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What is Encryption?
Encryption is a security measure that’s designed to help you keep your data safe on the off-chance that it’s ever stolen by hackers. If a hacker has access to the file, then they can use any of the data they can access, which could be a lot if you’re unlucky. Encryption removes this factor by scrambling the data in a way that renders it unreadable to anyone who doesn’t have the decryption key. This effectively makes the data useless, as high-quality encryption can take insane amounts of time and processing power to crack.

One technology solution that uses encryption particularly well is a virtual private network, or VPN. A VPN can be used by your employees to securely access your network across an Internet connection, no matter their location. It’s like a bridge between the employee’s device and your data. Imagine that there is a clear tube connecting your infrastructure to the employee device; any onlooker will be able to see the contents. Encryption makes it so that it’s more opaque, or less clear, making it more difficult for hackers to steal your data while it’s in transit.

Why is it Important?
Considering how important security is in today’s data-driven environment, you need to take any and all precautions possible to ensure your organization isn’t at risk. Encryption in particular is important because it’s a fail-safe that protects your data should a hacker somehow acquire it. With this in mind, you need to take preventative measures now while you still can. Remember, as long as your data can be stolen in a readable state, hackers will seek it out, so take matters into your own hands now to prevent a catastrophe in the future.

Digital Seattle can help your organization secure its data with encryption. To learn more, reach out to us at (206) 709-9556.

What Does Yak Shaving Have to Do with My Business?
Yak shaving is just another way to define semi-defensible procrastination. It uses the following scenario to make its point: you need to complete a proposal, but you might be tired from a long day of work, making concentration difficult at best. You start to look into the best kind of coffee to get into a productive mindset, and your research yields potent results. The best coffee beans in the world come from a remote island, and they can only be harvested by a yak. So, now you need a yak. You take a trip to the Himalayas to acquire said yak, but the yak can’t take the temperate climate of the island with the coffee beans. In order to bring the yak to the island, you’ll have to shave its long fur off. Once that’s been done, you can take that yak to the island, harvest your coffee beans, and brew that perfect cup of coffee for flawless productivity to finish your proposal.

Basically, it takes a normal problem and uses a ridiculous and overly elaborate method to resolve the issue, but this in itself creates complication to get away from doing the less desired task. Everyone has been in this position before, where a particular task is so unappealing that they would do anything to get away from it, but the fact remains that the task needs to be done, whether you want to do it or not.

How to Identify (and Overcome) Your Hairy Yaks
The first thing to do if you think an issue like this arises is to notice how you tend to react to them. Consider all of the tasks you need to complete; how many of them actually have to be done to reach your ultimate goal? There’s no doubt that looking for excuses will lead to procrastination rather than productivity.

Imagine all the time spent earlier looking into the yak and the island with the coffee. What if you invested all of that time and energy into completing the task? Instead of wasting time, you could have already completed the task, rendering the need for the yak obsolete. Granted, the problem-solving skills you’ll acquire might seem valuable, and they are to an extent, so it’s not a complete waste--just not a great choice in the first place.

Think of the Task as an Investment
Time is money, and time-consuming tasks can be a waste if they aren’t being handled as well as possible. Think about it like this; you’ve already invested a considerable amount of time and effort into one solution, so why not simply go all the way with it and finish it, if the alternative is to waste even more time?

Overall, you need to remember that successfully completing a goal should outweigh the frustration of having to do it. The results are what matters primarily, but if you have only been working on something for a couple of moments, don’t be afraid to change it up.

The technology you use will play a considerable role in the way you complete a task. To learn more about how you can use it to benefit your business, reach out to Digital Seattle at (206) 709-9556.

These Words Are Completely Different
While it might seem like being busy and being productive are the same thing, this is quite far from the truth. For example, take a look at that worker who is constantly running around the office handling this or that. While they might be busy, they might not necessarily be productive or getting anything important done.

In theory, you could be “busy” doing anything. This doesn’t always translate to being productive, though. Think about the word itself; in order to be productive, you have to “produce” something. Whether it’s a complete sales proposal or an email to an important client, nothing that produces something and furthers a business goal can be considered non-productive.

The Issue with Comparing the Two
Unfortunately, the difference between the two is largely subjective. Let’s say you assign a research project to two employees. One of them starts watching YouTube videos while the other is typing up a document. Who is really getting the work done? If the one watching videos has found something relevant to their task and the writer is typing up something unrelated to the task, then it would be the supposed “slacker.”

This showcases how similar pure business and productivity can be. Basically, if you can fool yourself into thinking that being busy is the same as being productive, you won’t be getting anything done. Here are a couple of ways to determine whether you’re simply busy or being productive.

Take another look at how you spend your time, and compare it to how you accomplish your responsibilities. If you spend a lot of time reading about things on the Internet, they should be about something related to your job, not unrelated.

How to Identify When You’re Just “Keeping Busy”
None of these activities absolutely have to be time-wasters, but they are when they are done without a clear goal or product in mind. Many of your job’s responsibilities might not need Internet access to get them done, so staying away from wasting time on the Internet is an easy way to optimize productivity. There is always an exception to this rule, so just try to use your best judgement to determine if what you’re doing is a waste or not.

Digital Seattle can equip your business with solutions to get the most done in the workday. To learn more, reach out to us at (206) 709-9556.