There is a myriad of essential documents, such as education records, medical records, veterinary records, and more, that our house is flooded with. Having them secure in one place helps us stay organized and make all of these documents accessible, and takes our home one step closer to being decluttered.
You may even ask yourself whether you should consider the digitization of historical documents and other important paperwork through a document scanning company. This is an excellent solution because finding documents on a computer takes seconds. However, you will still need to keep the original documents in a secure place.
Keep reading this step-by-step guide on how to organize all of your essential documents and paperwork at home.
-
Gather All the Important Documents
The first task may be the most tedious and time-consuming one. You will need to look through your house and find all the important documents you want to keep safe. Take a few hours to gather them and store them all in one place.
This can be a long list of documents, but they should all be important documents that you want to keep handy and safe. Here are examples of some of them:
- House paperwork
- Medical records
- Education documents and transcripts
- Veterinary records
- Wills
- Insurance policies
- Tax records
- Passports
- Marriage license
- Monthly bills and receipts
Set Up a Filing System
The next thing to do is sit down with all of these papers and organize them into different categories of stacks. These can include financial records, home documents, medical records, social security numbers, etc.
Divide them into stacks based on the order of importance, alphabetical order, or whichever way is more convenient for you. You should sort through each piece of paper and then sort them into files. Make sure you have a proper filing system as well, wherein you assign primary colors to the files, which will help categorize them.
Another important tip for filing your paperwork is dividing it into as many categories and subcategories as possible. This will help make the process of filing and then finding paperwork smoother, quicker, and less frustrating. Additionally, create an index for each file to keep track of your system.
-
Eliminate Unnecessary Documents
Before you begin filing your documents, you should simultaneously follow this step. Keep a paper shredder next to you and make a stack of unnecessary documents or ones that you no longer need. It might be difficult to hold on to all of the paperwork. However, divide them into low-priority stacks of paperwork.
Eliminate all of the clutter from this low-priority stack of paperwork. Such clutter may include old printed bank statements, tax return paperwork older than seven years, bills and receipts that are very old, and expired service contracts, warranties, and leases. Basically, anything that serves no purpose should be eliminated.
-
Go Digital
Once all of the important documents have been separated and filed correctly, it’s time for digitization of historical documents, medical records, and all essential paperwork. Doing this alongside physically organizing these documents will help you keep track of everything. Since you still need to keep physical documents close by, you can organize and store these files.
Going digital with your files is more convenient, leads to less wastage, and saves you time. You can do this yourself or consider document conversion services or a document scanning solution. It can be complex scanning each piece of paper on your own, which is why hiring a professional service will prove to be more convenient and worthwhile.
-
Store Your Documents
Storing your sorted files is the last step in organizing all the essential documents and paperwork at home. You may be tempted to keep all of your documents in a box and put them away in the attic or basement. However, this will make them prone to water damage. Some documents may be hard to replace, so it’s best that you consider proper storage methods.
You can store your documents in fireproof and damage-proof storage boxes and keep the boxes under the bed, in your home office, or in a filing cabinet in the house. You can also keep the documents in a fireproof and flood-resistant lockbox. When you have already taken up a document scanning solution and have digitally stored it in your computer, the physical copies can be placed anywhere in the safe house.
Final Words
Organizing documents at home is just as important as digitizing them. There are many benefits of taking up document conversion services because it is much more convenient, affordable, and reduce your wastage. Make sure you store these digital files in a USB, flash drive, or on a cloud to keep them safe.
If you want to convert and scan your documents, consider a document scanning company, such as Smooth Solutions. We specialize in making information easily accessible digitally. Take a look at our website to find out how we can serve as your one-stop document scanning solution!