While there are several reasons for going paperless, such as its beneficial impact on the environment, it's also an easy and maintainable way of decreasing clutter from one's everyday life. Solutions such as document management software makes documents easily accessible, easier to find, and leaves you without having stacks of paper around your house or office.

Paper documents have the chance of getting misplaced, destroyed, or even stolen. Think of how easy it is to ruin an important document simply by accidentally pouring coffee on it or throwing it in the trash. Keeping your documents stored digitally means they're safer from mishaps and theft. Going paperless lessens the chance of your information getting into the wrong hands.

What You Don't Need on Paper

You should still keep important documents, such as birth/death certificates and notary letters in paper, almost everything else can be stored digitally. In any case, it's always a good idea to make a scanned copy of these important documents just to have on hand in case something happens to the original. Things such as bank statements, credit card statements, and bills can all be accessed online and downloaded. Nowadays, most companies charge you a fee for receiving paper documents as a way to persuade more customers to go paperless, so doing so will save you a few extra dollars a month by opting out of getting them in the mail.

Things such as flyers, personal notes, and coupons can be kept as is since they're most often temporary and not necessarily kept for a long time. Anything with sentimental value, such as a kid's drawing or handwritten letter can always be saved. While you may not be able to go paperless entirely, you can de-clutter a significant portion of what you can. If it's nothing something you need to keep out of necessity, or something you want to keep because it's personally important to you, it's likely you don't need a physical copy of it laying around and taking up space.

Going Paperless

Any document you can't receive online, you can scan the physical copy of and upload it into what ever document saving software you choose. After you do so, you should always shred any document that contains personal or financial information that could potentially be used by others. All you need to make the change is a scanner, preferably a paper shredder, and management software to store all your documents.

Once you decide to go paperless and have all your documents held in one digital place, you'll be able to organize them however you wish and access your documents with any compatible device in less time than it would take shuffling through a stack of papers. Set aside a designated place, such as a file cabinet or locked bin, to hold all of your incoming documents and regularly scan them to upload and then shred the document. Depending on how quickly you accumulate new documents, you can do this weekly or monthly.

Going paperless is a cost-effective, simple, and maintainable way of decreasing clutter while still managing to keep all your important documents at your fingertips. Going paperless saves the trees, reduces pollution and transport, saves water, and cuts down on harmful chemicals released into the environment during paper production. Going paperless benefits you, the planet, and your space.