Are your bad tech habits sabotaging your productivity and security?
Technology has become an indispensable part of our lives in today’s digital age. While it offers countless benefits, it can also lead to some harmful habits that can negatively impact our productivity, health, and security. Let’s explore some of the most common tech habits to avoid and discover how to break free from their grip.
Not Cleaning Your Equipment
On average, people pick up or touch their phones nearly 100 times a day. They touch their faces, including eyes, nose, or mouth, nearly 15 times an hour. Combine that with touches to computer keyboards, phones, doorknobs, and multiple other objects throughout the day, and you have a smorgasbord of oil, dirt, and germs getting on everything.
All that oil and dirt can build up and damage the electronic equipment you rely on daily. Dust buildup can clog fans and cause components to overheat and fail.
Solution: Phones, the top of the keyboard, and anything you touch regularly should be cleaned on a daily (or at least, weekly) basis. Dust items such as computers, printers, and under the keys on your keyboard monthly and deep clean completely at least twice a year. Use a vacuum or compressed air to clean all vents and crevasses where dust can build up.
Texting at the Table
In the age of all things digital, it’s essential to take a break and focus on building real-life connections. Put the phone down and have a decent conversation.
Solution: Keep the “no texting at the table” rule enforced at work and at home for everyone, including yourself. If you must take a call or reply to an urgent text, excuse yourself from the table and move to another room.
Not Taking Enough Breaks Throughout the Day
We are pretty good at regulating our kids’ screen time, but it’s a bit harder when it comes to ourselves. Between computer use at work and addictive cell phones, it’s hard to break away from technology.
Solution: Take frequent breaks throughout the day. Get up and stretch. Go for a walk around the office. It is healthy for your body and eyes if you give them a break from all the sitting and monitor use. There are many programs and apps that will remind you to get up and step away from your desk. Another simple trick is to keep sipping on water throughout the day. This will force you to get up often for bathroom breaks and remedy another bad habit: failure to hydrate. 😉
Reusing the Same Passwords
I don’t know anyone who isn’t guilty of this, myself included. It seems like every site you visit needs a password. It’s nearly impossible to remember every single one when they should all be different. It is all too easy to just pop in a well-used, easy-to-remember codeword when setting up a new account. Don’t do it!
All it takes is one hacked website that doesn’t store passwords securely, and every site that uses that password is also compromised. It doesn’t matter how many numbers and special characters you use.
Solution: Create a system that combines unique passphrases as a base and a numerical component to differentiate accounts. Alternatively, you can use a password manager such as 1Password or Bitwarden to create and store random passwords for the sites you log into. Then, you will only have to remember 1 master password for the application, and it will pre-fill the fields from the secure database. These apps work interchangeably with all devices, so you’ll always have access to your accounts.
Replying to All
Please help curb all unnecessary emails! We all get way too much as there is.
Solution: Use “Reply to All” sparingly. Only reply to the person(s) in the thread who actually needs to read the response.
Cleaning up some of the bad tech habits shared above will help keep you safe and secure. It will also improve your productivity, security, and even your physical well-being.
Could you be the biggest threat to your organization?
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