Stacks and papers and piles, oh my! What starts off as a couple bills, some magazines or school notices can very quickly turn into messy mountains of papers all over your house.
Well, this week we’re going to show you how easy it is to rid yourself of all that paper and organize your home. First think of junk mail as unwelcome guests and don’t let it in your house, only touch something once (you’ll see what we mean by that), scan important stuff (we love the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300) so you can save it digitally and shred what’s left.
Check out this week’s twirl and see how getting rid of all that paper feels all kind of good.
102 Comments
Natalie McIntyre says:
Loved this episode! I have a question for you. I was considering buying the Neat receipts desktop scanner. It's a scanner but also wonderful digital receipt organizer. Would you still recommend the Fuji scanner & software over the Neat Receipts one? I don't want to invest in Neat Receipts if it's not a great scanner (as fast), and wondered if you had an opinion on Neat Receipts.
Thanks again for your fabulous episodes. I really enjoy them and the length of them are absolutely perfect!
Trisha says:
That's a great question, Natalie. I've considered buying a receipt type scanner too.
CKnobloch says:
Natalie and Trisha— We love both scanners here at Digitwirl (you've seen our episode on NeatReceipts, right?) We have found that the NeatReceipts software is great for organizing receipts and docs, but the ScanSnap makes it easier to get your scans elsewhere— to Dropbox, Evernote, emails, etc. So it just depends on what you want to do with the scans when you're done with your paper. Also, the ScanSnap seems to be able to handle a few more pages at a time, so if you're scanning in bulk, it's a bit more durable. But if you're scanning the occasional thing here and there, both are great options.
Thanks for watching!
Trisha W. says:
Gah! Help please! I'm on the indecisive shopping fence. I'm interested in the Neat Receipts or perhaps better yet the Neat Receipts Desktop for scanning and automatically digitally organizing my receipts. However, my paper problem goes deeper than receipts. I would like to be able to scan and digitally file my kids' important papers, insurance policies, bills that come via snail mail (I'm not ready to go totally paperless with bills.), etc.
I often get far behind on my paper filing and then of course that leads to multiple 'touching'. Also, I don't like having to go back to the file cabinet at a later date and look through each file folder to see what needs to be purged and then shredded. That's a big time eater for me.
I'm a little OCD in how how I process, sort, and file things so I would really like a system that would allow me to create and name my own folders and sub-folders to store my documents and receipts in. What product or products would you suggest?
Thanks,
Trisha
P.S. I'm looking into the Evernote thing people mentioned in the comments. I just got my first iPod Touch and am hoping I can use my PC and iPod to decrease my Post-it Note addiction.
CKnobloch says:
Trisha W.— I'd love to help! I go into a TON more detail about scanning in a recent guest post I just did on my friend Tsh's blog, Simplemom.net. There's great info there about my own personal scanning habits, as well as more detail in the comments section. Have a look and let me know if you have further questions.
I use the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 as my scanner of choice, though I LOVE the NeatDesk, and it can hold many more papers at a time, which makes scanning quicker. And I LOVE Evernote— it's a part of my daily routine. Hope that's helpful, and let me know if you have more questions!
Trisha W. says:
I will check out your post on Simplemom.net. In the mean time I have a quick clarification about your comment above. Are you saying the ScanSnap S1300 can hold more papers at a time or that the NeatDesk does?
CKnobloch says:
Trisha— Sorry if I wasn't clear... the Scansnap S1300 is kind of an in-between model... it's almost as portable as the NeatReceipts model, but it has a paper feeder that can hold up to 10 sheets. The NeatDesk and the ScanSnap S1500 are more desktop models, and have larger sheet feeders that can hold 50 sheets. I own the NeatDesk and the ScanSnap 1300 and I like both, but I'm really enjoying all the integrations on the ScanSnap (easily dropping files into email, desktop, Dropbox, Evernote), so I'm using that more.
Trisha W. says:
Hi again. I read the Simplemom.net post and have another question. Does the ScanSnap S1300 scan receipts like the NeatReceipt/NeatDesk and store the information in something like a database? Do I get to set up the folders and subfolders for where it scans too? Thanks in advance.
CKnobloch says:
The Neat products are much better at scanning receipts, thanks to the Neat software. It reads each receipt and (to the best of its ability) drops all relevant information (date, name of store, category, amount, tax, total) into a spreadsheet, which you can export to a PDF, Excel spreadsheet, or financial programs like Quicken. ScanSnap allows you to scan receipts to Excel, but it scans ALL information on the receipts and puts them EACH into their own Excel spreadsheet. If you want to make copies of receipts for your records, it works well. If you want to create quick expense reports, it's a bit of a pain.
Trisha W. says:
I noticed there are several Neat Receipts online. Is this http://www.amazon.com/NeatReceipts-Mobile-Scanner-Digital-Filing/dp/B001CQFRPO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1320085718&sr=1-1 the same one you have?
Also, does your ScanSnap S1300 allow you to create PDF files? I think it would be nice to have PDFs of all my receipts and not just a database or Excel spreadsheet.
CKnobloch says:
Yes, every one of these scanners allows you to make a PDF of the scanned document. And as far as I know, there is only one model of NeatReceipts (which looks like the link you sent me) and one model of NeatDesk (the larger scanner.)
Judy Chaffee says:
I owned a Neat Receipt, and found it much too difficult to organize all the receipts. I listed it and sold it. My litmus test was it took more time than I wanted to spend. The Scansnap 1300 is a no-brainer, and with a full time job, I appreciate the ease, just a click of the mouse and it goes exactly where I want the scanned item to go to!
Good luck on your choice!
CKnobloch says:
Judy— Thanks for sharing. That's helpful for all of us to know!
Trisha W. says:
Thank you so much for your input, Judy. I am one who likes to read lots of people's input before making important and expensive purchases. I am starting to lean towards the ScanSnap, but would love more people's input. Thanks again to your and Carley.
erin newkirk says:
First of all, I'm a HUGE fan...but I think this is my favorite twirl EVER. Love all the advice on how to handle the bigger problem of paper clutter -- i.e., not just the scanner/shredder, but the bin by the door, dealing with it right away, etc. I'm totally going to implement this starting today. Thanks, guys!
CKnobloch says:
Erin— So glad you've found it useful. Let us know how you do!
naz says:
LOVE!
CKnobloch says:
Naz— Right back atcha!
Katelyn Michele says:
Great post!!!! I am so in need of this! Now I just gotta motivate myself to get started. hee hee.
xoxo, America's Tweetheart
CKnobloch says:
Katelyn— If only there was an app for that "just getting started" part!
(good luck!)
Jen Zagorsky says:
this web show is an organizer's dream! I work as a professional organizer and these are the same ideas that I share with my clients all the time.
One other simple idea for managing junk mail is to place a sign on your door or mailbox requesting "No Junk Mail". That way, it doesn't even make its way into your house.
thanks again for sharing this!
CKnobloch says:
Jen— Love that tip, thank you! Feel free to share more here anytime!
otterlake says:
To keep junk mail from even getting to your door CatalogChoice.org is free and unsubscribes you from catalogs and phone books. You choose which catalogs you want to keep and which you want out of your mailbox.
CKnobloch says:
Thanks for sharing that! We actually mentioned that in our newsletter this morning as another great resource for going paperless!
Kanani says:
Great episode! While the ScanSnap scanner looks awesome, I couldn't really justify the price so I looked into finding software that I could use with the scanner I already have and found ScanDrop for WIndows (Free) http://www.officedrop.com/scandrop-scanning-software and ScanDrop for Mac (free + paid versions): http://www.officedrop.com/scandrop-scanning-software/mac-scanner-software/
I use Evernote to store...everything I need to save & DropBox for sharing files and the software works great for automatically uploading/sending it to the cloud!
Worth taking a look at for those who can't or don't want to buy a new scanner.
CKnobloch says:
Kanani— Thanks so much for sharing this, I think OfficeDrop and ScanDrop are both great alternatives... what you get in savings you lose in TIME (it just takes longer to work your way through a pile). And no matter how you digitize, Evernote is a great way to store things when you're done. What I love about OfficeDrop and ScanDrop if you DO have a scanner that ISN'T the ScanSnap, their software makes it easy to send directly to places like Evernote. ScanSnap does that too, which is why we love it. One less step means more time saved!
Whitney says:
Hey Carley! I loved this one. I'm not much of a tech or gadget person, but I love learning about systems people use to simplify their life and surroundings. It's amazing how many solutions don't require an app or $400 new gadget, but some basic common sense and discipline. Very helpful. -Whit
CKnobloch says:
Whitney— Thank you. It's true, so many big changes can be made with small tweaks to life, routine. Let us know how things go as you put stuff into practice!
Jill says:
I really like the touch it once concept. I'm going to give it a whirl this week. The scanner concept is also really enticing. It's going on my Amazon wish list. Piles of paper are my nemesis. Thanks for the tips. You are inspirational.
CKnobloch says:
Jill— Thank you. This episode is really hitting a nerve with people. We're all buried under so much paper!
Natalie says:
Great news! The Fujitsu Scan Snap is compatible with the Neat Works software (that is needed for Neat Receipts). So you can have the best of both worlds! As a tech geek, this makes me super happy.
One question for Carly and the team. It says that the Scan Snap 1300 does not have an automatic document feeder (but the 1500 does). The 1500 is substantially more expensive ($200 CND more). In your video you show the papers scanning one after another without feeding by hand. Is it possible to set more than one sheet into the 1300? (i.e. like a 20 page insurance document!!)
CKnobloch says:
Natalie— That's really cool, I didn't know about that compatibility! As for the document feeder, it definitely works, though if you are constantly scanning 20 page documents, the larger scanner would be better. The 1300 holds about 10 pages, and the 1500 does 50, with better page size identification. Hope that's helpful!
Jodi says:
Natailie,
I just came across your comment here and wonder if you can share more about the compatibility you discovered between Scansnap scanners and Neat software. I can't find anything on Neat's website about this. In fact, I can only find information that says it's software is not compatible with other scanners. I'd love the features and functionality of the scansnap, but I'm really looking for the ability to organize receipts by specific fields. Thanks for any insight you can offer.
Olivia says:
Hey there Twirlers - this is Olivia from Manilla.com. I love these tips for clearing out paper clutter - that's what Manilla is all about. Please let me know if you have any questions about Manilla by replying to this comment, or reach us via these channels:
Email: info@manilla.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook/mymanilla
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/manilla
Looking forward to your questions!
CKnobloch says:
Hiii Olivia!!! Thanks for jumping in! Twirlers, ask away!
Judy Chaffee says:
You are doing an amazing job, thanks so much!!! I ordered the scanner immediately after watching this episode and just installed it. Outside of Apple products, this is the easiest product to install and it works!!!
Thanks so very much and continued success to you and the family!
CKnobloch says:
Judy— That's great news! We only review things that pass our "easy to get started" tests, so we're glad you had a similar experience! Thanks for sharing it with us.
Michelle says:
These are some great tips! I have a few thing to add from a techie's point of view.
Paperless is great but when you're scanning in volume like that digital files can be their own clutter. If you had a filing system that worked with your paper, you may want to do similar with whatever folders you're saving your scanned docs to.
It also helps to name files with an easy to identify filename so you can identify it on sight. (For example, 2011-10-AutoInsuranceInfo.pdf)
CKnobloch says:
Hey Michelle— great tips! I agree, although with the sophisticated search that most computers have these days (ie. being able to search inside a file, and not just the file name) I find it easier than ever to find what I need, even if it's all been tossed in a "pile" on my computer. I love the naming convention tip, though— great for finding stuff in a pinch.
Sara says:
I bought the Fujitsu S1500 scanner last year, and have told all my friends how much I love it. Scanning can be addictive for sure! Thanks for the weekly videos, I'm loving all the great ideas!
CKnobloch says:
Sara— So glad you love the scanner. I have the 1300 (the one in the video) and I find it invaluable. What are you using it to scan? I'd love to know!
Judy Chaffee says:
So here is what I have been scanning...everything that was on top my desk in the "keep" file, including a recipe torn out of a magazine, a couple of passwords for a web site, picture of a skirt I want to make for Chrisrmas, newsletter from company, schedule for upcoming training events.
I cannot believe how seamless this process, using the Fujitsu 1300, is! Again, thanks Sara!!
CKnobloch says:
Judy— so glad you're enjoying it. Love the list... that's how it starts, a little bit at a time. Hey, send us a picture of that skirt if you make it!
Natalie says:
I bought it I bought it I bought it! I am so excited to get started on scanning and I am going to buy Neat Receipts separately. But on a total aside: I noticed some of the subscribers have added their photos to their comments. What I love about this is is that it helps me recognize people who are commenting on the shows. And now that I know what Michelle looks like, I'll bet I am 10 times more likely to remember her file name tip! I am encouraged to look at the comments of future shows as well because it really feels like a community. However! I can't figure out how to add my photo. I am pretty tech savvy and the fact that others have figured it out, and I have not, drives me crazy!!
So, since I am not a man, I am asking for direction!!
CKnobloch says:
Natalie— Happy scanning! re: Comments— if you set up a "Gravatar" for the email address you use to leave comments, your face should pop up right next to them. http://www.gravatar.com. Thanks for asking, it's a great question!
Olivia says:
Hey everyone - would love your support as I embark on my paper diet. Follow my journey at the Manilla Blog: https://www.manilla.com/blog/behind-manilla/the-paper-diet-week-1-organizing-my-workspace/
And I hope some of you will join me and try your own Paper Diets!
CKnobloch says:
Olivia— So fun! Hey, will you confirm for our audience... does Manilla work in Canada, and if not, does it have plans to?
Olivia says:
Hi, Manilla works in Canada, but most of the accounts available on the site are US-based. So it's really for the US right now, but would definitely work for anyone living abroad with most of their bills and accounts with US companies. Hope that helps!
SeattleRainReader says:
I am a little intimidated to even ask this question since everyone thus far seems to much more tech savvy than I am, but here goes.
I have ten years worth of magazine tear sheets from European design magazines. I just cannot get myself to throw them out. But at this point the tupperware bins of tear sheets are overtaking my life. I need a scanner that can scan both sides of a magazine page, then I need to be able to retrieve the articles in some way, and I cannot have it gobble up a lot of memory space on my mac. Any suggestions for the tech retarded? Has technology even caught up to my needs yet? Hoping so! I think I am finally ready to let go of the hard copies if there is a way to scan and save in a sane manner...
CKnobloch says:
SeattleRainReader— No need to be intimidated... it's a good question! I hear you on the magazine tear sheets. I had those same tupperware bins (though I must say that I purged most of them and it felt AMAZING!) Any of the scanners we've reviewed would do the trick, and the pricier ones (ie the NeatDesk and ScanSnap S1500) will speed things up by allowing you to stack up to 50 pages in the sheet feeder at a time.
3 things to be aware of:
a) Magazine pages are glossy and therefore don't slide as well through the scanner,
b) torn edges also get caught up easily so use a knife to slice pages out, if possible, and
c) before you invest in a scanner, make sure that your magazine pages fit in the sheet feeder. Some larger-format pages don't, and I've found I needed to RE-CUT them to fit, which is not fun and defeats the time-saving purpose.
Regarding storage, I'd look into using a service like Evernote so you can browse your tear sheets and tag them with keywords. You might have to spring for the Premium service, which is $45/year and you can try for $5/month... then you can upload 1GB of files per month and view your notes offline, without taking up any space on your Mac. http://www.evernote.com/about/premium/
Hope that's helpful!
SeattleRainReader says:
Thank you! 50 pages at a time sounds great! I think I will hire a high school or college student to power through it.
CKnobloch says:
SeattleRainReader— Brilliant idea.
Lani says:
Hi,
I'm on my iPad and would LOVE to watch the video. Is there anyway to see it without flash?
I just bought the scan snap 1500 to use with Parallels on my Mac. I had heard it had better software than the Mac version. It should be here on Tuesday for me to start playing. Whoo .
CKnobloch says:
Hi Lani— All our video players are HTML5 compatible, so you should have no problems seeing our videos. If you'd like to write me at carley@digitwirl.com and tell me specifically what you're unable to see, I'd love to help.
Gail says:
I bought a Fujitsu ScanSnap (older model) scanner years ago and love it! Scanned in 15 years worth of catalogs I wanted to keep. I also scanned in paystubs, documents that need to be kept, warranties, retirement plan statements, medical receipts, etc. I scanned for several hours the first weekend and got rid of BOXES and BOXES of files! Who-Hoo! At that time, instead of trying to shred it all, my husband burned all the old records!
Since I have a Mac now, I'm not able to use my older model Fujitsu, and REALLY want another one! I did buy a NeatReceipts portable scanner for my Mac last year, but it only scans one page at a time. It's ok for something quick.
I save my PDFs in a folder called Archives, with folders inside it called Bills 2011, Bank 2011, Paystubs, Medical, School Records (kids' reportcards and important docs like ACT test results), Retirement accounts, etc.
I name my PDFs by company and date, such as "Verizon 2011 11-30" and "Checking 2011 09-15". This keeps all the different companies together and also in date order (put the 0 before a month with only 1 digit). At the end of the year, I make a 2011 folder in my "Archives Old" folder and move all of the folders there and start new ones like Bills 2012.
I can backup my Archives Old folder to a DVD or Flash or External hard drive for safety.
Another tip - after loosing 2 or 3 PCs, I subscribe to Carbonite.com and it automatically backs up my files continuously. I HAVE had to use it to restore things, too!
I didn't find your site until today (LOVE IT!), and loved your tips on Manilla and ZipList, both of which I hadn't heard of before and signed up for!
CKnobloch says:
Gail— LOVE to hear this! I am using my Fujitsu scanner more and more, and these are all great use cases. Plus, Carbonite is such a load off my mind too— definitely great to have it installed and then just forget about it (until you need it!). Thanks for sharing.
erin says:
This is a FANTASTIC comment. Super helpful, Gail. Love how you named your files and am totally going to copy you.
On another note, Carley. THIS POST HAS CHANGED MY LIFE. Love my ScanSnap. And my now paperless office. xx
CKnobloch says:
Erin— LOVE YOU!!! Congrats on your paperless office... will you send pictures and post on our facebook page?
Gail says:
Thanks, Carley and Erin! I love sharing helpful hints with others and learning from them! I'm not paperless (yet), but really need to strive to get to that point!
Natalie says:
Hi All,
) and more difficult than your average scanner's settings. Does anyone else agree? I still can't change it back to jpeg (it's greyed out).
Maybe I should direct this question to Scan Snap, but you all are so savvy I am sure you have an opinion. I noticed that it is not easy to change the settings on Scan snap. So for instance, if I want to scan a photo, it automatically scans it two sided. Also, it's automatically set to scan as a PDF (on my settings) and previously it was JPEG.
So I've darted around the sparse app that goes with ScanSnap and I have found the settings: ScanSnap Manager/Settings
I find this is labourious (yes, I am Canadian, can you tell by the spelling?
Also, the quality of the photos scanned is poor. Is this a function of the settings or is it because it's not intended to be a photo quality scanner?
Thanks for your thoughts, Twirlers!
CKnobloch says:
Natalie— I would definitely let the ScanSnap people chime in, but in the ScanSnap Manager there's a way to set up all kinds of profiles and then change back and forth between them as you like. I have several— some (for photos) scan directly into iPhoto and only scan single-sided. Some create a PDF and drop it into Evernote... you can customize all of them. (You can see the little pop up that gives me all the choices in the ScanSnap video.)
Gail says:
Natalie, you can set up custom profiles however you want. When you get ready to scan, right-click on the blue S icon in the lower right tray (by the clock) and select the custom settings you have saved, or just select "single sided" scan. This is the same place you go to add new settings.
I have some saved as "pictures" where it is set to go to a specific folder, single-sided and save as a .jpg. Perhaps you want to save another as "Bills" if you want it to go in a certain folder and not scan the back sides. These are just suggestions!
When you get ready to scan pictures, just right-click the blue S icon, select the pre-saved settings and scan!
Natalie McIntyre says:
Hi Gail,
I am not sure if you are a part of the Scan Snap Team, but I am assuming you are describing how to set up profiles on the PC. I am using a Mac and I can not see how to save the changes to create profiles that save different scan settings.
Carley, Gail or the Scan Snap team, can you provide support? I really find the software a bit persnickety on the Mac.
Natalie says:
I just figured out that if you click on the box Quick Scan (thereby removing the check mark), you can easily add more profiles on the Mac. Whew.
CKnobloch says:
Natalie— Glad you found this. It's quite easy to create different profiles, once you're in there. Good luck!
Gail says:
No I'm not part of Scan Snap, I just used it a long time. I got a Mac in March and my scanner is too old to be Mac compatible, although I did try to set it up. I bought the portable Neat Receipts for Mac but very much miss my Fujitsu!
Traci nachtrab says:
Carley - question. I want to use the scanner for our farm business - scanning receipts, bills, etc. My question is how will this make it easier to get that info into quickbooks? I'm just wondering if this will make that chore easier or will it just add one more step to my already hectic schedule?
Give me some more details on how you handle your accounting chores. Thanks! Love your shows and advice.
Kim says:
Traci great question. We're farmers also it would be awesome to scan info into quickbooks. What a time saver that would be!
Gail says:
I do know that NeatReceipts lets you put the information into QuickBooks. They have a video on their website, or maybe YouTube would have some. It still isn't completely automatic, but you can get it to populate the fields for you.
CKnobloch says:
Gail— yes! thanks for sharing!
Paul Velasco says:
Nice show.
but I have a question. Indeed, a favor, what can we do with the magazines that are old. I mean the old issues of them.
Gracias otra vez por tu sitio. Es muy util
Olivia says:
You can tear out the pages you want to save and scan them and recycle the rest!
Trisha W. says:
Hi. I'm back again with a new question. If I put a pile of papers into one of these scanners, will it scan them and then ask me where I want to e-file each piece? For example if my pile contains a phone bill, a water bill, and a heating bill. Can I scan all three at one setting and then store them into three separate file folders on my computer? Thanks again.
CKnobloch says:
Trisha— Yes. You'd likely be scanning documents into PDFs, so they'd all need the same "scan setting". I'd recommend doing a bunch of bulk scanning to a folder on your hard drive, and then drag things where you want them to go later. Having said that, ask yourself— do you really need them all in separate folders? Or could you just name them well (ie. "water-bill-01-12.pdf" and "heat-bill-01-12.pdf") and throw them all into one folder? I've found that less folders makes for a friendlier workflow.
Trisha W. says:
That is a great idea. I'm so used to paper file folders, my brain is still in that mode. I think if I used your idea I could have a Main Bill File Folder and then have sub-folders just for each year's worth of bills. So long as I'm consistent with my bills' names, it should be a snap for either me or my husband to find our digitized bills. Thanks again.
Olivia says:
Hey there Twirlers! Today Manilla launched the 2012 Paper Diet. Get started today and lose all your paper weight. Learn more at thepaperdiet.com
CKnobloch says:
Olivia— I love it! Thanks for letting all of us know. If my office desk had skinny jeans, it would be getting excited to wear them again! (That made sense in my mind...)
brenda says:
wow,what a lot of info for me to digest. it all startd with a question about the "other" scanner/organizer. for right now i am still on the fence BUT knw i HAVE to make a decision soon. PURGE is the word for 2012. it was for 2011 also...
thank you for the prompt helpful responses.
CKnobloch says:
Brenda— sure thing!
Karen says:
I finally broke down and bought the fujitsu S1500 which comes will the scan snap organizer. I've installed all the programs but feeling overwhelmed at this point. I don't know how to get started. I have boxes and boxes of various documents to scan. My question is, can I just start scanning then organize later, or do I have to allocate files first then scan only the documents that pertain to that file? Thanks for any input.
Gail says:
It is a bit overwhelming, but here's what I suggest. Start with your most recent documents (probably on top of the piles). Create basic folders on your computer to save the items into - Bills, Banking, Medical, Articles to keep, or Travel or whatever.
As you scan items, just name that document, such as "Visa 11 01-12" and put it in the Bills or Banking folder. Continue doing this until you have things scanned. Putting the dates in the document names will cause them to be in order inside those folders, and a brief name of the document (Visa) tells you what it is.
If you DO have like items already stacked together, then scan them as one document and name them as such "Visa bills 2011". Hope that helps!
jennifer says:
Once you scan a document etc., what is the best software to organize it to your computer? I plan to transfer all the info to a hard disk or flashdrive. Do you recommend this?
Thanks so much for your advice!!!
CKnobloch says:
Jennifer-- Good question. I use Evernote to store just about everything digital, including paper scans and photos.
Here's out video on Evernote: http://digitwirl.com/cell-phones/digital-storage-that-keeps-track-of-all-the-information-life-throws-at-you
and here's a blog post I wrote on how I use it for more inspiration: http://blog.evernote.com/2011/07/14/carley-knobloch-digitwirl-founder-shows-how-evernote-works-for-moms-business-and-everything-in-between/
Natalie says:
Oh my gosh. I just figured out the COOLEST thing. If you are trying to scan LONG receipts and they get cut off at 14" and you are totally frustrated, do this. When you load the receipt in the scanner, press and hold the blue button until it flashes. Release and watch it scan the ENTIRE receipt regardless of the length. Wow!
I only have one problem - my receipts are being cut off on the edge - no matter how wide make the custom size of the receipt. Anyone have any experience with this and can help me?
CKnobloch says:
Natalie— COOL! Thanks for sharing.
Carl says:
I am researching Digital Organization for Home and came across your site. Good info and comments. My 2 cents: I 'm not sure if you discussed the importance of backing up all this scanned data. If not, it should be stressed whether it’s up in the cloud or on an extra hard drive (that I leave powered down when not being backed up to- regardless of the power surge protection you have-I’ve lost hard drives).
Good luck,
Carl
Lori Thayer says:
Great tips in the video and fabulous tips from everyone i the comments section. I've been a power evernote user for years, struggling through with a flatbed scanner.
I finally invested in the scansnap s1300 (since it works with Macs and PCs) in January and am very happy with it. I've made more progress on my piles of documents since January than in the previous 2 years!
Michael says:
Great tips here. I stumbled on your site via my Evernote Newsletter this week. Great tips there as well.
I, like others here have been using Evernote for years and love it more every day. I've been somewhat paperless in my home and home office for a while, but I recently convinced my company president to allow me to convert the company to paperless. We were producing over 1000's upon 1000's of pieces of paper each year, not to mention all the bills flowing in.
We got Fujitsu s1500s at every workstation, a commercial scanner and multiple Evernote accounts with shared folders.
It's working great and the filing cabinet is empty. Plus when we need to find some document from past business, we can find it very quickly by searching in Evernote.
CKnobloch says:
Michael— WOW! That's super-exciting. The trees thank you.
I have been moving more to digital every day and it makes like sooo much easier, as you've said. Great job!
Stop paper junk mail in a snap | Digitwirl says:
[...] there's an app that offers a peaceful solution— it's called PaperKarma. In anyone's quest to go paperless, the first step is to limit the amount of paper that enters the house, and PaperKarma does just [...]
digitwirl … all about making the tech work for you! says:
[...] Simple steps to go paperless [...]
Mike says:
Hi,
First, great site. Second, in one of your videos, was there some mention of a 10% discount for the S1300 if you mentioned you heard about the scanner from Digitwirl? Please advise.
Thanks,
Mike
CKnobloch says:
Mike-- not sure if that's still valid, but you could sure try! it was our "going paperless" episode.
jknewscanner says:
Just got my ScanSnap 1500! I also just found your site! Thanks! I am trying to decide whether to scan most of my docs to the ScanSnap Organizer or to folders. I wonder what most do and what the two schools of thought are.
Again, thank you for your great post and all contributions!
BRENDA MORRISS says:
I need to know how to get my Scan Snap 1500 to convert to an accounting program. Can I integrate it with Quicken, Mint, etc?
Moringa Tea says:
in the last few years, I've cut down on paper for at least 90%.
www.instashirt.com says:
Thanks for this! Really helpful!
April says:
I used to use a Fujitsu to scan my documents in but it was just taking too long. I found travelingmailbox.com where I can scan my postal mail and all of my documents. Going paperless with them has been the easiest thing since sliced bread! They scan and organize my receipts too. The service is very affordable too.
How I Use Evernote | chungliwen.com says:
[...] a pretty big fan of Digitwirl, and Carly has a nice video on how to go paperless with the Fujitsu ScanSnap and [...]
Brian says:
I also tried NeatReceipts, and like at least one person mentioned here, promptly returned it. The issue I had with NeatReciepts (at the time) was that they stored everything into a database instead of individual PDF files. Why is this bad? Well, if you ever get into a rough spot where the software quits working or its database gets corrupted, what's your fallback plan? In addition, you're locked into their software. I went with Scansnap because I like the searchable PDF feature. I'm not just talking about one-by-one export to PDF, I'm talking about saving all the files as searchable PDF files. I used to use software like Yep to organize/tag the files but now I donn't even bother. I find that Mac OSX spotlight is good enough for me. Where I think that Scansnap really fails is with scanning multiple items. There's seemingly no way to organize them after the fact. If you want "one button" scan to PDF, then each load of the ADF tray equals one PDF. That's not condusive for someone who is scanning hundreds of 1-3 page PDF files. The truth is that benefits of going completely paperless are more myth than reality. If you consider how long you much keep some of these files then what is the point of scanning them? For example, bills... There are very few reasons to keep any bill statement for longer than a few months. Reasons to keep them range from proof of home ownership, justifying reasonable utilities to potential house buyers, or the "I wanna keep 'em in case I find they are cheating me" answer. In my experience I have found that I spent more time scanning documents than just filing them away. And when I scan them, it is far too easy to just decide to keep them for perpetuity. For what reason? Since I have had this realization, I have decided to scale back my scan-a-thons... Here's how my home office runs.
1) Bank statements - All online; bank allows quick downloads of last 12 months of statements and special requests back 7 years in case of IRS challenge
2) Tax filings - Kept digitally in tax software and paper copy along with all justification in file cabinet.
3) Investment statements - Some I have access to online in which case I just shred them; others I scan
4) Warranties - Stick 'em in a file
5) Home improvements - Scan 'em and save the paper copy
6) Bills - Keep last three months First-In-First-Shred
(etc)
Essentially, I have two main rules that dictate if I scan something...
- Is this not available online?
- Is this on a thermal receipt?
If either of these is "yes", I scan it. Otherwise, it goes into the file cabinet.
Just my two cents...
CKnobloch says:
Brian— thanks so much for sharing all this. Really valuable!
Brian says:
Nice video, by the way. I hadn't watched it until after you replied. You know, I think that people still struggle with the idea of what to keep. The risk is what I spoke of above. Digital-sprawl... It's the idea that "I'm going to scan this because I'm not sure how long I should keep it and hard drive space is cheap, right?" It is largely correct, but, in truth, it is MUCH faster to stick those items in a folder (or shred them immediately) if you don't need to keep them... You hit on the topic of using online bill pay to avoid the mail entirely and I think that's a great strategy. I.e. The best paperless office is one where you spend the least time. It's more about saving time, versus space, but that's just my perspective. Less RITUAL, more PRODUCTIVITY