My (Almost) Paperless office

Your're looking at my office.

Sure, I have a craft room where I can sit and make things and print out lets of templates.

And I have a "home" office with a desk, lamp and drawers I could fill up with files.

And I have built-in shelves everywhere that I could fill up with papers and files and even more files.

One of the things that amazes my friends is that I don't have piles of "stuff" all over the house.  In fact, whenever I travel around the country, it's just a Blackberry, IPOD (for entertainment), a journal (this Hermes one was a gift from a friend) and a very lightweight mini Sony Vaio computer.

That's it!

I keep one binder at home that are archives of press clips and one of my bookshelves is full of all my books and products I've created over the years.

And here's how I keep a paperless office:

1.  #1 preferred form of communication: email.  Word docs, PDFs, powerpoints, etc.  Whatever is paperpless.   I create PDFs of my speeches and even email them ahead of time to venue locations so they can be electronically loaded.  No fuel waste shipping, too!

2.  All my important documents are scanned and stored as digital files on CDs.    I have a stack of about 6 CDs in a desk drawer that would otherwise be a file cabinet full of papers.

3.  I keep an efax account and "fax" myself documents that are emailed to my account for safe keeping.  Efax is free, so check it out!

4.  And I always "return to sender" all the unwanted junk mail.  They pay the return postage!

Comments

[happyathome]

Hey, I like the return to sender, great idea! Thanks for sharing!

[please sir]

These are great recommendations - thanks!

[Dawn]

Paperless rocks! Wish the majority of the world would follow this theory! :) Don't forget to do computer back-ups often and/or store your important docs/info. on CD or flash drive at another location (in case of fire, etc.)! Best Wishes!

[Andrea]

Danny, how do you do "return to sender"? Do I just write that on it and put it back in the mailbox? Is it really that easy? If it is, I'm starting today!

Love you blog!

[Ruth Tortorici]

Love the RTS, my mailperson just smiles at me! & she does not even know of the amount that I take directly to the PO..... I also do it for my parents mail! It's my hidden addiction....(insert evil laugh)

[berton]

Thank you for the GREAT tips !! You always have such wonderful ideas !!

[Green Me]

I am always afraid the return to sender gets trashed versus recycled. Consequently, we've signed up for Green Dimes and Catalog Choice. Green Dimes costs a fee, but they are pretty thorough and Catalog Choice is free, but requires you to enter your specific catalog numbers in. Combined, they seem to work pretty well. You can even get off the general post office mailers list with Green Dimes. We've definitely seen a reduction in mail!

[Lisa Norman]

Hi,

Going green and paperless in my office. Any ideas for garbage liners? I heard about wax one but can't seem to find them.

[Cindy]

Danny,
When you return to sender the junk mail does that stop it or slow it? Do they remove you from their list?

[Andrea]

Good idea for putting all your important papers on CD. Though I'm a little worried about actually getting rid of the paper version of some of my really important papers like tax returns, I think I'll start scanning some of my less important papers and shred them!

[Kristin]

brilliant idea to put important papers on the computer. we are far from paperless but i do use the computer for storage and communication. The paper that surrounds me is of the creative, crafty type. ;)

[Ben]

Stop Plastic Bags by Grabbing Free Reusable Bags from ReusableBagsGiveaway.com

While searching for some green tips to replace my bathroom faucet, I came across this site: ReusableBagsGiveaway.com. I was skeptical at first that wondering what company will giveaway reusable bags. Well, when I landed on their site, I was immediately blown away by the free reusable bags that they're giving away. Not only the bags are free, but the bags must be coming from the hands of designers, they're stylish and chic. I quickly order my free reusable bags, the only cost to me is the shipping fee of $4.99, and the shipping fee actually covers up to 4 bags, so I pick 2 more bags of other styles and finished my checkout.

A few days later, I received the package, and the reusable bags are so good that actually when I carry them to work, people are all asking me where did I get the bags.

Afterall, it's really eay to go green, stay stylish and cheap.

[Brooks]

Great post. I too am in the process of going as paperless as possible. My ScanSnap has been running on overdrive as I churn through all my files.

About storing your documents on CDs, have you ever considered doing online backup? I started doing the CD thing but then got nervous about losing them/them going bad.

[Ken Krause]

Danny, saw your post and there are some great ideas on here. I especially like the Return to Sender idea. Maybe if it costs them enough they will stop!

I did want to let you know about another fax alternative -- MyFax (http://www.myfax.com). (Full disclosure: I work for their PR agency.) What I like about MyFax is you don't need to download any special software or anything to use it. Which means if you're away from your laptop but can get to another PC with an Internet connection, you can still send and receive faxes. MyFax also delivers faxes in PDF format so you can read them and forward them more easily.

It does cost $10 a month, but the flexibility, ease of use and customer service they provide are worth it, in my opinion.

Ken

[alana]

oooh return to sender!! i'm going to have to start doing this!! what a great idea!

i'm trying to start a somewhat paperless office... i have two kids 5 & 7. and i've recently started a project of scanning in all their schoolwork! whew! that way i don't have to worry about tossing their precious artwork (though i do save the very sentimental stuff) some of the other school work the girls have actually helped me recycle it ourselves... they think its a blast to rip up old homework and blend it up to make our own paper!

[Jill]

I tried to return the junk mail 'return to sender' and the mailman brought it back and said I can't do that.

[Jeff]

Great tips Danny, I especially love the return to sender bit. Thanks also to the poster that shared info on green dimes. Regarding faxing, I use fax.com which allows sending/receiving via PDF, does not require a download and is about $8/mo for the year. Go Paperless!

[jen]

I googled this and found a newspaper article that says... The Postal Service returns only first-class mail to senders, so sending back bulk mail labeled "return to sender" doesn't work.

However, another article mentioned an idea to restuff it and send it back in the business reply envelope, the heavier the better.

[AW]

I am in the process of going paperless at my home but I am still getting bombarded with junkmail (credit cards, magazine subscriptions...) and I keep on sending back with prepaid envelopes they inserts. I do have some paper in my home but I am very careful of what I want to keep. I still have an addiction for books though. Thanks for the great blog.

[Digital Life Artist]

Paperless is definitively the way into the future. Check out the new book "Paperless Joy" by George Dimopoulos on paperless work- and lifestyles, at amazon and http://www.paperlessjoy.com

[Lionel]

Hello Danny,

Thank you for sharing these great ideas. I will adopt some of them.

[Lionel]

Hello Danny,

Thank you for sharing these great ideas. I will adopt some of them.

[Wedding Tiaras]

Some great Ideas here....hmmmmm where shall i start