I realized last year that, when you associate each kind of task with a specific device, an entire class of concern ("syncing") is eliminated, and the resulting tools and workflows are much simpler. I was taking for granted that all of my files and tools should be available and in sync when this is probably never actually essential.
@zachdecook I backup my laptop onto a harddrive something like once a month. I'd do it more often (or maybe set up an automatic task to backup to another computer on the local network) if there were more things I was worried about.