Paper chase

IS YOUR HOME OFFICE A CLUTTERED MESS? PAVE YOUR WAY TO A PAPERLESS FUTURE WITH THESE GADGETS AND APPS

LOCKDOWN or no lockdown, there remains a decent chance that a lot more of us will be working from home a lot more than we were pre-coronavirus.

In other words, an office is going to be more or less an essential in the home of the future.

If you’re working in yours, by now you’ll be drowning in paperwork – now’s the time to act and get organised.

Even if you’re not working from home, going paperless is a great way to cut down on clutter. And once you’ve got a good storage system going, you can start receiving documents digitally and save a few trees along the way…

Here are some apps and gadgets to get you started.

SCAN IT Mobile Scanner

They say: Mobile Scanner is the best mobile scanner app for documents and QR codes. Create free, high-quality PDF or JPG scans with just one tap.

We say: The first thing you’ll need is a decent and reliable way to get your paper documents digitised – you need a scanner.

Thankfully, most of us already have one in our pockets.

The cameras on mobile phones these days are decent enough to do a good job of scanning in text and images, and this is a great app to do the job.

The free version allows unlimited scans that create PDFs – useful if you plan to store your documents elsewhere. The paid-for version offers sync with a cloud storage system (like iCloud, so you don’t have to manually download and upload anything) as well as fast search and text recognition.

The app is also safety-first – none of your sensitive documents are ever sent anywhere other than on your device, or to the cloud sync service you choose.

■ Cost: £5.99/month or £33.99/year on iOS and Android

Doxi Go

They say: The brand-new Doxie Go SE is everything you want modern scanning to be – clever, simple, and mobile.

We say: If you have a lot of documents to scan, or plan to scan a lot of photos, you’ll probably be wise to invest in an actual scanner.

Gone are the days, though, when a scanner means a bulky flatbed device that sits on your desk. The Doxie Go SE is a high-quality scanner that you can take anywhere.

It’s battery-powered and has onboard storage in the form of an SD card slot. You can either use a card reader or a cable that hooks up to your device for file transfer.

Operation is simple – just stick your document in one side, and out it comes the other having been captured digitally.

■ Cost: £187 from getdoxie.com/ store/europe

STORE IT Evernote

They say: Capture ideas when inspiration strikes. Find information fast. Share notes with anyone. From meetings and projects to web pages and to-do lists.

We say: Evernote is a veritable veteran of the world of digitised document storage.

You can store your PDF documents in its digital shoebox and be sure they’ll be safe – and most importantly searchable – forever. But it’s not just for that – you can organise your whole life with its wide range of tools. You can even scan documents into Evernote directly from your phone’s camera, so it’s useful for scanning away from home.

Everything is searchable – even scans of handwritten notes. And it’s all always available from any device you are logged into with the clean and functional Evernote app.

■ Cost: £4.99/month on iOS and Android

SHRED IT Robert Dyas 6-Sheet Cross-Cut Paper Shredder

They say: Instead of cutting the paper only lengthways, it cuts widthways too, making it much harder to read important information. If you’re shredding lots there’s no need to worry about it overheating – this shredder comes with overheat protection.

We say: Of course, once you’ve scanned all your vital documents, you won’t want to stick them straight into the recycling bin – chances are there is some sensitive info you don’t watch just anyone seeing. You will need a shredder to make sure that they are unreadable before you dump them.

You can pay a lot or a little for a shredder – this one offers just the right balance of size, being capable of shredding six sheets at once and offering a 15l capture bin, and affordability. It’ll do the job.

■ Cost: £39.99 from robertdyas.co.uk