Letting Go of Paper
January 21, 2008 · Print This Article
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I’ve been surprised at how difficult it is to let go of my paper. As I move more and more of my paper to a digital format I keep finding myself hesitating when I get ready to shred a document. We are trained so very well to keep our paper records. Has anyone else experienced this?
I think part of the issue is that most people have suffered some type of data loss with their computer. Even though I have multiple systems in place for backup I’m still haunted by losing important files years ago. Another issue is the physicalness of paper. You can hold paper in your hand. Spread it out. Write notes in the margin, etc. Not that I ever do that with my car insurance statement or gas bill, but somehow the idea of having something physical is comforting.
Little by little I’m training myself to let go. One trick I’ve found is to not shred the paper right away. I simply put it on top of the shredder to shred later. My daughter’s sleeping schedule was the original reason for this habit, but it is easier to give myself a few hours–just in case I think of some reason a document needs saved. So far I haven’t come up with any reason to save something that I was planning on shredding, but it makes me feel more comfortable.
My files have stopped growing and are starting to shrink!
To me, making the decision to discard paper has always been a hard one.
If you recycle paper instead of shredding it to bits, that would be a good step for two reasons:
1. Environment and
2. the more practical reason that you need to collect a pile of paper somewhere in your house (I have a dedicated paper trash can next to my ordinary trash can). The paper goes out for recycling ones every three weeks, so it’s like a trash can on the computer that allows you to get back that paper copy – just in case.
Otherwise I’m quite happy throwing paper away I know I have digital copeis of. I keep certificates and important things like tax documents (not the bills and bank statements, just the official tax form) in paper form.
My physical filing limits itself to half a drawer of hanging A-Z folders.
I also don’t digitalize any university documents, though I plan to take notes on my Macbook Air when I get it, and download lecture slides instead of buying print copies. Saves money and trees.
@Arjun – I am doing my best to eliminate the intake of paper I don’t need. I’ve got a little ways to do, but overall that means that most of what comes in has private information that I can’t allow to be recycled. I figure if I can keep the paper from being produced in the first place I’m probably having more of an impact than trying to recycle it after it has been used.
My biggest complaint at this point is that even though I can sign up to get certain documents digitally, they require me to log in to a bunch of different places and “pull” them down. It would be so much more convenient if there was a way to have them all sent in an encrypted email. I could then grab them and put them into my document management software and skip the scanning process all together.
Mark, you are so not alone. Check out my series on why paper is difficult http://blog.neatandsimple.com/2007/10/organizing-pa-2.html
Especially the on on emotional attachment : )
@Arjun: Is there any particular reason why you can’t recycle shredded paper? I recycle mine!!
@Mark: I have a pile of paper on top of my shredder for exactly the same reason! It *is* hard to “let go” and be brave enough to shred stuff. My personal rule is if it stays on top of the shredder for a few weeks and I haven’t needed to retreive it then shredding it without re-checking is safe. And no, I’ve never needed to “rescue” anything during that week but it still makes me feel better.
I’ve been finding your “less paper” experiments very interesting – I can’t deal well with paper due to disability reasons and find digital stuff much more physically accessible as well as the other upsides like searchability and so forth. It’s interesting to see a perspective on “being digital” in that sense that’s not based in access/disability requirements which is what I’m used to thinking about.
Ricky Buchanan, ATMac
It took a while for me to let go and shred at fist as well. Now I do it without thinking about it. Not the best thing either, sometimes I shred things that I meant to keep. But usually the digital copy is sufficient.