Backing Up Your Trusted System

I'm finding that most people never think twice about backing up the things they write in a notebook. They feel secure in the fact you can't break a notebook. This gives them a false sense of security. You can just as easily lose your analog trusted system as you can a digital one.

I spent some time last night and today searching for someone who had a backup problem with their trusted GTD system. There's plenty of hack information available, but I tried just about every possible method I could think of to find something someone may have written or suggested. I just couldn't find anything. So I decided to create a list of things I do (or should have been doing) to back up my notebooks and other documents.

• If you are carrying your trusted system with you on a trip, store the notebooks in a plastic baggy of some kind with n airtight seal.


• During your weekly review make sure you are transferring important information to a backup notebook (which stays in your home or office) or an electronic device like a computer or PDA.


• Take a digital photograph of each page in your notebook. You can store these pictures on your computer, your PDA or online with a service like Flickr.


• Scan each page of your notebook. This has the same affect as taking a snapshot only you probably get a cleaner image.


• Put a trusted system backup on your schedule. Typically you schedule a backup of your computer, make sure you add a trusted system back up too.

These are just some options you can take to prevent complete data loss if your trusted system disappears.

What are your suggestions for backing up your trusted system?

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My Moleskine Crashed Hard

Have you ever discovered something so horrific that you nearly threw up on the spot? That happened to me today. Every once in a while I take public transit to my office away from home. Today was one of those days. I hastily put everything in my backpack and ran out the door to catch the bus. Somewhere between my office door and the bus, all of the Moleskine's I was using were gone. I must have forgotten to zip up the pocket they were in. All of my notes. All of my design drawings. Some personal information. Receipts. Names. Numbers. All gone.

This is the risk of a paper based lifestream. I have a PDA, a T-Mobile MDA, but I only use it to make phone calls, store documents, email, Twitter, and keep my lists. I never kept lists in my Moleskine. Typically I scan the notebooks for relevant tasks, notes and list additions, and type them into a note file I keep on my PDA. I felt good about it. I had a digital copy of some notes and lists and everything else just stayed in the book.

Remember the IT guy always telling you to backup? Well, it had been months since I'd backed up my Moleskine. There is no recovering months of work. There are things in those books I can't remember, and I planned it that way. My poor execution in backing up my trusted system came back to bite me in the ass.

So now the question; do I go out and buy new Moleskine's or do I abandon this type of collection system all together? At the moment I'm just sick and pissed all at the same time. I went back later to trace my steps and no luck finding them. Hopefully someone will find my business cards in the back and call me, but nothing yet. My instinct is to go get the books and quit whining, get over it, move on. So I'll wait until tomorrow. Maybe I will have a clear head and make the right decision.

Cammeron Reilly pointed me to a blog post of his when he first made the leap to a paper lifestream, and the concern he had about losing it. I never really had that problem. Maybe naively I assumed nothing would ever happen because I was always careful. But this one day when I rushed instead of took my time, really messed me up. I guess now I have a reason to write more blog posts on the subject.

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Great Links From The Past Week

Here are some great links I came across from the previous week:

• Russell Beattie writes eBooks need more contrast to take off


• Chris Brogan says Passion Drives Personal Brand


• Pam at Escape from Cubical Nation asks Do you have to have an interesting life to use Twitter?


• 52 Novels asks Could something like TechStars work for novelists? (I am so on board with this idea)


• Mark Cuban writes Do Blog Comments Have Value?


• Zen Habits writes Obsessive- Compulsive’s Guide: Top 12 Organizing Tips, Plus Resources

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Surround Yourself With Winners

A good friend sends out a weekly email about improving sales skills. One of the reasons I like reading his advise are the questions he asks at the end. Most of the time they are interpersonal questions. But today, her wrote this:

Educating the world is not your job. Go find some smart people and do some business with them.

Several years ago a mentor told me this "If you want to be making a million dollars a year, why aren't you surrounding yourself with people who are?" The point I think he was trying to make, and the one my friend is trying to make, is surround yourself with smart people who are winners. We learn from example. That is how we learned to talk, to walk, eat, pretty much everything we do we learned from watching someone first.

Take inventory of where you are. Who you are associating with. Are these people helping you reach your goals? Can they? Are you helping those around you reach their goals? Can you?

My suggestion is to have a well rounded set of friends and associates. Make sure everyone is positive and supportive. Those who aren't need to be removed from your life. If you aren't positive or supportive, change your attitude, change your friends, change your path.
Describe the kind of person who makes your life better.

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Props To My Peeps

This weeks prop goes out to my Sister-In-Law, who held Thanksgiving dinner at her house. I know the amount of work that goes into putting on a production like this. Everyone had a great time.

Past props.

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