Drowning in Paperwork...

Are you drowning? While my work office is streamlined, efficient and paper-light, my home office is overflowing! I'm ready to get a handle on it once and for all! My husband has a home based business, while I have a fabulous office in a cute little builidng in Modesto, CA. He purchased a business printer for home office business use, and I have one for my office. 

Guess what? His is a pain in the tush! Seriously! My printer at my office was easy to set up so I could easily put papers in and have them "scan to email" or easily "scan to computer." That means if I had that printer at home, I could put in a stack of all of this paper nonsense, and it would scan the stack front and back, and put it in a secure file on my computer. I, of course, would have that file uploaded to myofficedrop for secure offsite, searchable storage and presto- no more stacks of paperwork! 

In addition, I'd be able to simply type in keywords when looking for a document later like "Valley Oak" to search for doctor's bills, or mortgage to pull up mortgage interest paid. 

However, for the moment, I am stuck fighting with this silly printer, and staring at a box of papers that need to be scanned... 

Anybody else get bamboozled when purchasing a printer? Thinking it was something simple and easy and find that it just doesn't work as advertised? Here are my top tips to purchasing a fabulous piece of hardware whether it be a printer, a smart phone, or a tablet computer:  

1. Think about what you will really use it for.

2. Make a list of the things you hate, and ask around- is there a technology solution for it that you may not even know about it?

3. Talk to people who own one, check out amazon reviews (especially the 1 star reviews), but don't spend TOO much time doing that! (it can become a time suck and a stressor all in itself)

4. Touch whenever possible! Go to a friend's office and touch their technology, go to the store and play, or ask your child, niece, or grandchild to show you how to do it ;0)

5. Focus on what YOU need!

Here is what I need in a printer: 

1. Wireless (I want as few cords as possible). This means I can print the printer from anywhere in the house, and all my printer really needs to plug into is a wall plug and be in a place where it can "see" the wireless.

2. Airprinting- I'm planning on upgrading to a tablet in the next year and I already have a smartphone Airprinting will allow me to print to my home printer while in a coffee shop, at my office, or in an airport.

3. Easy connectivity to email and to scanning to a file on my computer. Scanning to email makes it easy for me to scan a document to email to my bookkeeper, a client, etc.

4. Duplex scanning. I don't want to be flipping pieces of paper over! I want to set it and forget it!

5. A touchscreen that is easy to see and read when I am choosing my printing options.

What about you? What are your needs for the perfect printer?