Three productivity hacks for creative people

Confession: I can't stand paperwork, physical letters, bills, invoices and such.

And so... over the years... I've implemented a few systems that have simplified life, and decreasing the paperwork-related hassle by probably .... 99%.

It's helped kept me sane and saved my skin a few times, and they might just help you too.

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1️⃣ I have a virtual address (two, actually).

I live in the U.S. but am a Swedish citizen. This is an administrative nightmare. If you travel lots for work, you'll love this!

Two years ago, I set up a virtual address in the U.S. and Sweden. Total game changer.

When a letter shows up, they open it, scan it, and ping me an email. I can access it all from a simple web page where I can search and find anything.

Both spots are located a quick 10-minute trip from where I live, just in case I need to pick up something crucial.

They can also Fedex stuff across town or the world. Never happened though.

Total cost? $45 a month for both locations. It's a business expense. Another cool thing is that I don't ever need to change my address or mess around with mail forwarding when/if we move. There's also a privacy element for those that value such (I don't ever have to give my "real" address to anyone).

I can skip town for a month over summer and won't miss a thing. Never a late fee or missed bill... and can pull up old bills for tax deductions and other admin work in... seconds. I.e. it actually makes me money. Ok, next up...

2️⃣ There's no paperwork in our house

Because of the previous setup, there's very little paperwork in our house. But... If we ever get a physical bill or the kids bring home paperwork from school... I scan it and immediately throw it away. Everything goes into a folder on iCloud and I can get at it from any device. It's so simple to use that even my 3-year old can scan a letter (and he... loves it).

And... finally:

3️⃣ I have a virtual assistant

I've had a North America-based virtual assistant (or "VA") for two years. I get lots of questions about this so feel free to ask if there's anything you want to know!

(Will write a separate post about this, but for now I'll focus on the paperwork/admin aspect.)

They work East Coast hours and go through my inbox at set times each day (around 9am, 3pm, and 6pm). This way, I'm not swamped with emails or messages. By the time I wake up... my inbox is typically empty.

It might not seem like a lot of work to check your email a few times per day, but the task switching is very taxing for me. And... 80% of emails are just distractions.

I have a really simple system:

If an email doesn't need any action from me or my VA, it gets archived. I never see it. If an email require an action and VA can handle the task... they'll reply, pay bills, handle expenses, forward it, etc.

If it needs something from me, it gets starred. Each week, I hit up my starred inbox and work my way through as many tasks as I can. If I find myself doing the same thing a couple of times, I write up a template and pass it off to my VA.

And since EVERYTHING is digitalized (physical mail and paperwork at home), I can delegate that stuff... too.

Could you see yourself implementing any of these in your personal life / business? Got any advice for me or others on how to reduce admin and paperwork– or improve productivity?

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