With more time on our hands for the foreseeable future it's time to get creative in our home life and that means getting ORGANISED.
'Work Admin' and 'Life Admin' can become relentless if not managed effectively and whilst going paperless isn't new and the majority of our administration can be accessed online; there are always cupboards and boxes full of payslips (from 2005), bank statements (2007) and other miscellaneous documents we don't want to keep but 'shouldn't' throw away. Sound familiar? It's time for F.S.S.
FIND.
SCAN.
SAVE.
What I am about to discuss is a job that many households know they should do but never find the time. You need the following:
- A Cup of Coffee
- A Scanner
- A Motivational Playlist
- Reliable Cloud Storage System
(Evelyn & Ford recommend Google Drive that costs £18 per year for 100GB storage which is more than enough for documents and photos. Drop Box is also another cloud system provider to consider however it is slightly more expensive.)
- External Hardrive
(Should you so wish but they do fail! We rely on the clouds.)
- A Clear & Precise Folder System
It sounds like an overwhelming chore but it's a case of breaking it down. Set aside an hour a day whether that be in the morning or afternoon. You may even find it cathartic!
TIPS:
- Make sure you scan both sides of the document if necessary.
- Ensure that your documents are backed up, ideally in more than one way.
- Make sure you can read your scanned copy before you get rid of the original.
- For certain documents you do need to hang onto the paper version. This applies to any document that shows a direct tax deduction (other than VAT). It may include your savings interest statement, employment documentation such as P45 or P60, pension documents or share dividend documents. Birth certificate, driving license and national insurance documents are also ones to hold onto.
THE BENEFITS
Protection
You never know when disaster might strike, which is why you should always back up. Protect your documents by having electronic versions to rely on instead of just hard copies.
Eco Friendly & Saving Space
Go Green! You can maintain a more eco-friendly environment by converting your paper documents to digital files. This will allow you to start a digital file system, making it easier to avoid using paper by creating electronic documents in the future.
Makes Records Easier to Access
You can spend a lot of time and energy sorting through paper documents in filing cabinets or boxes. Even with an alphabetized system, you still have to sort through document after document to find the one you want. When your documents are on the computer, you can use the search function to easily find what you are looking for.