Submitted by Rona_Gura on

Going Paperless

Categories
Lifestyle

I have been trying to move to an almost paperless office for a while now. Prior to Covid, all of my court filings, were on paper. Covid changed that. Now all of my court filings are electronic. It has made the switch-over to a paperless file a lot easier. 

 

I personally have two problems with becoming completely paperless. It has been a struggle for me to review complex documents solely on a screen. In the past I would print a working paper copy of the document that I would mark up using ether pencil or post-its. In the past two years I have been making an effort to more effectively review documents on a screen using red-lining. I am still not one hundred percent proficient on red-lining but I am  red lining much more than before. I have found that red-lining is more efficient in documents wherein several drafts are circulating, it obviates the need for long letters to be written detailing requested changes. 

 

I also still take notes, whether it be in conferences or in court, on a legal pad.  I have watched, with envy, other attorneys who sit in court with their electronic note pads and styluses, take notes on it, and immediately download the notes to the client’s file. I have decided to gift myself a Microsoft Surface to use for that purpose and many others, i.e.  the ease of taking it on vacation versus a heavier laptop.  I know the change from paper notes to electronic notes will take me quite some time. I have been using legal pads for over thirty years. . . .

  

Have you gone completely paperless? How was the change for you?

Comments

Corey Bearak

I save much electronically but certain paper items I file. I prefer to use apple devices, including for e-notes.
Shelley Simpson

My business is paperless. I do keep a gratitude journal in a notebook and have no intention to change that. II have always taken notes on paper and am considering a "Remarkable" for that. When it comes to taking notes, writing is much more effective than typing so this could be the best of both worlds. Looking forward to reading how this works out for you.

Submitted by Greg on Sun, 01/02/2022 - 22:45

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Gregory Rose

I take notes during meetings, but all the work I do for clients are on my computer and therefore paperless. Instead of having a bunch of files around I've always found it easier to organize my Word documents.
Victoria Drogin

Neuroscience studies have shown that students who take notes long hand remember more than students who type their notes. This is because you cannot write as quickly as you type, and therefore your brain has to “translate” and consolidate concepts for you to capture them. I think both have their place. :) (really appreciate the ease of banking/paying bills online…)
Rona Gura

That's really interesting. But I still want a new "toy," the Surface. :)
Daniel Schwartz

It is difficult at first to switch, but once electronic, most don't go back to paper. I am still in paper for most of my notes, but many of my co-workers have switched. We were early adapters to the Surface and for several years, all of our sales staff and management used them. Over time, we found them to be a bit unreliable for the programs we ran on a daily basis. For note taking and such, they are great and have wonderful graphics. But if you are doing any heavy database management, you may miss your laptop. We are now all switching back to Dell laptops for that reason and are more reliable for what we do. Nothing wrong with a good tablet for notes though.
RitaSue Siegel

I often print out important documents and file them with other papers, but also save them electronically.
RitaSue Siegel

I have over 200 5"X7" spiral-bound notebooks, numbered and dated, in which I have been taking notes. I tried taking them on a laptop, but couldn't pay attention to typing and listening although I am a rapid-touch typist. I recently found a better version of the notebook I have been using for all these years with double the number of pages and wider spaces between the lines. This was a cause for celebration, believe it or not.
Fred Klein

Your most comments? You’re on to something :)
Ray Walcott

The bank has forced me to go paperless, from electronic secure website for clients to upload documents to DocuSign. It is good but when there is a business owner who can't figure out the electronic way of doing things now, it gets challenging.

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