What’s Up With Paper (Less) Tips, Better Folder and File Management, iPhone Tips and ‘Tenkeyless Keyboards?

Each year, the utopian goal of getting to a “paper-free” situation in the workplace (and/or at home) keeps getting closer. Unfortunately, we are still not there yet. Meanwhile, I thought I would share a few tips that can help you convert many of your current hard copy documents (that may be piling up somewhere) into digital documents that can then be organized and stored on your computer and/or be synced or backed-up to an online file storage location (such as Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, DropBox, etc.).

The initial task that needs to be accomplished is to convert your hard copy documents into digital documents by scanning them. Unfortunately, that is typically the time-consuming and most expensive part of the project. If you do not have a scanner yet, I suggest you get one that can scan photos, business cards, and documents. Ideally, the scanner will be a “duplex” scanner (able to scan both sides of a page at the same time) and come with software that specializes in scanning various types of items/documents. Epson and Fujitsu both make a wide variety of scanners that meet the above criteria. Links to both companies’ scanner options follow…Epson scanners: www.epson.com/scanners; and Fujitsu scanners: www.tinyurl.com/yfyzkaac. (Tip: I recommend getting and using a desktop scanner that has an automatic document feeder).

The next, and final task is often the more difficult and time-consuming one (at least in the beginning). What is the task? It is the file naming and file management/organization process. To help with this I would suggest you consider using specialized software that can help with this part of the project. Mac users may want to check out a software program called “Hazel” by noodlesoft.com. Similarly, Windows users may want to learn more about the following software products “File Juggler” (fee), or “DropIt (free). All the just mentioned software products can help to automate (or at least speed up) the processes of naming and moving/organizing files (such as newly scanned documents, etc.). Unfortunately, it will take time to learn and set up your initial automation tasks. However, once your automation tasks are set up, your scanning and file management-related operations should be able to be accomplished quicker and easier than ever before! The following are some courtesy links to the products mentioned above…Hazel (Mac): www.noodlesoft.com; File Juggler (Windows): www.filejuggler.com; Dropit (Windows): www.dropitproject.com

Another well-known vendor of (more expensive) scanning and document management solutions is Kofax. The following link leads to the company’s “Desktop Productivity” software solutions (Mostly Windows): www.kofax.com/products/productivity

Suggestion: If/when you purchase a scanner, it will likely come with some free/included software that you should evaluate first (as you may conclude that the included software meets your needs).

Computer Folder and File Management Tips

Are your computer files well organized, or disorganized? If you said disorganized, or if you might be interested in some tips about how you might be able to name your computer’s folders and files more effectively, I would encourage you to scan through the following YouTube search results. The search results include many videos that will provide you with some computer folder and file naming and organization tips and techniques…www.tinyurl.com/yk462utf

How to Add a Contact to an iPhone’s “Home” Screen

If you are an iPhone user and periodically find yourself having to frequently communicate with someone, you may want to consider adding that person to your iPhone’s “Home” screen. If this topic interests you, please check out an article titled “Keep Favorite Contacts on iPhone Home Screen with Contacts Widget” that I found on the iphonelife.com website. Here is a link to the article…https://tinyurl.com/274u8276

Some Good iPhone Contacts-Related Tips

Several useful iPhone contacts-related tips are found in an article titled “10 iPhone Contacts Tips and Tricks Apple Won’t Tell You About” that you can find and browse through at the following webpage…www.tinyurl.com/c89nujwy (I’m confident that even experienced iPhone users may learn something new from this article.)

What is a “Tenkeyless” Computer Keyboard?

A “tenkeyless” keyboard is a keyboard that does not include a numeric keypad. Most smaller screen laptops have tenkeyless keyboards. For most people, tenkeyless keyboards are fine. However, if you have a tenkeyless computer keyboard and miss not having a numeric keyboard you might want to consider getting a separate numeric keypad. The following link leads to a webpage at bestreviews.com that highlights several excellent product options to consider…www.tinyurl.com/2j3vs6yv

Take Notes While Watching Videos

The next time you find yourself trying to take notes while watching a video (and wishing that there was an easier way to do it), check out the following video note taking-related service that you may find interesting and possibly quite helpful…www.annotate.tv, www.videonot.es, and www.tuberslab.com

Google Docs Tips

Google Docs keeps getting better by constantly adding new and/or improved features and capabilities. If you have not been keeping up with Google Docs’ new features and capabilities, I would encourage you to do so. To help you identify several of the latest Google Docs features, please check out the following links. Two of the links lead to techrepublic.com articles, and one leads to a howtogeek.com article…http://urlbunch.com/~APWgr2 (FYI: The previous URL is case sensitive and can be slow to load.)

If you have any comments, suggestions, tips, or questions, you can e-mail John at john@johnvrooman.com.