A Gigabyte of Prevention
To protect your documents, you need to digitize and store them virtually. Firstly, natural disasters occur and they will destroy your documents. Earthquakes bury, floods sweep away, wind scatters, and fire immolates.
In 1966, a flood hit Florence, Italy, claiming lives and livelihoods. The city was half underwater within hours. As a result, so many priceless documents, including some as old as the Renaissance, were lost forever.
Secondly, in the last few decades, the effects of climate change are becoming more apparent. Depending on the geography of the area, droughts are more severe and brush fires are more common. Hurricanes and cyclones have amped up their fury, ripping towns apart and causing flooding for miles.
Thirdly, you can’t prevent disasters from happening. But you can prevent the loss of your media.
Save Paper: Digital Documents As Your New File Cabinet
Digitizing your documents protects them from disaster. Here are other reasons why paper is
being phased out:
- Takes up a lot of space
- Heavy
- Tedious to manage
- Fades over time
- Bad for the environment
- Fire hazard
- Security risk
Scanning and organizing doesn’t have to be a huge chore. Today, we have technology and artificial intelligence to help speed up the process and protect against error. This costs less and takes less effort than the alternative of losing the documents and trying to retrieve them later. Ask us about how you can automate these tasks, and check out my ScanSnap page to see the easiest way to digitize your important documents.
What Documents Should I Digitize?
Prior to booking a consultation, review our general list of documents and media that should be digitized and stored. Personal documents to digitize and store include the following:
- Birth certificates
- Medical records
- Academic documents like transcripts and diplomas
- Social security cards
- Driver’s licenses
- Vehicle titles
- Property deeds
- Marriage and divorce certificates
- Wills and powers of attorney
- A video inventory of your possessions
- Receipts for big-ticket items including jewelry, art, and other valuable possessions
- Sentimental items like photographs and letters
Your personal documents are unique and need protection. These items are vital to preserve. They help prove our identities, back up property ownership, and can be submitted to an insurance company to help with filing claims.
Digitize Your Business Documents
You can make your life easier and protect your documents by digitizing:
- Business plans
- Tax records
- Accounts receivable
- Articles of incorporation
- Insurance policies
- Client information
- HR documents
Where Do I Store My Documents?
One way to store your documents is to use a flash drive. They are cheap, small, and portable, but they can also be lost, so it’s best to have more than one way to store your important data.
You can also store your data in the cloud or online. Cloud storage solutions like Dropbox, Box, or OneDrive can be your virtual defense against disaster. Cloud storage gives you convenience and security and you can even designate who can access your files.
Be Sure You’re Insured
Review your property and casualty insurance to understand what is covered and what is not. Your agent can help you get the right protection that will cover your needs. Consider buying flood insurance, which is sold separately from home insurance plans.
Contact Us For Help
Don’t let a lack of organization make documents hard to find. A digital organizer can help you organize and automate your media to make it easy to find anything. Contact us for expert tips on data digitization and protection any time.
