Making it routine rather than intentional.
ATTACH IT TO SOMETHING
Back up before updating. The two belong together, and the update is the thing you remember to do.
Check backups when you check invoices. One monthly routine rather than two.
AUTOMATE WHAT YOU CAN
Scheduled backups to remote storage with retention handled. Then the only manual task is verification.
MAKE VERIFICATION TRIVIAL
Open the storage folder and look at the dates. Two minutes. If it takes longer than that, it will not happen.
SET ONE REMINDER
Quarterly, for a restore test. The only genuinely time-consuming part, and the only one that proves the rest works.
WHAT DOES NOT STICK
Elaborate procedures Anything requiring more than a few minutes weekly Anything depending on remembering
WHAT DOES
Backup before change, as reflex A monthly glance at the storage A quarterly reminder
THE HONEST MINIMUM
If you do only two things: store backups off the server, and restore-test once a year.
Those two cover most of what goes wrong.
