digitize your belongings

somewhere in your house there's a folder — maybe a shoebox, maybe a drawer — stuffed with documents you hope you never need but know you will. insurance papers, tax returns, medical records, that lease you signed four years ago. good luck finding any of it when it actually matters.

the paper problem

physical documents are fragile, disorganized, and vulnerable to basically everything. fire, flood, coffee spills, moving to a new apartment and "temporarily" putting everything in a box you'll never open again. if your house burned down tomorrow, how many critical documents could you replace? and how long would that take?

meanwhile, every photo you've taken since 2015 is automatically backed up to the cloud. but your birth certificate? good luck.

the afternoon that saves you years of headaches

here's what to digitize, in order of importance:

1. legal documents: birth certificate, passport, social security card, will
2. financial records: tax returns, bank statements, investment accounts
3. medical records: insurance cards, vaccination records, prescriptions, doctor contacts
4. property documents: lease agreements, mortgage papers, vehicle titles
5. personal records: important letters, certificates, warranties

use your phone camera or a scanner app. organize them into clearly labeled folders. upload to google drive, dropbox, icloud — whatever you already use. then set up a secure backup.

the hidden benefit

digitizing forces you to confront what you actually have. you'll find expired warranties you can toss, policies you forgot about, and documents you've been stressing about that turn out to be useless. it's decluttering for your administrative life.

do it this weekend

block two hours on saturday. put on a podcast, grab all your important papers, and start scanning. future you — the one dealing with an insurance claim or a tax audit — will be deeply grateful.

if this resonated, share it with someone who needs to hear it.