What is Hazel?
Hazel is a small utility whose power lies in its ability to monitor folders and take action when specific events occur in relation to those folders. Among other things I use it to automatically deal with regular incoming documents, keep my folders tidy and automate regular tasks on my Mac.
Some Simple Uses
I use Hazel for a number of housekeeping matters. I have it set up so that it will automatically delete .dmg (disk image) files one week after they have been downloaded. By that time I’ve almost certainly got no remaining use for them. It also deletes other files that go to my downloads folder that I no longer need, e.g. calendar invite files. I also have Hazel set up to clear my trash once every week.
Recording Expense When You’re On The Road
When I’m out on the road and incur a reimbursable expense such as an entertainment or traveling cost. I could just put the receipt in my pocket and of course risk losing it! Instead, I scan the receipt to my phone and it uploads to my Dropbox account. Once it hits my Dropbox account it is automatically filed to the relevant folder in my accounts recording system. All this happens without any further input from me. It avoids receipts being lost before they are filed or receipts being filed in the wrong place. I could even automate the system to send it to my accountant, but then I am the accountant, so I don’t need to!!
If I make an online purchase it’s simple to automate the filing of the confirmation email which comes through from the vendor.
Dealing With Regular Incoming Documents
Every month I get a letter from one of my pension providers. I know – they still send me a hard copy, but it’s the same if it were to come by email. I put the letter into my scanner and open my scanner app of choice. In my case it’s Image Capture, but it could be any other scanner app.
The scanned document is automatically processed by PDFPenPro. This creates an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) copy, renames it and puts it into my Downloads folder.
Hazel is constantly monitoring my Downloads folder. It sees this new document and identifies that it’s from the pension company, and moves it to the Pension folder on my iMac.
Automate Your Filing
The bane of my office life has been trying to find a mis-filed document. You know the story – it’s a crucial document and everything, apart from that one document, is where it should be. It’s infuriating. No longer!! If you don’t have a document management system (DMS), inexpensive Mac automation tools such as Hazel are the answer. Use it to accurately automate the filing of documents/letters etc and save huge amounts of time and effort searching for mis-filed documents.
Hazel has got multiple uses. There are so many different use-cases that it’s impossible to list them all here. However, I’m certain your business could make use of it.
