What do you do with last minute changes? Are you able to adapt quickly? Get in touch with clients and contacts without the panic button going off?

This week my laptop bag went missing. Ultimately my entire business, inside one bag.  And then a day later I opened email & found a message that said, “We found your laptop on the highway”

What a relief!

But when I picked it up, the screen was broken & a replacement screen will take several days to ship.  We’re only here for a few days.

And so I juggle.

In another life time I think i would have gone into complete and utter panic. I would have called everyone I know to help me sort out this dilemma.  And I would have been very stressed about missing data files, etc. Losing a computer (even temporarily) can be very stressful.

But since embarking on this Portable Lifestyle Adventure project I’ve found myself a little more prepared for disasters of this type.

This time I didn’t worry about:

• my missing posts in the 30 Day Ulimate Blog Challenge
• a brand new client project
• potentially missing data files
• the amount of time it’s going to take to “catch up”
• how I will perform during my regular weekly online group WordPress day

I can only think of a few reasons why I haven’t ‘lost it’ this time. Here’s my thoughts:

• My day to day data is always synched with SugarSync (which means that I’ve been diligent about storing documents in organized folders on a day to day basis – and ALL of them are on a shared system connected to any of my other devices)
• I had a very old, but functioning netbook in my suitcase
• My contacts & information are all saved on a secure server, so I was able to quickly get in touch with clients & make some adjustments to my schedule for the week (I knew right away there would be ‘downtime’)
• And the biggest thing of all? I’ve gone through this before. I’ve had other lost electronics & I always survive. We always survive.

In fact, it might be really good to “unplug” for a while. Although I do question if a “forced unplug” is a wise thing, especially in business.  Here area  few of the sights I’ve seen while exploring this week (the ocean, purple starfish, sail boats, and and a very friendly rooster. 

Do you have a backup plan? Even if you’re not living a portable lifestyle, a lot of people heavily rely on their laptops & smart phones to “do business”. I’d love to hear your recommendations & suggestions to help others.  Who knows, you might inspire someone else so they’re calm, cool and collected when/if ….  (we hope it won’t happen, but in reality, it often does, right?)