Welcome to a new week! I’m so happy you’re here! This week I thought we would talk about getting your passwords organized. If you’re anything like me, you have passwords everywhere. On sticky notes, in a notebook, maybe some are saved on your computer…..the list goes on and on. And what happens when you need to change a password? Do you update that sticky note, or notebook? Most likely you forget to. A great (and secure) way to systematize your passwords is by using a software program called LastPass. LastPass is free to use. Once you create your account, you will have one master password in order to log into LastPass. Make sure you don’t lose this password! If you can’t locate it, most likely you will have to create a new LastPass account. If you have numerous passwords already in LastPass, that will not make you happy at all! Once you create your account, you can start adding in passwords. LastPass has browser extensions, which I highly recommend. Then, when you are in your web browser, LastPass will automatically pop up and ask you if you want to add this login information (if it’s new) or if you want to update it (if it notices a change in the password). It’s very helpful that it does this! This is also a great way to start adding your passwords into LastPass. Once you log into something, LastPass will automatically ask you if you want to add that login information. It’s that easy and handy! When you are adding login information, there are many things that you can enter. Obviously, you can enter the URL, username, and password. But you can also add information like the name of the website or add any notes that you might need in the future. Sometimes when I have a number that I need to remember specific to a website, I will add that number of information inside of the notes section, so it is there if/when I need it. You can also organize your passwords by folders. This is a great way to organize your passwords to another level! It makes them easier to find as you can group similar things together.
The best part of LastPass is that you can share your passwords with other people securely! If/When you get a virtual assistant or outsource some things in your practice, you will be able to share specific login information with that person. Once you are no longer working together you can delete them from that login information, and they will no longer have access to it. You just enter the person’s email address, and it will send them an email with an invitation to view it. You can also choose for the person to be able to see your password or not. It’s up to you!
LastPass tracks all of your passwords for you, and it does much more! It has a notes section so that you can create notes that you might need to refer back to. It’s a great option for your Notes program on your computer or sticky notes. You can name the note, choose which folder you want it to go into, and you can also add an attachment if you need to. LastPass also allows you to save addresses. It can replace your address book in a flash and place everything in one place. With the address option you can again place it in a specific folder, add an attachment, and add a lot of information about the person such as birth date, time zone, and much more. If you are working with someone outside of your time zone, this could become an extremely handy tool for you when scheduling meetings, etc.
The last two parts of LastPass that I wanted to talk about are the bank accounts and the payment cards sections. These are great and have come in handy many times for me. You know when you’re online and you need to pay a bill or purchase something? You need either your credit card information or bank account information. You can put all of those securely into LastPass! Then, if you ever need access to either of them, they are right there. For the payment cards you are able to enter the name of the card, name on the card, the type of card, account number, security code, expiration date, and there’s also a section for notes. Again, with this section you are able to place it in a specific folder and add attachments as needed. With the bank accounts section, you are able to keep information about your bank accounts such as the bank name, account type, routing number, account number, PIN, bank information, as well as putting it into a specific folder and adding attachments.
Pretty much every part of LastPass is tremendously helpful. The one thing to remember, and I know this is a reiteration of what I said earlier, is to not lose your master password. I have had a couple of clients that had multiple log in’s, accounts, and payment cards in their LastPass account, couldn’t remember their master password, and had to start from scratch. Needless to say, they were not happy!
If you would like more information about LastPass or would like to set up a free account, you can do that here. It is definitely worth the time to set up this account and get your passwords in it.
Until next time, take care of yourself & stay safe!
