In life we should expect the best, but prepare for the worse.  In today's wired as well as our unplugged world, we have some important things we should have backed up, just in case.  A key success factor for productivity is also to prevent the time consuming activities by preparing ourselves and our lives.  Below are some tips on some things I recommend to have a backup of.  Make your own list and spend a little time to backup on occasion and add to the list according to your life.

MEMORIES

The last time I took a photo with film has been about 10 years and now everyone I know uses a digital camera and camcorder to record the precious memories of our lives.  We have photos scattered in different locations, housed on our hard drive, and some on disks.  Captured memories only comes once and if you have the precious memories you want to keep and share for generations to come, be sure to have backups in case a laptop get stolen, disks get broken or accidentally get thrown out.  I keep my digital memories as well as my photos scanned and organized at my house as well as a backup with one of my family members house.  This way, if a natural disaster occurs, then I have a backup located in a remote location that I can retrieve.

BLOGS/WEBSITES

If you created a website or blog and spent countless hours adding content and design, be sure to make a backup.  If you rely solely on your host service to provide a backup, if things get lost, you could possibly lose years of work.  Play it safe on this and seek out ways to have a backup of your work.

WALLET/PURSE

Can you give me the numbers and accounts for each item in your wallet or purse?  Lets say you accidentally lose your wallet, panic will set in and you scramble to find each contact information and accounts that you think are in your wallet and purse.  Save yourself some time and make a file with photocopies of each item in your purse or wallet, front and back so that in case you do lose something, you know for sure which accounts to close and the numbers associated with each.

IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS

This should be a no brainer, but believe it or not, many people only have one copy of their important documents.  Invest some time to scan the documents and keep them stored in a remote location, accessible when needed.

CAREER DOCUMENTATION

You worked hard and gained recognition for your work, be sure to scan and backup your "brag book" and documents for possible use when you are going for a raise or for a new job.

WHAT YOU OWN

Pull out that digital camera of yours and take pictures of everything you own.  If you own a house and have house insurance, the best way to get covered for what you lost is by making the time to document and backup what you have. Remember to keep a backup at a remote location as well, just in case a backup at your house is damaged.

If you take some time to make backups of your life, when the worst happens, you will be prepared and get back on your feet much quicker if you have them still accessible.  Be prepared for the worst but expect the best.