Most people generally believe that it takes 21 days for a behavior to become a habit which is why – right about now – I’m thinking many of the people who made New Year’s resolutions for 2019 are starting to believe they should just give up. I’m also thinking the timing is right for me to suggest my list of resolutions for 2019 because it will no longer seem quite as stressful as it would have on the 1st.
After all, what can be more stressful than three weeks of trying to cut back on coffee, giving up sweets or using an app to track your workouts or time management skills?
My resolutions are meant for administrators and individuals, from the C-suite to the consumer who thought it would be interesting to start a blog. There is a security focus, of course, and the resolutions are practical. I can’t promise they will be easy to master or implement, but thankfully, they may help your budget, reduce your stress level, and maybe even make 2020 look a little more appealing.
- If you don’t need it, delete it. Spring is around the corner…well, at least that’s what I’m telling myself while the temperature outside is in the double digits, below zero…and I’m thinking about the snow I’m going to have to clear away from my driveway. You don’t need to wait until spring to begin building good data retention habits. Identify your data retention needs and compliance requirements and then decide what can stay or go. Then, every time you touch an email or document, think about whether you need to keep it. Deleting the data you don’t need to keep will help you maintain free space on your hard drive(s) and save you money, especially if you are paying for offsite storage.
- Sign up for offsite backups. Natural disasters happen and hard drives fail. I’m not trying to scare you – well, maybe a little bit if it means you take action – but the fact of the matter is that the old adage that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is absolutely true when it comes to safeguarding data. If you don’t have an offsite backup, this year should be the year that you review your options, select a vendor if necessary and backup up your company and personal data offsite. Be sure to keep in mind that the type of data and any compliance considerations should dictate the type of backup that is required. Does the data need to be encrypted? Does you backup service provider need to be HIPAA-compliant?
- Secure your website or blog. I can remember when Google announced it would be penalizing websites that lacked SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates. There was a great debate. Would it affect browsing? Would it hurt bloggers and mom-and-pop businesses? Should businesses spend the money to make their information-only sites more secure? SSL certificates, though, are only part of the security equation. Websites are, generally speaking, vulnerable and require regular maintenance. This year, test your website. Scan it for vulnerabilities and fix them. If your blog uses WordPress, regularly update WordPress and any plugins. If you don’t have time, hire someone. Your reputation, especially if you collect consumer data or process credit card transactions, will thank you.
- Reduce digital overload. If you’re like me, you have a love-hate relationship with notifications, whether they are on your smartphone or your PC. They are incredibly handy when you are waiting for an important email to arrive in your Inbox, but they are annoying (and more) when you are trying to concentrate. Similarly, rewards programs are great when you receive a coupon you can use to save some money, but are merely email clutter when you receive them several times in one day from an online store where you once – several years ago – placed an order. Notifications, spam and social media are stressing us out. Reclaim your sanity; reduce digital overload. How can you do this? Resolve to unplug one day a week for a period of time or the whole day. Unsubscribe, especially if you receive communications that you simply don’t read or are no longer relevant. Turn off notifications on your smartphone so they aren’t the 2019 version of Pavolv’s bell.
- Develop your plan for replacing or upgrading equipment that uses Windows 7. Yes, that’s right, Windows 7 is going EOL (end of life) in 2020. Now is the time to test software to make sure that it will work with new hardware and software, or budget money for its replacement. If you start now, you will be able to sleep a little better on December 31, 2019 knowing that you will be ready, because your upgrade project is a success, when January 14, 2020 rolls around and extended support is discontinued.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, research has shown that it make take as few as 18 days and as many as 254 for a develop a new habit.