be able to retrieve the documents at the time you need them, whether they are in hard copy paper file format or digital file format.

Paper Tiger allows you to organize files in just a few moments by indexing those paper files that you need to keep in hard copy format. Digital Tiger, powered by Google Docs, is a free add-on with a paid Paper Tiger Online account (Basic and Pro plans for now), that allows you to connect your Paper Tiger Online account to your Google Docs account, then you will be able to search from one place to find both your paper/physical items and your digital files. The way Digital Tiger works is described on our web page at http://www.thepapertiger.com/digital_tiger.

To prepare for Digital Tiger, you can create, scan or upload your digital files to Google Docs format from your Gmail account. Google Docs is the online storage for your digital filing system. 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., that just can’t be scanned.

Once you have set up your Paper Tiger Filing System account, it is time to start filing and organizing. It doesn’t matter how many files you have, Paper Tiger Filing System software can help you to get organized. We even provide tips and helpful hints and online video training for free to help you get started. For instance, we recommend starting with the files that you use the most and then adding a little more each day. Deciding with each file whether you need to keep it in hard copy file format or if you can scan and shred it. Before you know it, you will have a document management filing system that works and makes sense.

Paper Tiger Filing System to Get Organized

For the paper files that you need to keep in hard copy format and other physical items, first you will create a ‘Location’ within the software’s database which will coincide to your physical location. Then, you decide how many folders or items you want in this Location. You can add more later if you need to. In the database, each row corresponds to a hanging file folder* in your desk drawer, file box, or filing cabinet. You set up numbered folders in advance (“Reference 1, Reference 2,” etc.), by printing tab labels from the software for this location and placing the tabs in your hanging folder plastic tabs. Once this is done, you type in information relating to each document in the database file location.When you file something, you type in a primary name in the database’s Item Name section, such as “Car Insurance.” Then you have a keyword field for all of the phrases you can think of that relate to that set of papers (“Honda, State Farm, Auto, Vehicle,” etc.)

You can give the document any name you want without any worry about finding it later because the keywords you type in that describe all documents that you put in your hanging file folders will work much like a Google search later when you need to find a file. Now, place your document (or documents relating to the same subject) in the corresponding hanging folder. Just like that, your filing cabinet is organized without all the extra time of scanning, electronic storage space and hassle that scanning presents. For documents that you want to add to the same file, simply edit the Item and add additional keywords necessary that relate to the new document(s) being filed. As you can see in the file folder picture above, you can even sub-divide with manilla folders. We simply added keywords for each manilla folder in the respective item number in the database. For example, in Reference 10, there are manilla file folders and keywords for Fedex, UPS, USPS, sub-dividing documents relating to each shipping service, and the Item Name in Paper Tiger is ‘Shipping Information’.

When you need to retrieve a file later, you just conduct a Google-like search in the software database for the keyword you’re thinking it might be filed under, and it tells you which folder to grab. You can retrieve anything from your file drawer in just a few seconds, as fast as you could Google something.

*When indexing other physical items, each row in the database corresponds to the item being indexed.

Problems Paper Tiger Fixes

* You can’t decide what to name something: Since you are normally limited to what fits on the little folder tab with traditional filing systems, you must be succinct when naming a file folder. Sometimes paper files simply defy classification and are very difficult to name, with many subjects represented in one article, for example. With Paper Tiger, you can keyword all of those things and you’re covered.

* You don’t like slowing down to make new folders when you need to file: Using this filing system software, you easily create numbered hanging folders in advance, so you can have as many open hanging folders sitting there waiting in your filing cabinet as you like. When it’s time to file, it takes a few seconds to just type an item name and keywords relating to the documents and drop them in the folder. Some people are uncomfortable seeing only numbers in their file drawer. If you think about it though, wouldn’t it be wonderful to not have to re-do labels when you change your mind about a folder? Or have to create a new label every time you need to file a new document. It’s a shift in thinking to realize that your papers are supposed to be randomly filed and like folders may not necessarily be physically next to each other, but because there is a printed file index report, it is something that is easy to overcome.

* You can’t remember where you filed something: Because of the keywording and searching, you no longer have to remember this kind of information in your head. You can find it in just a few seconds by searching in the filing system software database or looking at the file index that can be printed from the database.

* People sharing files who cannot read minds: If the filing system is in someone else’s head, and that person goes on vacation or has to be out for medical leave or worse yet, leaves the company, you can’t find anything. This system prevents people from being in the dark about where things are.

Not Just For Filing Papers

In addition to organizing the paper files that you need to keep in hard copy format, you can also organize other items with Paper Tiger Filing System software such as passports, office supplies, CDs, DVDs, books, home or office inventory, and items you have in storage, etc. See our Not Just For Filing Paper webpage.

Items are right where they should be and are easier to find and you’ll know where to put the items back when they need to be returned. This makes the Paper Tiger Filing System much more than just an office management system; it is a life management system to help you get organized and stay organized!

Every business continues to look for ways to improve the way they operate. The ultimate goal of a successful business is to keep the customers satisfied. Improving the functionality, customer service and organization are all small ways that work together to make the company able to keep customers
happy and coming back for repeat business.

What you may not already realize is how keeping your company organized with something as seemingly simple as an indexing system can help improve upon your business and the way it operates.

While the following list includes four ways Paper Tiger Filing System software can improve your business, there are plenty more than this.

1. Keep All Staff Members on the Same Page

Trying to make sure everyone in a business or office is able to find certain merchandise or documents can cause a great deal of hassle when your business is not organized in a way that everyone knows where everything is so they can find what they need when they need it and then replace the item back where it belongs. This can be especially true of new hires, and this frustration can even lead to high turnover rates. If any employee can locate an item or file by conducting a Google-like search in the indexing system database, this cuts down on time and keeps your business running that much more smoothly and efficiently.

2. Indexing System Helps with Loss Prevention

Whether you simply need to keep up with supplies for your office or other types of supplies to conduct your business or you have product stock that you need to keep track of, doing inventory on a regular basis helps a business be aware of how accurate their inventory lists are compared to what is actually in stock. Having an organized indexing system makes doing regular inventory checks that much easier. Too many businesses put off doing this type of inventory check at all because it can be time consuming, but it isn’t if you use a system to keep track of all of your merchandise. This helps cut down on internal theft and also keeps your records updated so you never have to cancel an order because the ordered merchandise isn’t actually in stock. When you lose one sale because you ran out of inventory and had to contact the buyer, you more than likely lose that customer for all future orders too. All of these can really begin to add up, not to mention cause your business to get negative feedback, which can have a huge impact. If you keep your indexing system current every time you add or remove merchandise you can eliminate the problem of running out of something and not knowing in enough time to reorder.

3. Indexing System to Make Getting Organized Easily Maintained

With Paper Tiger, whether you are organizing your paper files in your filing cabinets or you’re organizing your office supplies, you can index anything that you can put a number onto because Paper Tiger is not just document management software. Having a system in place that gets your business organized will help you and your staff so you won’t have to waste time searching for things because you all don’t think the same way. Following are other ways that Paper Tiger can help alleviate the problems of disorganization and help staying organized easier to maintain for the entire staff:

• Remembering where you’ve put something – Have you ever put something in one place, then the next time you need it, you’ve forgotten where that place was?
• Do you have one person in your office that knows where everything is and then you’re in trouble when that person has to be out of the office for any length of time or worse yet, leaves the company? With Paper Tiger, anyone in the office can search the database to find an item.
• If more than one person shares the files, everyone may think of the files differently, so there could be different names for the same types of files, which can cause duplication in your file cabinets (each with part of the information on a particular subject), but also causes lost productivity when staff members have to search for the needed file under different names. With traditional filing systems, you only have the one or two keywords on the file folder tab, but with Paper Tiger, you can input as many keywords as the file or item could be called, so you’re not limited to what fits on the tab.
• It’s quite a task when you run out of space in the “A” drawer, you have to move everything down to make more room. Since Paper Tiger doesn’t rely on filing alphabetically, new items are indexed into the first available open file folder. For example, you toss documents from one file folder, that file is open for the next new document or set of documents)
• When paper needs to move to archives, it will be difficult to find, but when you already have the items indexed, it’s a simple matter of transferring the items in the database to the new ‘location’ and then moving the physical files to the archives location.

4. Make Bookkeeping Easier

No one likes tax time, but it happens each year regardless. Whether you have your own bookkeeper, use an accountant or plan to file yourself , you can have everything you need when it comes time by keeping records organized with an indexing system. You can locate all the paper work when it comes
time to file, including employee payroll records and expenses. Also, should the need ever arise, if you are audited, you will be able to locate all the documentation needed to make it go smoothly.

Make your business the very best it can be by getting your indexing system set up and working for you today. Take a look at our article Customize Your Filing System with Paper Tiger’s Indexing Method and our Not Just for Filing Paper page to help you see the filing system possibilities. Getting organized can seem like a daunting task to tackle, but once you get started, it isn’t as troublesome as you may originally think. Once you have Paper Tiger Filing System software in place, it will make your life that much easier. Get organized today, and you can truly start noticing the benefits.

During this webinar, Anne demonstrated the following to show how to use Paper Tiger more effectively so you can get organized and be more productive.

• Get started with Paper Tiger Online.
• Created a Database, created a Location, created Items, and print labels for items.
• Demonstrated a work-flow example by filing items from her inbox.
• Demonstrated how to connect Paper Tiger Online to Google Docs and search from Paper Tiger to find both paper and digital files.

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, 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

Filing System Q&A from the Webinar

Q: If I convert a file to Google Docs format can I get the file back in the native file format?
A: Yes, open your Google Docs from your Gmail account, then the file you need, then click on File and select the option to ‘Download file as’ and you can select to download the file as whatever programs are offered for that file type.

Q: Is that rebooting or resetting for password available 24 hours a day?
A: If you don’t remember your password, you simply click on the Forgot my password link, answer the question and fill in your email that your Paper Tiger Online account is under, and you’ll receive an email with a link to reset your password

Q: There is concern about the security of the digital documents…. how secure are they?
A: See information regarding Google Security information that we’ve copied from their Security knowledge base.

Q: When scanning documents, do you always use PDF?
A: We do mainly because Google Docs will OCR the 1st 10 pages of PDFs when the file is uploaded, but may not OCR .jpg

Q: Do you know if there is a limit to space available per account.
A: We’ve captured some information from Google’s knowledge base regarding digital filing cloud storage space and limits and pricing tiers.

Q: If I were to switch from the desktop version to a web version can everything I have done be transferred to the web version?
A: Yes absolutely! You can import your desktop version database or have our support team import it for you. Email support@thepapertiger.com, attach the database and let them know what email your PTO account was created under.

Q: What if you have two different Google accounts
A: Paper Tiger Online will only connect to one of your Google accounts at a time.

Since 1998, Paper Tiger has been helping tens of thousands of businesses, professionals and individuals simplify their organizational and hanging file systems. Prior to Paper Tiger, there were only five possible solutions to dealing with the world of paper management. First, let’s take a quick look at those.

1. The Trash or Recycling Bin – Most people would still like to be able to eliminate paper from their life and be able to let it all go by tossing it somewhere and making it simply go away. That might be fine, as long as all that data could be tracked down later somewhere online.
2. Stacking Paper – This keeps everything close at hand but fills up those “in” and “out” boxes so quickly. Then you divide the in-box into stacks, and the stacks begin to build on your desk and other surfaces in your office. Also, how can you ever really find what you are looking for? Time-consuming searches through piles of paper everyday and sometimes several times a day, is just not productive. This is more of a temporary solution than an actual filing system. And one that simply cannot be a viable solution if the paper files need to be accessed by others in the office.
3. Alphabetizing – This one can work, but certainly has flaws. For one thing, how will everyone know what exactly you filed something under? Honestly, you may not even recall if you put something under “car insurance” or “auto insurance.” Plus, if you run out of space in a drawer for one letter, it means physically moving everything to another drawer to adapt. And, that’s just to name a few of the downfalls with alphabetizing.
4. Scanning – Finally, a more modern, streamlined way to deal with your paper. There are, of course, still imperfections with this system, too. Consider the time it takes or that dealing with papers that have sticky notes or are bound. Depending on your digital file storage location — on your hard-drive or CDs or external hard-drive, data could be wiped out. Then do you have a way to search for your digital files?
5. Indexing – Using Paper Tiger Filing System software, you keep your originals, but have a better system to help find where everything is located and filed away. Basically, if it can be numbered, it can be documented in Paper Tiger, whether it be your paper files to be stored in your filing cabinets or if it is your books that you want to index to be able to find easily later.

So, it’s exciting to think about what that could mean for the introduction of options such as Digital Tiger. This system will enable users to “Find Anything in Your Office in Five Seconds or Less… Guaranteed.” And, imagine being able to access your information from anywhere with an Internet connection.

With Digital Tiger, you can index your paper files that you need to keep in hard copy format into Paper Tiger Online, and scan your paper files that you no longer need in hard copy format, then upload the PDF to Google Docs where it will be digitally stored, with other digital files you’ve uploaded, converted or created in Google Docs format — all in an affordable and efficient Gmail Google Docs digital filing cloud storage account.

Digital Tiger, powered by Google Docs, is designed to work seamlessly with Paper Tiger Online, and is now available in Basic and Pro accounts. Paper Tiger Online will now connect to your Google account, making it Digital Tiger so that you can find all of your information with just one search — your digital files that are stored in Google Docs, and your paper and other physical items indexed in Paper Tiger.

We have put together two new Digital Tiger training screen casts. These will help you easily learn how to set up and start using the new Digital Tiger. See our Getting Started with Digital Tiger for a Paper and Digital Filing System for instructions and to review these new screen casts.

Don’t forget to let us know about your initial experience connecting to and using Digital Tiger by completing the survey.

This year, stick to the resolution to declutter your life by getting truly organized. It’s probably a task you have been putting off for ages because it seems like such an overwhelming task, yet can be such a simple thing to accomplish. It’s all about taking the first steps to get started. The first step is making the commitment to clear the clutter in your home, office or personal space, so that your life will begin to be less stressful and productive. Before you know it, you’ll actually have more time for yourself.

Eliminate the frustration you experience every time you try to locate an important document and cannot find it amidst the disorganized mess acting as your “filing system.” We receive calls and emails all the time from people telling us that they have stacks and stacks of files that is causing more stress than it’s worth and need help getting organized. Paper Tiger Filing System software helps companies, non-profits, government agencies, professionals and individuals all over the world get control of something they hate…filing the paper on their desk & in their office, and can help with the life-cycle of document management, but it’s Not Just For Filing Paper.

Reduce the stress and anxiety you are probably feeling without even realizing it from having your home or office in disarray. Make this year the year you completely organize your life.

How to Get Started

To stop the overwhelming feeling of getting started with a serious organizational system, start by making a plan of action — a step-by-step list of what to do and how to do it. Set goal dates for each step of your organizing process, and schedule time on your calendar for each step.

Working with paper files, documents and other items that traditionally get put into a filing system, you can start by going through one stack at a time, and decide what needs to be kept, which of these files are actionable and which ones just need to be filed for future reference, and which items should be tossed. Then index the paper files by typing in any possible keywords that could be used for each file so you can retrieve the item when needed by conducting a Google-like search in the database. Paper Tiger will assign a file number for each hanging file folder to match the item number in the database. You can add to those items in the database by simply editing the item and adding any new keywords relating to the new document being filed, and place it in the correlating file folder.

Of course for some people, the only way to make it happen is scheduling the time on the calendar, and simply diving in and getting the job done.

Whatever approach works for you is the best way to start, but just make sure to actually get started. By making and committing to a plan, you ensure that you will stick to your resolution. Please also take a look at our article Customize Your Filing System with Paper Tiger’s Indexing Method to help you see the filing system possibilities.

Using a Document Management System to Get Organized

Using a document management system is the best way to get and stay organized. The great thing is, you can use this same type of organizational system for things other than paper filing. Typically, you use an indexing system to control your document management system, but this same method can be used for almost anything causing clutter in your home or office. If it can be cataloged and numbered, it can be organized by using Paper Tiger’s indexing system.

If you want to organize other items in addition to paper files, you can start by separating these things into boxes or bins, whatever is appropriate for the types of things that you’re organizing. Using the same approach as with your paper files … go through the items and decide what needs to be kept and which items should be tossed, given away, or collected in a box for a yard sale.

Whether it is your DVD collection, books, even your seasonal decorations, you should use this opportunity to get rid of or sell the ones you no longer need.

From here, you use the indexing system to type in any possible keywords that could be used for each physical item you’re indexing so you can retrieve the item when needed by conducting a Google-like search in the database. You would affix an item number label to the item or box to match the item number in the database.

With Paper Tiger Filing System software, you have a document management system that will enable you to finally declutter and live an organized life. You will be able to find what you need, when you need it and be more productive, less stressed and have more time for yourself in no time!

Digital Tiger, powered by Google Docs, is now available in Basic and Pro Paper Tiger Online accounts. Paper Tiger Online will now connect to your Google account, making it Digital Tiger so that you can find all of your information with just one search — your digital files that are stored in Google Docs, and your paper and other physical items indexed in Paper Tiger.

We have put together two new Digital Tiger training screen casts. These will help you easily learn how to set up and start using the new Digital Tiger. See our BLOG post on these new screen casts.

In addition to the new Digital Tiger, the following enhancements have been made:

* Time zone can be selected from Database Preferences. We have chosen to make this per database since some companies have different databases in different time zones.

* Database can now be exported to Excel file.

* When editing an Item, the Location and Item Number show in the edit dialog box.

* When adding or editing an Item, clicking the X in the upper right corner without saving will present an error stating “You have unsaved changes. Either save or discard them before proceeding.” This will prevent the box from closing without saving your information.

* Dashboard enhancements:

> Option to minimize/maximize the Recent Activity log.
> Most recent blog post available with option to minimize/maximize.
> Link to Tutorials and Training.

We look forward to your feedback, which you can provide by completing the Digital Tiger survey or emailing support@thepapertiger.com. Any technical problems with the app should be reported to our support team, not in the blog comment section. If you happen to email us, it is always helpful if you include specific information including the Internet browser you are using and provide screen shots if possible.

Thank you for using Paper Tiger and Digital Tiger!

Outlined below are 10 great reasons to move to Paper Tiger Online for your document management and filing system needs!

1. FILE or FIND from ANYWHERE – You can sign onto Paper Tiger Online Filing System Software from any computer with an Internet connection. Find your paper files or other physical items no matter where you are. For example, if you are on a business trip and need to have a document sent to you or if you want to catch up on some paper filing while at home, Paper Tiger Online makes this very easy! In addition, with the new Digital Tiger enhancement added to Basic and Pro accounts, you can now search from Paper Tiger Online to find both your paper and digital files!

2. SHARING – When it comes time to adding others in your office (an administrator, co-workers, managers, etc.), Paper Tiger Online makes this a 60 second process! It could not be easier to share the information in your office. There is no computer networking or IT hassles to deal with, just decide who you want to add to your Paper Tiger Online account and presto…the new user is added to the account and they will be able to find anything in your filing cabinets in no time. You can even control what level of access that they have and what data they can see and/or modify. See our knowledge base articles for how the multi-user plans work.

3. COLLABORATION – Paper Tiger Online plays nice with Google Docs!  With the release of the new Digital Tiger, you will be able to save and then easily retrieve any electronic document you save in Google Docs.  Paper Tiger Online combined with Digital Tiger will allow you to have the best of both worlds … a great place to better manage your current paper files with Paper Tiger Online and the ability to search for your paper files and digital files in one place.  Digital Tiger is free with either the Basic or Pro Paper Tiger Online accounts.  You can turn your paper into .pdf format using your scanner or store any other type of digital file in Google Docs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc) and now that Digital Tiger is available, you will be able to easily search to find the files from Paper Tiger Online and Google Docs in one place.

4. ANY DEVICE or ANY BROWSER or ANY OPERATING SYSTEM (OS) – Paper Tiger Online runs on the Web (“In The Cloud”). So, it will work great with any web enabled device (Apple iPad, Apple iPod Touch, Apple iPhone, Google Android phones or any other Web enabled device). It also works with almost any browser and on any operating system (including Windows, Mac or Linux).

-Mozilla Firefox 3 and newer

-Safari 3 and newer

-Google Chrome 4 and newer

-Internet Explorer 7 and newer

5. NO INSTALLATION – After creating your account, you simply sign in at https://app.thepapertiger.com/ so there is no software to install and all the updates to the system, including on-going feature enhancements, just automatically appear. You don’t have to do a thing to maintain the product. No more worries about which operating system works with which product or what software conflicts with what product, etc. Paper Tiger Online makes filing SIMPLE!

6. AUTOMATIC BACKUPS & EASY EXPORT – Paper Tiger Online is housed at the industry leading IT hosting provider Amazon Web Services. Amazon is a publicly traded IT hosting company (NYSE symbol AMZN) servicing cloud computing products like Paper Tiger Online. Your data is automatically backed up nightly and security, as well as system up-time, are their primary concerns. In addition, you can easily export a copy of your data from Paper Tiger Online to your local computer at any time, just for safekeeping, and you can print out a File Index report of your database.

7. EASY CONVERSION – If you are a Paper Tiger Desktop customer, your existing data will be converted and uploaded into Paper Tiger Online. The entire process takes about 10 minutes and we are standing by to help you, if you need assistance.

8. FEATURES – Paper Tiger Online currently has a more intuitive interface, is much easier to use, and is fast. New features, as they are released, will automatically appear in your system. You will be notified of new features as they are made available.

9. LOWER COST – When you and/or your staff’s time are considered, it is much less expensive to run software “In The Cloud”. You and your team are relieved of any and all computer/software/IT hassles. The system simply works! Paper Tiger Online is very low cost…teams can be on the system for a few dollars per person/per month. Paper Tiger Online will be there for you when you need it and you don’t have to spend any of your time worrying about software!

10. START IN 60 SECONDS! – setting up an account in Paper Tiger takes just 60 seconds! You will find the process SIMPLE and PAINLESS…almost FUN! Just like you will find using Paper Tiger Online every day to manage the paper in your life! Give it a try…we think you will love it.

From dental offices to law enforcement agencies, almost all organizations and offices require a filing system of some sort. The issue can become troublesome however. Over time files become disorganized or put under different titles and not everyone knows what title to look for to retrieve the file. Hire someone new and just the time it takes to explain the filing system or for the new hire to actually work with it and make sense of it, can be costly man hours. Not to mention, that one person in the office who knows where everything is, goes on vacation or has to be out of the office for any length of time, and the frustration builds when documents can’t be found.

The paper filing system is an important task for any organization because retrieval is crucial. Without all these important documents organized properly, your company would be in chaos and could cause legal trouble. Come tax time, being able to get to all files necessary is what will make your timely tax preparation submission possible. Ever get audited and find yourself unable to locate certain records or receipts, and you could find yourself in trouble with the IRS.

Without an organized filing system you can’t accomplish what you need to in a timely manner. It is estimated that the average person wastes 150 hours per year looking for lost information.

Paper Tiger is Like Having a Professional Organizer in Your Office

With Paper Tiger Filing System software, you can declutter your professional office space and be certain your paper files are in order and can be found when needed. Not only that but you can be assured you will have a method in which you can save time, be more efficient, and train others to use it in no time at all. In other words, you can redesign your paper filing so that the workflow of your operation will be in perfect working order and never cause you stress again.

Your document management can be made simple, as well as new and improved, by implementing an indexing system for your paper files to remember for you where everything is! By using this type of document management software, you can have your hanging file folders numbered instead of trying to decide whether to alphabetize or what type of name to give something that everyone will understand and remember when searching for a file.

You simply type into the software database an item name and additional keywords that relate to all documents in each numbered hanging file folder and file it away. You can give items multiple keywords such as “Jones dental records” or “Xrays for Bob Jones” and any other keyword that would relate to the contents of the folder. By doing this, no matter what a staff member types in for a search term, he or she will be able to find the file with no problem. This enables anyone to find anything using this simple to use style of document management.

What Else Can You Organize With Filing System Software?

One of the great things about this type of indexing system is you can also use it for so many other things for both your professional and personal life. You can imagine how much easier it can be to declutter all aspects of your life by using this type of filing system. You can keep track of bins of collectibles or boxes for seasonal clothing or archive old paper files to an off-site storage and still be able to locate exactly where an item is with just a quick search in the database. As long as it can be numbered, it can be documented or indexed in Paper Tiger Filing System software.

How to Index Physical Items Other Than Paper Files

Example:  Different Colors of Paint Cans for Your House

1. You can name a Location in Paper Tiger ‘Paint’ and say you have 10 colors, so your Location capacity would be 10. In the description for the Location, you can input where you will store your paint, such as ‘Paint is stored in Basement on top shelf of Shelf 1 of 2′.
2. Print out labels from the database to be affixed to the paint cans.
3. Enter Item Name for each color of paint that you have, i.e., Baby Blue. Click on Add Item, and when you add an item, Paper Tiger will assign a number to that color.
4. Enter Keywords for each color, such as the room or item that this color is painted onto, i.e., baby’s room, lamp table in baby’s room
5. Match Label Numbers and Item Names: Make sure the label number you affix to each paint can matches the color that you input for the Item Name.

Example:  Boxes of Seasonal Decorations

1. You can name a Location in Paper Tiger ‘Decorations’ and say you have 5 boxes of seasonal decoration, so your Location capacity would be 5. In the description for the Location, you can input where you will store your boxes of decorations, such as ‘Decorations are stored in Basement on 2^nd from top shelf of Shelf 1 of 2′.
2. Print out labels from the database to be affixed to the 5 boxes.
3. Enter Item Name for each theme of decorations that you have, i.e., Christmas or Thanksgiving or Spring. Click on Add Item, and when you add an item, Paper Tiger will assign a number to that color. In this example, box #1 item name might be Spring, box #2 item name might be Thanksgiving, box #3 item name might be Christmas, etc.
4. Enter Keywords for each theme, such as in box #1, your Spring items might include a spring flag, bunnies, tablecloth and picnic items
5. Match Label Numbers and Item Names: Make sure the label number you affix to each box matches the decoration theme that you input for the Item Name.

In this article, Linda Cossel says she’s retired, however in her retirement, she is a Wedding Minister, a writer, a hostess, and a Computer Graphics Designer. Wow! That’s a lot to keep up with! How does she do it? Well, read on to see how Linda uses Paper Tiger Filing System software to stay organized in every area of her life! How many jobs do you juggle and have to keep track of things in your work and personal life?

I use Paper Tiger in several ways!  First, I have a very busy retired life.  I am a wedding minister, a grant writer, a writer, hostess and computer graphic designer for a restaurant.  I also have an actual file cabinet that I store papers in and I have a virtual file cabinet where I store word processed documents.

As a wedding minister, I have to keep track of marriage licenses.  I also have to store business cards for other wedding services so that I can refer my brides to them.  In addition, I have to write numerous different ceremonies for my brides.  I store the licenses and business cards in my file cabinet (tab no 27 and 6) and the ceremonies in my virtual file cabinet (tab 27 also).

As a grant writer, I need files for active, reference, and archived grant information.  Under my active grants title, I have folders for all the grants that I am working on.  Under the research title, I have information on local granting agencies, forms that I might use while working on grants, and any other information that I might need to write a grant.  Under the archive area, I keep all past grants that have been accepted or denied.  These are all virtual files on my computer set up with numbered folders just as if I were actually setting up a physical file cabinet.

I keep all my writing information and research in virtual files, as well as all my graphic design work.  I simply set up a folder with a title, and then add 50 subfolders with numbers.  In Paper Tiger’s database, I list all the subfolders so that I know exactly where I have stored all my work.  This has greatly helped me to organize all the stuff on my computer and make it so easy to find!

In my actual file cabinet, I keep all the stuff that comes in the mail or that I collect in my Paper Tiger folders.  I also keep a current print out of my File Index report from Paper Tiger in the top drawer for easy access.  As I add to the folders, I write on the lines of my printout the new files and when I have time, I add them to the Paper Tiger program on my computer.

Before I started using Paper Tiger, I had so many piles and never could find anything.  Just keeping all my business cards together was horribly challenging.  Now, I have a place to put them so that they are available at a moment’s notice.

Recently, when my husband passed away, I had so many items that had to be dealt with from his estate.  I filed all the papers and notices in the Paper Tiger filing system and when the different deadlines came up, I had all the death certificates, cards, and other paperwork I needed at my fingertips.

Paper Tiger has organized my unorganized house!  I can find anything I need instantly and add new files just as quick.  I can’t tell you how much I appreciate being able to finally find the papers that used to be in piles everywhere in my house!

Linda C. Cossel
Wedding Minister/Writer/Hostess/Computer Graphics Designer

Sarek: Spock, you are fully capable of deciding your own destiny. The question you face is: which path will you choose? This is something only you can decide.
Star Trek the Movie