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I admit that I’m old enough to remember when
computers
starting moving into our office culture. I also remember the
marvellous “green” world that was going to result
from
using computers instead of pushing paper. We were going to
save
whole forests of trees, eliminate waste, reduce the burden on
landfills. What a utopian paradise!
And now the reality: 34 years after Business Week published
the
first article on going paperless, we’re suffocating under a
compost heap of paper. And we’re left
wondering… Can we still get to the paperless
office, or
was it just a dream?
The answer: A definitive
“Maybe”. Here are some
tips and tricks to help you eliminate at least some of the paper from
your office:
Make it easier to view documents electronically instead of printing
them. Use your computer’s brightness and contrast
settings
to make your documents as easy to view as possible on-screen
(experiment to find the combination that is easiest on your
eyes). You can also use the built-in zoom tools in your
document
programs to ease your eyes.
Instead of printing a document and then writing notes on it, you can
use the markup features in MS Word® that allow you to add
comments
in the margins and track changes electronically as they are made by
various people.
You can also reduce waste (and space) by electronically filing
documents. Is it necessary to print out documents for your
paper
file? And if you have a paper document that needs to be
recorded,
you can save space and streamline your files by scanning it and storing
the electronic file on your computer.
Eliminate cover sheets where possible. If your fax machine
prints
out a confirmation each time you send a fax, can you write the send
date and time directly on the fax instead? If your printer
prints
a cover sheet by default, can you turn that feature off?
You can also help by being mindful of your habits. Do you
really
need to print out email? Can you print on both sides of the
paper
instead of single-sided? Can you reuse paper that has only
been
printed on one side? Remember to consider privacy legislation
when reusing paper, though – you don’t want to
accidentally
distribute private information on the back of your printed document.
I’m still a huge fan of the idea of a paperless office, but I
don’t know if I’ll see it my lifetime. I
hope the
electronics-friendly younger generations will gradually change our
corporate habits, but for now, even though I try to use electronic
files for almost everything, I still tend to make hand-written notes on
scraps of paper while I’m on the phone or in
meetings.
I’m working on it, OK?
Ultimately, though, any reduction in paper will save money, save the
environment, save time searching for paper files, and save
space.
Let’s just do what we can, and work towards making gradual
improvements.
Oh wait, there’s a call coming in - where did I put my pen
and paper?
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By: Diane Henders, Bright Ideas Personalized
Learning Inc. For more information or computer training services,
please call Bright Ideas Personalized Learning at (403) 269-2347.
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