We all do it. We’re working on a document, an image, or a video, and because it’s easy, we save that file on our desktop, or in our documents folder. We’ll get back to it later and we need to know we can easily find it.
But is that the best place to save that file? Is your desktop being backed up? Is your documents folder being backed up? And what would happen if your computer crashed and your desktop, or your documents, or wherever it is that you saved that file isn’t available or being backed up?
What would happen if you lost everything on your computer today?
Let’s look at some irreplaceable things that probably live on your computer right now.
Documents
A document can be any number of things: an actual Word document, a PDF, log files, or just about anything else with text and/or images in it. Whether we know it or not, documents play a large role in most people’s day to day work life. We sink countless hours into drafting, revising, collaborating on, and publishing documents. If we lost all of our documents, we wouldn’t just lose data, we’d lose hours of effort, too.
Photos
Oftentimes we manipulate images to drop into documents or web pages but where’s the original? Is it on your computer? If so, is it in a folder that’s being backed up? Does the original photo or image live in more than one place?
Videos
Videos can be large and take up a lot of space, especially if one of your duties is to edit and publish videos. If editing videos is part of your work life, before you know it, you’ll have gigs and gigs of videos just lying around. What would happen if you lost all of that work?
Downloads
We load this folder with tons of important files without even thinking about it. Another way this folder is more important than we realize is that, sometimes, we have to do lots of research to find that one file we really need. Recreating that research to find that file again could require hours or even days of work.
Project Files
This could be just about anything: Word docs, images, photos, videos, music, spreadsheets… you name it and it’s likely part of a bigger project you’ve been working on. What if it were all gone tomorrow? Could you recreate that work in a timely fashion? Did your project require collaborating with others who might not be available to help you get your project recreated in time?
Protect Your Stuff
There’s lots of ways to protect your stuff but one of the best things you can do is to have backups. Backups, plural. Backing up to a single thumb drive is almost more dangerous than not having a backup at all.
Employing industry standards and best practices regarding how you work is just as important. Productivity training can go a long way toward ensuring your data and effort are protected.
We want to help you protect your work
Ready to make sure your hard work is protected properly? Fill out the form below and someone from EAS will be in touch with you to talk about how to protect your time and effort.
