With So Many Log-In IDs and Passwords, Just Call Me Sybil
Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at 9:12PM Well, I haven't made any huge head way in getting my digital act together since my last post. Nonetheless, I thought I would share a favorite organizational hack I use to keep all my website usernames and passwords organized. Because I have heeded the advice of the tech gurus and don't use the same password for all websites, I needed a quick means to record and access my multiple online identities. My solution is cheap and low-tech, but very efficient...a pocket-size address book kept at my desk. I record each website by the first letter of the name, along with my username and password. So when I have a peri-menopausal moment and forget my 'GoodReads' log-in info, I just flip to 'G' and there it is. I know there are digital methods for protecting and organizing passwords like Keepass, but for some reason, this is one instance in which I prefer a low tech alternative.
As for coming up with all these usernames and passwords, I use a pretty pragmatic system. I have 2 basic usernames, one for personal purposes, one for professional uses. Depending on the website and what I am using it for, the choice is always clear. For passwords, most of them incorporate a keyword that has some meaning but that provides no real identifying information. For example, let's say it is 'Ireland' (I always have wanted to go to Ireland with my mother). I put the first letter of the website before the keyword and a number string that has some meaning to me after it, like 1941 (the year Pearl Harbor was bombed). So for example, a Gap account password might end up looking like 'Gireland1941'. I routinely change up the keywords and number string combinations. And for the number strings, I never use personal information like my phone number, address, birth date. My purpose for using this system isn't so much to remember all the passwords (I write the down in my address book), but to have a quick method of coming up with unique passwords on the fly and avoid the trap of using the same one over and over.
Now, I admit I don't use these methods to create or keep track of financial types of accounts. For those, my method is much more sophisticated and if I told you, well you know what I would have to do...
hack, passwords in organization 
