Our paperless office experiment has been finished for just over two weeks now, so how did we do? Am I still managing to keep the office paper free?As much as I have tried not to let paper back into my life a bit seems to have snuck in. There is a pile of invoices that need to be dealt with on my desk, which annoyingly takes up some of the lovely space I have become accustomed to. The book keeping side of the business was always going to be the hardest part of this task. Not everyone has got on board with email invoicing yet. I am however delighted with the receipt wallet software which we bought that enables us to combine the filing of paper and paper free invoices.
The white boards have been the best purchase ever. It's so easy to brainstorm on them and there is always one handy to take down a phone message, an order or just a crazy idea when I have one. I certainly won't be trying to live without them and they have continued to completely remove the need for post it notes.
My iPod has been invaluable too, although at times I'm sure people mistook my note taking for tweeting or texting. I haven't been so organised as to write up my notes instantly when I come home but it has certainly cut down on the clutter that would usually accumulate in my bag. I'm getting used to pulling out my iPod to make a note rather than my notebook which was in constant use before the experiment. Being paper free has also made me a lot more organised, working with the iCal programme which syncs with my iPod has kept me on top of all the meetings and events I have scheduled better than a paper diary could. My computer even emails me reminders the day before so I have no excuse for forgetting anything.
Ooooh, how I envy you your sense of peace and tranquility! Perhaps you could come down to Co Offaly and give me a lesson or two on how to be organised, tidy & paper free.
ReplyDeleteI'm drowning in a sea of surplus/useless paper - and that's only in 'the office!'
Unfortunaely my desk doesn't look quite as tidy as that anymore... must get the books done and then have another purge.
ReplyDeletewell done you for getting this far with going paperless! I try- I really do, but somehow I still end up surrounded by mountains of scraps of paper! I must try the whiteboard idea!
ReplyDeleteThankyou! As with all pledges though it is harder to keep up after the period is over. I still have a relatively tidy desk... definitely in comparison to the way it used to be but bits of paper do seem to creep their way back in.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that note-taking on my iPhone would be one step too far for me—I like drawing pictures on a sheet of paper.
ReplyDeleteBut I wish I could have all of my office paperwork scanned into a library of PDFs, as I have done in my home. It is very convenient to be able to "google" every paper document I ever scanned in.
Good luck in your paperless life!
Thanks for your comments Tad. I actually got quite used to taking notes on my iPod and there's a cool piece of software you can use for sketching too. But you are right, sometimes it's great to let your mind and your pen loose on a sheet of paper.
ReplyDeleteThat is impressive..
ReplyDeleteThanks Ioan. Just discovered your blogs too. Great pix.
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