Bad Paper

Thanks to Jeff Hilimire for the attached article which highlights how the iPad can help businesses become less reliant on paper. Morgan Stanley finds paper shipments have gone down 9% since the iPad launch. Apple, FTW!

Post-it notes have been an issue for me twice in the past week. I had to leave some documents with instructions for someone who had already left the office. Not being able to communicate with them beforehand, I just didn't want to leave documents and wait for the person to open their email. They would come across as a little presumptive and jerky IMO. So now, I'm working on planning further ahead so post-it notes don't get in the way of my paperless plan.

Broke down and had to print something for the first time in close to a week. It was for a year-end review that highlighted some pretty cool achievement from 2011. Bottom line is I didn't want to lose it in the virtual space. As soon as I do more with iCloud, this won't be an issue.

Well, I broke down and asked for a receipt from Starbucks last night...only because I thought they had messed up my order. Wouldn't you know they got it right. Good for them, bad for me.

Another benefit of going paperless. An unlimited supply of board game rules. Here's an iPad image of the rules for Flash Point: Fire Rescue. Great game!

Maybe my first "violation" all year. I wrote two thank you cards today, demonstrating appreciation for people's achievement. Still debating how I should treat these.

Here's the link to the stylus reviews I mentioned yesterday. I went with the Bamboo edition, which I may start giving to people who decide to go paperless. Showed mine to five people today who went crazy over it.

By going paperless, I look forward to never dealing with this again.

Using the Bamboo Stylus as part of my paperless transition. Checked out a lot of ratings before deciding this one was "best." Day one in the books and I am loving it.

Shout out to the Spurs who are the first NBA team to offer paperless tickets.

As I mentioned in a recent post, I am establishing some ground rules for going paperless. Without further ado, here they are... 1. Go paperless wherever possible....I will not consider myself "at fault" when a restaurant, business or friend/peer are incapable of going paperless...although I will try and influence their behavior. 2. If your magazine doesn't have a complete digital edition, I will cancel my subscription. Yes, I'm looking at you, ESPN the Magazine (which has an incomplete digital offering vs. print). I'll still subscribe to SI, Wired and Harvard Business Review. 3. It is permissible to use paper when it is in the best interests of a customer or my organization. 4. Paper is always allowed when it is specifically requested by my boss....although I'll try to migrate him to paperless whenever possible. That's it....four simple rules. But I do have two other footnotes: 5. In an effort to monitor and document my progress, I will post a picture or write a blog entry every time I am forced to use paper. 6. I'll also post a blog entry every time I "convert" someone or make significant progress. I will also try and find a way to reward myself when that happens. As a general rule, I am going to focus on my consumption and not be "penalized" when others are incapable of going paperless. I.e, receipts from a restaurant vs. apple store. Other than that, I'm jumping off into the digital, paperless world on January 1st. Several friends of mine think it will be much harder than I am anticipating. What do you think will be the biggest obstacle? Any tips as I go paperless?

I decided recently that I would go paperless in 2012. Heard a remark from a CEO on how he and his Board of Directors do it and so I decided to take the plunge. Connected iPad, iPhone, iCloud and work CPU. Seems like I have too many ways to make it happen to not do it. I'll be chronicling my paperless journey on Tumblr in the months ahead. I'll also be establishing some "ground rules" and sharing what works and what doesn't work for me. As I find tips, tricks and resources I'll pass those along as well. Your input is needed and welcome so please pass it along.