Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Digital Disorganization

Imagine how much sensitive  information we store on our digital devices, servers, clouds and online accounts.  Yet most people do not organize, secure or maintain this information on a regular basis. Here are a few of my favorite tips to help you make life "online" less chaotic and keep your sensitive information safe, yet accessible when you need it most.

  1. Try replacing your 'My Documents' folder with a more personalized filing system.  Files stored on your digital devices should be organized in the same way your physical files are. If you don't have a specific filing system, you can see my suggestions on how to organize your files in your home office to get you started.   Set a reminder on your calendar to back these files up at least once a month.    
    1. If you use more than one computer, utilize a hard drive or cloud service to store all of your documents.  That way you always have access to the file you need without having to copy files from one device to another.  Microsoft, Google and Apple, to name a few, all offer cloud service with ample storage.  You should still be backing up your files frequently.
  2. Your email folders should also be organized in the same way as your physical filing cabinets. To get started, I would make an email folder/subfolder for each file/subfile I have in my filing cabinet. You might need an additional folder eventually, but this is a great way to have some folders available to start archiving your emails.  Here are a couple of other tips for keeping your inbox tidy going forward.
    1.  When you are composing emails, make descriptive subject lines that will make it much easier for you and your recipients to locate and respond to important email threads.
    2.  Unsubscribe . Tired of seeing those promotional emails from the websites and stores you have visited. Scroll to the bottom and unsubscribe. Marketing material can clutter your inbox in no time, making it more difficult to scan your inbox for important information.
    3. Try to  file away any email(s) that don't require any additional action as soon as you know it is completed.  
  3.  Keep ALL of your passwords safely together (except maybe your banking or social security information) and then make sure you have a backups stored somewhere. Also organize your list(s) so you aren't looking through hundreds of lines of information searching for the site you are hoping to log onto.  I like to organize passwords into categories, based on how I use the website. While there are apps that you can use to organize your passwords, you would probably be better off just creating a spreadsheet with either a table that can be filtered by category or use different tabs for different categories.  My categories look like this.  
    1. Online profiles or social networks- These should be grouped together and logged into frequently to ensure your online reputation has not been compromised. Also this will prevent old, stale unused websites from coming back to haunt you someday. For example, you get married and forget you have an old online dating profile still up that your significant others best friend stumbles upon. (I give some additional tips later in this post for ways to clean up your online reputation)
    2. Bill paying websites- This makes the bill paying process a little less painful.
    3. Shopping sites-  Anytime I purchase something in an online environment I make a profile, and put the user name and password along with any type of rewards numbers in this category. Anytime money exchanges hands online I put that website here. 
    4. Email Accounts- I have several email accounts due to my businesses and personal life, also I have a junk email account that I use to sign up for things as well. 
    5. Entertainment-This is my movie, television, gaming sites. 
    6. Employment-Not only would I keep current employer websites that I access here but also my job hunting, resume building websites as well. Anything related to getting or being employed. 
    7. Health-Anything related to my health I store here.  For example, information and passwords for my health insurance provider, my online diet programs and workout subscriptions.  
    8. Random-I would continue making categories until you are left with just a bunch of random websites with random purposes. Then stick those in their own category in alphabetical order. 
  4.  Delete old status updates, photos/videos and posts on social profiles.  Some things don't deserve to live forever online. It is fine if you want to commemorate a wedding or birth of a child, but that tweet detailing your dinner 7 months ago.....maybe think about getting rid of it.   Once every 6 months, or more depending upon how often you update your social networks....scan through your older posts and see if you can part with any of them.  These sites, many of us, will likely keep for a very long time and they should reflect the person we are today, not the person we were 3 years ago.  
  5. Check your privacy settings for social networks often.  I would suggest doing this at the same time you look for outdated posts to remove.  These settings can be changed, without notice when new policies are rolled out by the service providers. 
  6. Type your name into some search engines once a year.  Many sites, will collect personal information such as your phone number, address, social networks, employer information and so much more.  If you find a site like this, listing your information and you want to have it removed, there is usually an option to "opt out."  It may not always be easy to find, but if you search the name of the site and "opt out" it will often take you to the page that details the process.  If that does not work, you should contact the site and ask for instructions.  
As technology advances, we will be using these tools more and more so it is important to keep this part of your life as uncluttered and organized as possible.  People you meet out in the world aren't likely to sneak into your house and riffle through your 'dirty laundry,' but it is very, very likely they will look for your Facebook page, or your blog or some sort of online breadcrumb trail that could ultimately lead them to information you might not have opted to share.  So keep those digital files, passwords, emails and online profiles organized, backed up and secure! 




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