5 Apps to Help You Have A Paperless Office

I’ve spent at least the last five years trying to achieve a completely paperless office, and you know what?

I don’t think it’s entirely possible.

You see, I’ve come to the realisation that there’s always going to be some form of paper in an office. A note from a colleague, an unexpected letter from a supplier, or the hastily-printed agenda for the next meeting won’t vanish.

With that mindset, I’ve spent time on my own paperless existence, and it’s working really well thanks to five apps I simply couldn’t live without.

1. Evernote

I switched to Evernote as my main note-taking platform of choice some time ago and I’ve never looked back.

In terms of a tool for taking notes, it works perfectly for me, because it can be ultra simple when I just need to jot something down and amazingly complex when I need to go deep.

2. Notability

The curious among you will have noticed the word “main” in the first paragraph above, and that’s because when I’m using my iPad and the Apple Pencil, I usually have the Notability app open.

My handwriting is atrocious, but occasionally a handwritten note is convenient; and Notability has ensured I never have to carry a notepad and pen with me ever again.

3. Google Drive

I remember once trying to turn around the attitude of an unproductive marketing team. All the signs were there, but convincing everyone to raise their game needed far more than my leadership skills.

Thankfully, back then, I discovered Google Drive; and although it didn’t single-handedly raise the productivity within the team, its ability to all but remove paperwork from people’s desks meant they could finally see the wood for the trees and collaborate effectively.

4. Dropbox

One reason people still rely on paper files is because they believe they’re more transportable than those contained on a hard disk.

That used to be the case - before cloud storage. Now, every conceivable file (including everything I would once have printed out) resides on Dropbox and syncs across every device I own. It’s transformative.

5. Omnifocus

If you’re still using Post-It notes and big notebooks to keep on top of your various tasks because you don’t think there’s an app out there that can meet your workflow requirements, you haven’t tried Omnifocus.

A bit like Evernote, it can be blindingly simple when I need it to be and fantastically deep and comprehensive when I have a big project on the go.

Wrapping up

Your mileage on the above may vary when it comes to creating a paperless office of your own. Just one might do the trick, or a combination thereof. You may even find alternatives that far better suit your way of working.

Whatever you do to remove as much paper from your life as possible, lean on the technology you have with you every day, and you’ll become a more efficient and productive leader than you ever thought possible.