As we all know, this is a trying time, one that has brought new challenges to everyday life and created new routines that may be difficult to get used to. Many of us have been forced to bring our work home to avoid any unnecessary risks. This comes with some risks of its own though. Over here at Mac Outpost, we are seeing a surge in accidental damages in the form of spills and drops that can be easily avoided with a few ideas to maintain good habits. I’m here to give you some of those tips, just as in many ways we all are staying diligent during this hard time.
First and foremost, BEVERAGES. I can not say this enough, no matter how confident you are in being careful DO NOT keep a beverage on your work desk or whatever surface you have your device on. This is imperative. For the majority of us working from home, we have a single device we do work on, and that’s it. So in a case where your fresh made Keurig coffee decides to heave-ho all over your laptop, you’re stuck unable to work and at risk of data loss if you don’t have a recent back-up. No matter how diligent you are about taking good care of your products, you can’t predict accidents caused by another’s actions. Those who live with others (including pets) are automatically at greater risk, so it is best to keep liquids at a minimum 10ft distance.
Understanding that working from home is about as safe from Covid-19 as you can be, you are still going to want to keep up diligence in DISINFECTING all of your devices, including your phone! I also understand some people may be hesitant to use any cleaner or disinfectant on your computer; there’s liquid there, and that’s scary. You can safely disinfect your phone or laptop with a disinfectant wipe, just be sure not to apply pressure on your keyboard with one! Use a disinfectant wipe to gently wipe the outside surface of the laptop avoiding the ports, same goes for your phone! I would also recommend wiping down with paper towel afterwards. If you are using an external keyboard on an iMac for example, very carefully wipe the individual keys trying to avoid the gaps in between. Keeping up these habits after essential grocery runs or anytime you need to go out is an important extra step you can take in keeping you and your family safe.
Now for the most important thing, BACK-UP habits. We are notorious at Mac Outpost for bringing back-ups to the forefront of the conversation on almost every topic and we will continue to do so! This is always the most important thing to maintain, especially if you are doing a lot of sensitive work you don’t want to lose. Even if you don’t want to heed my warning about liquids, which I don’t recommend by the way, a backup is how you keep yourself safe in the case of an accident. The last thing you want is to be without the powerpoint you spent 8 hours working on during the past week on the day before you do your zoom conference to show it off! Normally I would recommend doing a back-up once to twice a week. At this time with all of the risks being so high, I recommend every 1 to 2 days. Depending on how much data you have and how long it takes to perform you may want to start a back-up before bed, just to make sure your day of work is covered and your data is safe. If you don’t yet have an external hard-drive I recommend looking into purchasing one to suit your individual needs and get Time Machine to work it’s magic. If you don’t know how to get a back-up done or how it works, we can help!
Through all of this, I need to say thank you.
Thank you to all the customers and businesses that have been patient in these trying times. Thank you for being understanding of our procedures and policies implemented to help keep everyone safe during this outbreak. If you need our help don’t hesitate to call or come down as soon as you can and we will do our best to help get you back to work as soon as possible!
