Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is not to press your luck when it
Speaker 1: comes to technology. Don't wait for things to fail before
Speaker 1: repairing or replacing them, and make sure that if something
Speaker 1: were to fail, you've got a backup plan in place
Speaker 1: so you can keep moving forward. Long time listeners know
Speaker 1: that I am a pretty frugal person. I finally threw
Speaker 1: away some socks that had holes in them. My car
Speaker 1: is older than three of my kids. I put water
Speaker 1: into the soap dispensers to use up the last little bit.
Speaker 1: I want my stuff to last, and I like to
Speaker 1: use stuff as long as I can. This is good
Speaker 1: for the pocketbook, good for the environment, and well satisfying
Speaker 1: to avoid waste. So I'm always tempted to just keep
Speaker 1: using my work equipment as long as I can. And
Speaker 1: in general, I have been able to keep using my
Speaker 1: laptops for many years, but I have had some close
Speaker 1: calls and I have begun to suspect that my current
Speaker 1: laptop might be entering the twilight phase of its useful life.
Speaker 1: So I am reminding myself that it is important to
Speaker 1: prepare for and budget for this possibility. That's because having
Speaker 1: holes in your socks is one thing, but having an
Speaker 1: important work tool fail is something completely different. I use
Speaker 1: my laptop every day to do my job, to write,
Speaker 1: to record podcasts like this one, to get virtual speaking engagements.
Speaker 1: If my laptop fails, I'm not working. If I do
Speaker 1: the math, I can figure out that I don't need
Speaker 1: to miss much work. Before it would have been pennywise
Speaker 1: and pound foolish not to figure something else out. Waiting
Speaker 1: for failure is not a wise choice. Of course. That
Speaker 1: doesn't mean you have to immediately go out and buy
Speaker 1: a new laptop or a new phone at the first
Speaker 1: hint of a problem, but it does mean you should
Speaker 1: figure out ways to keep offering your services reliably whatever
Speaker 1: does happen, and to make sure that you don't tempt
Speaker 1: fate by saying, hey, the computer usually does come back
Speaker 1: on after I restarted a few times, so it's all good.
Speaker 1: Right for starters, be sure you can depend on your
Speaker 1: system for backing up your files. If your computer fails unexpectedly,
Speaker 1: at least you'll still have your data. You can replace technology,
Speaker 1: but your data might be irreplaceable. Once you know your
Speaker 1: information is safe. Think through what equipment you need to
Speaker 1: do your job. Your specific needs may vary, but for
Speaker 1: most of us, the computer is the most essential tool.
Speaker 1: If you are self employed and work primarily on your laptop,
Speaker 1: consider what you would do if it were out of
Speaker 1: commission for a half day or a week, Or what
Speaker 1: if it took several weeks for a new computer or
Speaker 1: computer part to be delivered. I mean, you might be
Speaker 1: able to just go to the Apple store and get
Speaker 1: a new one, but maybe not. So what else have
Speaker 1: you got? In my case, when I did have a
Speaker 1: week long repair in the summer of twenty nineteen, I
Speaker 1: used my family's desktop, the one the kids used for gaming,
Speaker 1: to keep writing and sending those word files to people.
Speaker 1: It was definitely not my favorite option, but it worked.
Speaker 1: We also have an iPad that the kids have as
Speaker 1: a backup for virtual learning. I could use that for
Speaker 1: speaking or zoom calls in general. How about you. Do
Speaker 1: you have an old computer you could use? Could you
Speaker 1: borrow a family member's computer? Could you use a tablet
Speaker 1: for some functions? If so, maybe try a test run
Speaker 1: sometime to make sure you're good. Figure out how you'd
Speaker 1: get all your files if your laptop automatically remembers all
Speaker 1: your passwords, and you've forgotten them and don't have them anywhere, Well,
Speaker 1: maybe figure out some way you can access at least
Speaker 1: the major stuff. You can also plan ahead when it
Speaker 1: comes to device life cycle and cost. Figure out how
Speaker 1: long the devices you rely on typically last. For instance,
Speaker 1: I just googled how long does a MacBook Pro last?
Speaker 1: And I learned that seven years is a reasonable expectation.
Speaker 1: I'm just at five now, but that's closer to seven
Speaker 1: than say, two years. If you see that you are
Speaker 1: starting to get close, you can start setting aside money
Speaker 1: now for a replacement, and, just like you would with
Speaker 1: a car, monitor how things seem to be running. If
Speaker 1: your laptop and other devices are starting to act buggy,
Speaker 1: don't just shrug it off it. Maybe find you something
Speaker 1: like your hair dryer until it gives out before even
Speaker 1: considering getting a new one. Because leaving home with wet
Speaker 1: hair on one day is not a big deal, but
Speaker 1: having your technology fail when you're on deadline for an
Speaker 1: important project kind of is a big deal. So don't
Speaker 1: press your luck. Your clients count on you, and you
Speaker 1: want to be able to count on your tools. So
Speaker 1: back things up, make a backup plan, and take care
Speaker 1: of maintenance. That way, you're more likely to keep emergencies
Speaker 1: at bay. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.
Speaker 1: That's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at iHeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.