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From Paper to Productivity
Do you have massive piles of assignments, notes, and other school related documents stacked
haphazardly on your desk?
Is your current system of keeping up with paperwork and deadlines ineffective or nonexistent?
If you answered yes to either of these questions, there is room for you to maximize your
potential and productivity as a student. Like most people, college students rely on technology
to help them stay connected and manage tasks in nearly every area of their lives. Additionally,
technology is often equated with efficiency.
A disorganized student can encounter a number of problems including:
Misplacement of important assignments Missed deadlines Unprofessional, disorganized appearance
Do not allow your academic career become susceptible to hindered productivity because of
hours spent searching for lost documents. There is help to overcome a paper management
crisis.
Let’s look at some common problematic scenarios…
The Project Handout
You are in the computer lab on campus to work on an important class project. There are a
number of specifications that must be addressed in the finished product. Though you thought
you placed the project sheet in your bag, mysteriously, it has disappeared. What do you do?
Call your roommate and hope that they answer so that you can try to direct them to rifle
through your desk among the other piles of paper in search of your missing assignment sheet?
Walk back across campus to your dorm to search for it yourself? Time is ticking away and both
choices lead you to the same road: a loss of time spent on task.
Test Time
Quizzes, midterms, and finals are words that can be the source of much anxiety for the average
student. If you are like many students, then test time can be the most stressful time of the
semester, if you are unorganized. Digging for lecture notes, articles, and other class handouts
can be a frantic process if you lack a systematic way to keep track of your materials. Also, think
of the loss of sleep and productivity that you may suffer as a consequence of paper
pandemonium.
General Clutter
Clutter can be a major hindrance to your daily productivity if you have to search for your
materials to either get your day started or to keep it going smoothly. Or, perhaps you have
roommates and a communal workspace that is regularly in disarray. Whatever the case may
be, disorganization is the last thing you want to deal with when facing a deadline.
Do any of these scenarios sound familiar? They no longer have to be an issue…
Your reputation as a student can be synonymous with productivity, excellence, and success!
Previous Solutions
In the past students have relied on the following tools to help structure and organize their selves for
success:
Syllabus Taking, organizing, and reviewing notes The Student Planner
More often than not professors are choosing to assign, collect, and grade work electronically. Although
the use of the syllabus, notes, and planners are still relevant (and essential) to keep up with tasks and be
an effective student, keeping up with the actual materials can prove to be a challenge. The solution for
maximum effectiveness and productivity in an increasingly digital world is the synthesis of your
information into one defined space.
Imagine the possibilities…
Your school life can become the organized, efficient, and virtually paperless dream you’ve
always envisioned. Recent advancements in technology have made it possible to not only work
with mobility, but to also thrive. There are many applications and programs that are designed
to help students be creative and productive. With so many options to choose from and with
each program designed to so something different, how does one determine which one will
most effectively help a student to stay organized to increase productivity?
Would you consider using a software or product that is versatile and
flexible to suit your academic needs?
Portable Designed with productivity in mind User friendly Offers outstanding customer support Designed for MAC &PC users Compatible with existing programs
(MS Outlook and MS Word, to name a few)
Introducing NEAT RECEIPTS… From Paper to Productivity
It’s not just for businesses…this is the theme of The Neat Company, that manufactures the
innovative system which enables the digitization and storage of your important school
documents. Neat Receipts has made it possible for students to organize themselves in a way
that maximizes their productivity by reducing time spent sifting through mountains of
paperwork.
The Neat Company Story
The Neat Company was born as a small business that sold their product from airport kiosks
across the United States. They began as a group of software programmers who recognized
firsthand the need for small business owners to simplify their life. They knew that people
needed an efficient system to maintain and organize their important documents.
Since 2002, the company has grown exponentially, and so has the scope of its usefulness in
every day life. Because they listened to their consumers in terms of product development and
functional needs, Neat Receipts became a top-selling brand and the talk of trade-shows
nationwide. The Neat Company embraces technology to help solve the organization challenges
that people face.
Portable Scanner
Versatility
The makers of Neat Receipts recognize that each person is unique and individual’s needs tend
to vary depending what their organizational challenges are. Therefore, there are several
versions of Neat products to choose from.
Neat Desk
Includes a desktop scanner & digital filing system for your PC Is ideal for people who deal with high volumes of paper Suitable for small office needs
Neat Receipts
Includes a mobile scanner and digital filing system for ease of mobility when traveling Is the consecutive best selling Neat Company product since 2002
Neat Receipts (For MAC users)
Designed by MAC users for MAC customers Includes a mobile scanner and digital filing system
Neat Works for MAC
Scanning software & digital filing system for MAC users
It’s not just for receipts….
School Syllabi Lecture Notes/Assignments Research papers Quizzes/Tests
Personal ID cards/birth certificate Medical information Financial Aid documents Track monthly spending (books, supplies, food)
Business Receipts Business cards Other important documents
Product Features
Besides its portability, Neat Receipts has a number of outstanding features:
Scanning capability for Important documents Intelligent Text Recognition can identify and input pertinent information
from scanned documents Keyword search ability on scanned documents Archiving capability to free up software space and allow faster processing
Here’s how it works:
Scanning Features
Documents Organizes and archives information to a digital filing system Equipped with text editing capabilities Searchable PDF files
Receipts Records dates, vendors, and amounts on receipts Creates expense reports to manage business expenses Accepted tax documentation for the IRS
Business cards Keeps images and contact information Exports data to Microsoft Outlook and other programs
Neat Receipts is a great time-saver.
Scans multiple documents
Keep track of assignments, financial aid paperwork, and other school
related documents.
The Future
With the advent of new technologies, the world is moving quickly towards a digitally inclined
environment. Now more than ever people look to digital sources for information consumption.
Not only is it more economical, but it is also environmentally responsible. A number of factors
have been attributed to society’s lessening reliance on the traditional paper trail:
Pressure on businesses to cut costs where they can, especially in a weak economy. Technology that will reduce paper output, erase printouts and make reading off a
screen easier. Concerns for the environment with paper manufacturers being the fourth-largest
user of fossil fuels on the planet
The rise of "digital natives," or people younger than 25. (MONTGOMERY)
Hear what others have to say about the benefits of going paperless:
Patti Bisson Says:
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:35 am
With the advent of laptops being more common place than desktops, and more
affordable, it makes perfect sense that the next step is integrated digital records.
I am personally planning to convert my personal and business records to digital
files. The convenient size and versatility of the NeatDesk and NeatWorks system
is exactly what I have been looking for.
Gregory Dracoulis Says:
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:03 pm
As a college student and a web developer, this would be GREAT for me. I have
looked into using NeatDesk integrated through its API with web services to
upload documents for some of my corporate clients looking to ease their
workflow, and I can see how this would be incredibly useful to me as a
contractor and a student to be able to scan my homework and assignments and
keep them as PDFs on my computer, scan and email contracts and leases, keep
business cards in order, and just use to file my files easily!
Featured Articles and Reviews
The Tech - MIT
June 12, 2006 Gadget Review: NeatReceipts Professional Scanner and Software
The Neat Receipt Professional Scanalizer is a software and hardware package that enables you
to un-clutter a life mired in paper. Any fellow entrepreneur, student group leader, or anal
individual that is compelled to save receipts can relate to my disposition (I know, that’s not a
word, but its the feeling of despising something) of paper receipts. Every meal, every home
improvement, every T token results in an inch by inch advance in the machine’s war on trees.
Not that this system fixes that problem, but it does provide me a quick way to organize the
paper trail into some manageable fashion, rather than a discombobulated Diaspora of disparate
documents. In short: scan, the software processes & organizes; you stick receipt in folder and
forget.
The New York Times - Circuits Holiday Buying Guide
December 7th, 2005
"The NeatReceipts Scanalizer is a scanner that eliminates the clutter in the kitchen junk drawer
by allowing you to store restaurant menus, lunch receipts, plumbers' business cards and other
small documents in your computer. Resembling a small desktop printer, it is simplicity itself:
slide your document in one end, and the machine reads it and spits it out. The documents can
be converted into almost any format and exported into any word-processing program for PC's.
The scanner is also helpful come tax time."
A word about environmental accountability…
The Neat Company not only makes products to reduce overall accumulation of paper in your
everyday life, but it also strives to practice good environmental habits in their daily operation.
A few notable company practices…
In-office recycling of paper and cardboard products Refurbished versions of Scanners are available for purchase Packaging materials are 100% recyclable and made from post consumer content
Final Words
Say goodbye to the burden of finding the proverbial needle in the haystack hidden under mile
high stacks of paper. Work smarter, not harder in school by making your papers work for you
instead of working to find your important papers. Imagine the possibilities of what you can do
with all of the extra time you will save yourself with easy access to your important school
information. “Get an ‘A’ for Organization!”
With Neat Receipts at your desk you CAN conquer the paper monster!
Works Cited
The Neat Company. The Neat Company. 2008. 13 February 2010 <http://www.neatco.com/our-
company/newsroom>.
MONTGOMERY, RICK. "Printout passion has started to fade; Digital Age finally rips into paper use." 23
December 2009. Lexis Nexis. 15 February 2010 <http://0-
www.lexisnexis.com.library.scad.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb
=21_T8577641609&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T8577641612&
cisb=22_T8577641611&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=8355&docNo=6>.
About the Author
Talia Witherspoon is a Freelance writer and MFA student at Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta.