You’re tired of losing important documents. How can you keep them safe and organized?

You’ve probably experienced the frustration of losing or misplacing an important document, whether it’s a receipt, a contract, a certificate, or a tax form. Not only does it waste your time and energy, but it can also cause serious problems if you need to access or share that document later. Fortunately, there are some simple and effective ways to keep your documents safe and organized using consumer electronics. In this article, we’ll show you how to use a scanner, a cloud storage service, and a document management app to create a digital backup of your paper documents, and how to organize them for easy retrieval and sharing.

1 Scan your documents

The first step to keeping your documents safe and organized is to scan them and convert them into digital files. You can use a dedicated scanner, a multifunction printer, or even your smartphone to do this. The advantage of scanning your documents is that you can reduce the clutter of paper, protect them from damage or loss, and make them searchable and editable. When scanning your documents, make sure to choose a high-resolution setting, a suitable file format (such as PDF or JPEG), and a clear and consistent naming convention.

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Daniel Barroso

GERENTE DE DISTRIBUCION
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Lo mas importante es tener un reporte que te ayude a generar el control de tus documentación, involucrando al personal que controla en este reporte y generando métricos que ayuden a medir las desviaciones. Si puedes medir, puedes controlar, tomando acciones correctivas dirigidas hacia los problemas reales.

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Ronald Lotan Y.

Internal Auditor | CIA, CRMA, LPEC
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It goes without saying; the benefits of a numeric format are obvious. But what matters most is what will be done with the scanned file and the original document. There is always a temptation to discard the original document once it has been scanned. No. Have a structured archiving process in place. That would entail a methodology and some equipment. Get folders, classifiers, shelves..as much capacity is needed. Obviously what should be retained should be in response to the relative risk of losing the document; not are losses wouldbe equally consequential. This is to be addressed in your archiving methodology.

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Vincent Bautista

Global IT Infrastructure Service Support Lead, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa and Latin America at Mundipharma
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for me, you should had done some planning on how you would label or put tags with the files you will need to save and archive. you need to be consistent with taging and god labeling. example of some pitfalls, numeric dates (month and date) is a no no as it can confuse people. use of meta tags on images as it saves location and time. besides its free and consumes few bytes. be descreat on filenames and folders. hope this helps

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2 Store your documents

The next step is to store your documents in a secure and accessible location. You can use a physical device, such as a hard drive, a flash drive, or a CD-ROM, or you can use a cloud storage service, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive. The advantage of using a cloud storage service is that you can access your documents from any device, anywhere, and anytime, as long as you have an internet connection. You can also sync your documents across multiple devices, share them with others, and backup them automatically. When storing your documents, make sure to choose a reliable and reputable service, a sufficient storage capacity, and a strong password.

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Ronald Lotan Y.

Internal Auditor | CIA, CRMA, LPEC
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I'd say a blend of both physical and cloud storage is necessary. Whilst physician storage is prone to physical damage and corruption, we are never really sure of the security and privacy of data stored in cloud systems; the risk isn't under our supervision, so to speak. Is there any insurance policy on cloud storages; any damages in the event the service provider's servers came crashing one day? Good question to always have at the back of the mind.

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3 Organize your documents

The final step is to organize your documents in a way that makes sense to you and helps you find them quickly and easily. You can use a document management app, such as Evernote, Notion, or Trello, to create folders, tags, labels, and notes for your documents. You can also use features such as search, sort, filter, and archive to locate and manage your documents. The advantage of using a document management app is that you can customize your document organization according to your needs and preferences, and integrate it with other apps and tools. When organizing your documents, make sure to use a logical and consistent system, a clear and descriptive naming convention, and a regular review and update schedule.

By following these three steps, you can keep your documents safe and organized using consumer electronics. You’ll save yourself the hassle of losing or misplacing important documents, and you’ll enjoy the benefits of having a digital backup of your paper documents. You’ll also be able to access, share, and edit your documents with ease and convenience.

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Ronald Lotan Y.

Internal Auditor | CIA, CRMA, LPEC
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Methodology is key. The application solutions will only come to materialize the storage approach that had been decided beforehand.

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4 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Faith Munyoki

Admin Strategist | Researcher | Communication-Focused Educator | Passionate about Education
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By implementing a consistent naming and filing system, regularly backing the files up, digitizing them and storing them securely in encrypted cloud storage as well as keeping physical copies in a designated area.

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You’re tired of losing important documents. How can you keep them safe and organized?

1

2

3

4

1 Scan your documents

2 Store your documents

3 Organize your documents

4 Here’s what else to consider

Consumer Electronics

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You’re tired of losing important documents. How can you keep them safe and organized?

1

2

3

4

1 Scan your documents

2 Store your documents

3 Organize your documents

4 Here’s what else to consider

Consumer Electronics

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

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