How I Turned An Old Laptop Into A Home Document Station - And Cut Down On Paperwork Chaos

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Paper is simply a river. Manage nan flow, not nan pile.
• One nook, laptop, and scanner tin tame regular clutter.
• Shred, label, and scan correct astatine nan constituent of entry.

For immoderate reason, there's an atrocious batch of insubstantial progressive successful going paperless.

My woman and I person been attempting to spell paperless since good before nan pandemic. While we person successfully scanned a tremendous number of our business and individual documents, we ne'er look to get up of nan flow.

There's ever much paper. But now, we person a caller plan.

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Our erstwhile attempts to tame each nan insubstantial worked from nan paradigm that location would beryllium collections of insubstantial that needed to beryllium scanned and processed. But that's not nan case, is it? Not really. Paper isn't thing that's static. It doesn't conscionable beryllium there.

David Gewirtz/ZDNET

Paper is simply a flow. Paper is for illustration a river. More comes into nan location each day. Some days, erstwhile we're diligent, much gets tossed than comes in. But moreover if we capable a mates of trash bags pinch shreddings, much still comes in.

We've group up scanning stations before. We moreover had labor activity full seasons to scan nan company's older paperwork. They were group up pinch a workspace, computer, and scanner. Paper sewage processed, but nan travel kept flowing.

What we request to do is divert nan river. Stop nan travel astatine nan source. To that end, we conscionable vanished building a caller scanning position correct astatine nan beforehand door. Rather than letting message and receipts travel into nan house, it lands connected a designated hotspot astatine nan scanning station.

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Then it gets scanned and revenge connected nan server. If thing is instantly actionable, that gets emailed correct from nan beforehand door. And past nan insubstantial gets shredded.

We're a fewer weeks in, but truthful acold it seems to beryllium working. Let maine show you really it each works.

Setting it up

We lucked out. Right adjacent to our beforehand doorway is simply a small nook conscionable large capable to clasp a bookcase. Even better, there's a powerfulness socket correct successful that space. So we were capable to group up a bunch of physics gadgets and support them powered, each nicely integrated into nan cubby.

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We started pinch a folding bookcase that we're utilizing arsenic a opinionated desk. We bought nan bookcase astatine a section wannabe Walmart, but you tin get a similar 1 present connected Amazon. The use of this is that nan shelves are conscionable nan correct tallness for my woman to activity astatine them, and nan backmost is unfastened truthful cords tin driblet down and beryllium retired of nan way.

The bookcase not only stores nan cogwheel and makes it disposable for easy opinionated table use, it besides stores a assortment of shipping and mailing supplies truthful we tin quickly package worldly up if we person to nonstop it out.

This useful for mini items. For large shipments, we still usage nan workbench aliases a ample array to battalion up large items. It's a bully balance.

The cogwheel

Our caller scanning position integrates a fast-feed scanner, a smaller receipt scanner, a explanation printer, a shredder, and a Mac.

I'll commencement pinch nan Mac because it's a repurposed 2015 laptop. We went backmost and distant a batch astir whether to usage an older Mac mini and equine an inexpensive portable monitor connected nan wall, aliases conscionable usage nan laptop. Denise felt that nan laptop yet took up little space. Because she tin tilt nan display, she tin optimize it for clear reading.

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But, of course, a 2015 MacBook Pro is obsolete. It's not getting updates, it's Intel based, and it's overmuch slower than nan cogwheel we're utilizing today. Then again, a laptop that's gathering particulate connected a support is acold little costly than, say, a thousand-dollar entry-level MacBook Air.

After all, we only request it to tally nan ScanSnap package for our ScanSnap scanner, nan scanning package for nan receipt scanner, a printer driver to people to either the explanation printer aliases our large laser printer, and immoderate software. Our receipt scanner isn't made anymore, but this Epson model should do good for speedy receipt scanning.

We constricted nan package used. We person a transcript of Word installed. Denise uses this to format labels for nan explanation printer. I really ain a licence to Office 2016, truthful I was capable to instal it. But arsenic soon arsenic I entered my still-valid licence key, Microsoft shunted maine complete to Microsoft 365, which insisted that I usage 1 of my allotted Microsoft 365 Word installs.

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Because of really aged nan instrumentality is, and each nan imaginable problems pinch Chrome extensions, we uninstalled Chrome. We constricted nan instrumentality to Safari. We're not moreover moving a password manager. We are letting that machine's Apple keychain negociate nan fewer passwords we need. We only log into Amazon (to either process returns aliases verify shipments) and Gmail, truthful there's very small web activity.

We besides link to our local in-house archive record server, which is wherever each nan scans spell erstwhile they're processed astatine nan door.

Our workflow

I request to return a infinitesimal to talk pronouns here. By "our" successful "our workflow," I mean Denise's workflow. And by "we" arsenic successful "we built this," I mean Denise built it (although I sewage nan machine tweaked and made immoderate brackets). Denise makes each our business travel happen. Without her, I'd still person years of receipts crushed wrong an ancient MacPlus carrying container (true story).

In immoderate case, location are 2 main workflows: nan In workflow and nan Out workflow.

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In workflow starts erstwhile pieces of message aliases receipts participate nan house. They spell into a purposely mini to-be-processed bin to beryllium handled wrong hours, aliases conscionable get handled correct away. The letter cover is removed. It mightiness aliases mightiness not beryllium scanned, depending connected whether it seems important to seizure a return reside aliases postmark.

The archive is scanned, fixed a day and short description, and stored connected nan MacBook Pro for later uploading to nan server. Then nan insubstantial is shredded pinch our inexpensive small shredder. We chose this exemplary shredder because it fits connected apical of a bladed trash can, which is nan only 1 that will fresh successful our small nook. For bulk shredding, you mightiness want thing beefier. We person a large one successful nan main office.

Then, erstwhile scanned and shredded, if that archive appears to request contiguous action, it's forwarded to 1 of our email addresses.

Receipts are scanned successful mini batches. After a fistful of receipts heap up, Denise pulls nan receipt scanner retired of its custom-designed 3D-printed tray and scans them in. As pinch nan different pieces of paperwork, they get dated, filed, and yet uploaded to nan server.

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If we get a number of items successful from a vendor for a project, Denise prints labels that spell connected nan items aliases packaging, arsenic appropriate. That way, we tin way everything. If there's a return, we tin find each nan pieces.

When thing is being returned, we either usage nan explanation printer aliases nan laser printer, people a label, and hole that to spell out.

It's each done while opinionated successful our small scanning nook. And because it's each done connected a rusty aged Intel MacBook Pro, there's nary easy measurement to get distracted and publication an article aliases surf societal media. We conscionable do it and get it done.

Customized brackets

One of my favourite uses of 3D printing is solving unsocial organizing problems. Often that involves designing and printing civilization brackets. This task required 2 (so far).

The Fusion exemplary is shown supra nan 3D printed portion arsenic it's utilized connected nan scanning station.

David Gewirtz/ZDNET

As you mightiness imagine, pinch shelves acting arsenic activity surfaces, abstraction is astatine a premium. My woman wanted 2 brackets: 1 to clasp nan small receipt scanner securely and retired of nan way, and 1 to do nan aforesaid point pinch nan small USB hub that connects each nan devices to nan Mac.

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So I sat down successful Autodesk Fusion and created 2 designs. One allows nan scanner to simply driblet successful connected apical and beryllium securely stored connected nan woody beam astatine nan backmost of nan shelf. The different does beautiful overmuch nan aforesaid point pinch nan USB hub.

Now, they're functional, secure, easy reachable erstwhile necessary, and retired of nan way.

Reducing paperwork chaos

We've had this setup operational for astir 2 weeks, and it's decidedly optimizing our paperwork flow. I'm judge we'll request to tweak it complete time. I'm besides judge location will beryllium immoderate separator cases wherever this workflow doesn't work. But it seems to person reduced a important contributor to clutter, while astatine nan aforesaid clip making judge we support up pinch nan changeless flood of paperwork.

That's a win.

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What astir you? Have you tried mounting up a archive position to extremity nan flood of insubstantial astatine nan source? Have you been capable to usage older computers aliases repurposed cogwheel for this benignant of task? How do you grip nan regular inflow of mail, receipts, and documents successful your ain location aliases office? Have you travel up pinch immoderate clever workflows aliases DIY customizations, for illustration 3D-printed brackets aliases organizers, to make it each activity much smoothly? Let america cognize successful nan comments below.

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