I really like my home office. It’s painted a soothing brown (chocolate mousse by Benjamin Moore, to be exact), it has exposed bookshelves, black and white photos of my children, and a plush striped couch. I have a couple nice lamps and a window. But it is an office and it requires those necessary office evils: the combo fax/scanner/copier and file cabinets. Oh file cabinets, how I loathe thee. These are the most intrusive things in my office. I have two 4-drawer vertical file cabinets in black. They match the décor but as they are next to my desk, which is the only place they fit (and it allows easy access), I often feel as if someone is looking over my shoulder while I’m typing away.
Going paperless would be one way to whittle down the amount of file storage I require. I’d be thrilled if I only needed two 2-drawer vertical file cabinets, in which case I could throw a cloth on the top and have a table of sorts – a place to put my teapot and some more ambient lighting (it really can be nice to work from home).
But going paperless is not easy. First, there is the comfort factor. I like tangible things. I like going into my file cabinet and holding a copy of someone’s membership application. It is proof that I have received it. Second, there is the technical side. Just as doctors are moving to electronic patient records, I would like to move to electronic membership applications, which allow for quicker response rates and improve overall productivity. But alas, I do not possess the skill to accomplish this right now. At this stage I could take existing paper applications and scan them to digital files but this takes a lot of time, even with an auto document feeder.
I’ve got my eye on a new company outside of Boston called Pixily that I read about in the Boston Globe. The idea has promise. Pixily is like a Netflix for the home office or small business. After signing up for an account, Pixily sends pre-paid envelopes or boxes in which you collect your documents to be scanned. You mail the documents to Pixily who digitizes them, and they mail the documents back to you. (they plan to implement a shred and recycle program to eliminate this step, if desired.) You can also email or upload your current digital documents to your Pixily account. The documents in your account can then be searched, shared and downloaded. I’ve yet to try it but I am seriously thinking about it. I’d like to know what other home office workers/ telecommuters/small businesses do to limit paper, file share with colleagues and stay productive.
Filed under: office tools, productivity
