Some additions: I found that black-and-white scans at 300 dpi work for almost all documents, resulting in a small file size and decent readability. Occasionally I switch to gray and 200 dpi and rarely to color. After looking up how long the originals of different types of documents need to be kept for legal reasons, I settled simply for the maximum time (6 years in my case) and file documents in a binder, sorted by the year in which I can discard them. Then, at the beginning of each year, I can get rid off one section of the documents which are older than 6 years. There is a second binder for active contracts (insurance etc). As soon as one of them ends, it goes into the first binder. I‘ve started organizing my Downloads folder in a similar way - sorting stuff by when I think I can delete it (either because it‘s not relevant any more or because I simply never touched it), typically a few months in the future. Both systems have helped to keep the clutter low and.