How are you a anywhere even close to done after scanning? Even if you bypass directories and proper file names in favor of metadata and searching, inputting all that meta data is a *huge* job, no matter how quick and efficient you make it.
I tried to go paperless for a while, but the scanning and meta data were just too much, and the benefits too little. For the rare occassion I actually need to look up something that requires 'searching', it's less effort overall to just use paper. I've actually gone so far as to change all my bills and whatnot back to paper, because the filing and processing is just so much easier.
Compare paper bills to paperless:
Paper:
- open envelope
- pay bill on bank website
- stuff bill in obvious folder in filing cabinet
The whole process takes maybe one minute being slow, and scales well with multiple bills at a time. The filing is easy and logical (year - category), and relatively simple for common lookups (for example getting all the electricity bills for last year is trivial, taking maybe 30 seconds). There is only one website to deal with, so it keeps problems to a minimum.
Paperless:
- open email informing of bill
- figure out which websites I need to open
- hope all websites are accessible, working, and havent changed so that my auto-fill stops working
- figure out how to lookup how much I owe
- pay bill on bank website
- download copy of bill
- edit meta data, file name, place in correct folder
Inevitably when dealing with so many (quirky) websites, some are inaccessible, broken, or have changed enough that the auto-fill stops working. My electricity company changed the way they do logins drastically enough to require calling them (30 minutes - mostly on hold)... 3 times in one year! And it's not like I can use a different electricity company...
Just changing the file name of the bill after downloading takes as much time as the entire filing process with a paper bill. Editing the meta data is prone to error and annoying (oops I must have forgotten one of the 20 necessary tags on that bill), and without proper meta data you lose basically 50% of the benefits of paperless (searching and space).
The whole process is annoying if it goes smoothly, and time consuming and frustrating if it goes badly - and its a tossup and out of my control whether it will go smoothly or not.
Anyways, my main point was that it's not as simple as scanning a piece of paper - which, if we're being honest and realistic, is harder than filing said paper. And really the benefits are minimal for the average person.