Has your heart ever sunk in fear that you lost an important document? In writing thousands of articles, hundreds of special reports, and many client deliverables, I’ve faced the same problem.
Yet there is an approach I learned more than 20 years ago that keeps you productive and focused on meaningful work. Never again lose a file. Never again have to redo work.
Use this approach to write from libraries, your office, or even an old clapped-out laptop. This approach protects your work. Stop slaving hours over work only to lose it because your system doesn’t protect the reality of computers.
If you haven’t realized it, Microsoft hates you. If you aren’t using Microsoft Office, they will do everything to get in the way of your productivity. And Microsoft Office doesn’t keep years’ worth of versions.
Mentioned
- Dan Kennedy writes his copy on a computer that is NOT connected to the internet. Yet, he has backups of his work. You don’t have to be a computer nerd to write smarter.
Resources
- Portable Publishing System,
- More Effective Copywriter,
- Costly Copy Mistakes,
Tools
- GitHub is a central repository for tracking changes. Allows you to track changes on source code and text documents. Plus project management.
- Obsidian, LogSeq, and Zettlr. Note-taking applications that save notes on your local hard drive as plain text. Writing is portable. Mostly open source.
- Visual Studio Code, an editing environment with change controls, terminal access, and productivity tools. Free to download, including plug-ins and automation.

