Learning to manage your own personal documents and records
We are living in a digital era that has brought many benefits but also created many problems. Personal documents, such as medical records and tax documents, have become digitalized and are now stored electronically meaning they can’t be touched or read by anyone outside of your own personal network. This makes it harder to manage these documents when there is a sudden change at work such as a new boss or relocation. The last thing you want is for your personal information to get lost during this time period, right?
This post will go over some tips on how you can start managing your own personal documentation and records in case you find yourself relocating or need help figuring out what to do with it all.
Start by setting up a dedicated email account for all your personal documents and records. Even if you are working under the same email address, it’s normal for a new boss to set up their own email account with their own name. This can lead to confusion if you try to access your previous boss’s emails in the future. It might also be beneficial, however, to use the same domain for multiple emails so that you don’t have to remember another email address that could get out of hand if you end up moving.
When creating a new dedicated email account, make sure that it isn’t shared with any other personal accounts. This could come in handy with a temporary email account that you’ll use when you start a new job or if you plan on changing your company email address. You might also want to blacklist the account so that it can’t accidentally be shared with someone else if they need to reset it.
Try to use different passwords across multiple accounts. If you did have to set up a separate email for each document, then use different passwords for each one so there is no chance for someone else to access in the future if you end up relocating.
When creating your documents, use different passwords. This is especially helpful when you need to reset your password remotely so the documents don’t get mixed up with someone else’s emails.
Consider setting up two-factor authentication on your email account. This would require you to have an app on your smartphone to approve logins from unknown contacts or devices. The app will display a list of verification codes that can be used to approve login requests from various sources, but they can only be entered once per device and are dependent on a time frame.
Create a shared folder of documents in case you need to use them again in the future. You can then make this folder available to anyone on your team from inside your company intranet or cloud storage.
Try to keep all of your encrypted and password protected documents in one place. This would be on a separate hard drive that physically resides off-site. You should also store all of these files on different devices, such as a laptop, tablet, or phone that is not used for work related tasks outside of work hours. This way you will be sure not to accidentally bring these files home with you from work after hours and end up losing them.
Consider making a cloud storage account that can be accessed from home. This way you can access all of your files if you have to travel for business or take a business trip rather than pack up your whole laptop.
Schedule time to go over each file. Make sure you have the time to go through each document and make sure that it is still relevant today and in the future. This will also make it easier when you need to figure out where each one is so that new coworkers or employees don’t have to hunt for them in the future. This will also help before switching employers or relocating by knowing what documents still need modification and which ones are no longer relevant in your life.
Consider getting reminders for new documents. Use a program like Google Calendar to automatically send a reminder when you need to create something new or use this as an opportunity to go back and read through everything you’ve done so far. Not only does this help keep your files organized, it also makes sure that you don’t fall off the ball and forget about an important document that needs your attention.
Check your work email address before leaving work each day. Make sure you check this email account after work hours unless it will lead to distractions during your time away from work. This way you won’t accidentally leave any documents on your desk if there is anything confidential that still needs to be worked on.
Try to use the same pen and paper to take notes on your documents. When you return home, it is easy to keep the documents in your office or personal office, but when you start working somewhere new or are away a lot it might be useful to use the pen and paper that you used at work so you can easily access something once you are there.
Make sure all of your devices have different passwords set up for them. This could help if someone accidentally deletes their device and they can’t get into it without knowing the password again because they already changed the password multiple times when setting up a new device or installing software.
Use a password manager to keep track of your passwords across devices. If you are using different passwords for everything, then it is easy for someone to accidentally delete one of them and no longer have access to your documents. Password managers will automatically store the last 200 passwords that you enter so that you can easily log into anything in the future. You can also install apps onto each device that are password manager compatible so that you don’t need to worry about putting a password directly into a document or email.
Before taking off on a trip, make sure you check and update all of your accounts with the information that is necessary for accessing them when you return home. This will help you avoid any unnecessary stress if you do end up having to work on a project or email while away from home.
Make sure you check your documents before leaving for a remote location. You might find that there is a password in your document or file name that would make it impossible to access the file when you are in the middle of nowhere and even if you have access to wifi. If this does happen, remember to make note of which file was affected so that you can change it later.
Make sure that all of your passwords aren’t too easy to guess by others. This will help if you need to change it in the future.
Use a VPN on your laptop or smartphone when working remotely. This will allow you to keep your information safe and secure while working without worrying about someone intercepting it or someone on your network being able to see what you are doing.
Take time to really go over the files that are new and make sure they are still relevant in today’s world. Something might not feel as important if you don’t have the need for a review of its contents now, but in a few months this could change completely.
Conclusion
Keeping track of files can seem like a lot of work, but it can make things easier on you in the long run if you follow some of these tips. If you are using cloud storage, then make sure each file is backed up multiple times just in case. When doing this, also make sure that you are keeping documents on different devices or one device with multiple accounts set up so that your data is more secure. Also keep the password to all of these files protected and don’t forget about them! This will help ensure that your information will remain secure and undisturbed while giving you access to it whenever you need it.