thumb driveI couldn’t find my thumb drive yesterday. For a few hours, I was worried that I left it at a public computer at school. Of course my main concern should have been getting it back, but actually, I was obsessed with trying to remember what was actually on it.

Then my mood dropped like a parachuter having his last and unluckiest jump.

That thumb drive contained hours worth of research and design projects. There were raw images, drafts and final products for my portfolio — files I gathered and developed that required immense research, patience and practice. And where did I back them up? Nowhere.

And even worse: one file may have had my social security number and my address.

Would we ever treat our finances the way we handle our portable data?

Thankfully I found my thumb drive in the pair of pants I wore yesterday. But this was such a close call that I decided to change my habits.

1. No excuses – backing up data: I’m going to periodically copy files from my thumb drive to my external hard drive. It just takes a few minutes of my day. There’s no need to be lazy about this.

2. Securing confidential records:
If a file containing my social security number and other confidential material doesn’t need to be on my thumb drive, it won’t stay on there.

There are encryption options available, but that can be a hassle if your thumb or flash drive gets used collaboratively like mine does.

3. Making it returnable: Instead of encrypting, I like this idea of leaving a REWARD IF FOUND.TXT file on your thumb drive with your name and contact information.

4. Same resting spot always:
At the end of the day, I put my thumb drive in the same place, much like I do with my wallet. Last night, I was frazzled and forgot to properly store my thumb drive. Funny enough, I remembered to put my wallet away.

Your data don’t look like money, but they’re assets. Remember to treat them that way.