A new year is upon us, and with it comes a plethora of new resolutions. Many people have lofty goals – climbing to Machu Pichu, losing 30 pounds, giving up sugar. However, for those of us with more realistic expectations, there are a few things that we can add to our New Year’s resolutions that will be simple yet have big yields in terms of their overall impact on our daily life. Here are five simple things that you can start today (and thank yourself later).
1.) Not backing up your data. This is the number one bad tech habit that most people suffer from. It’s very easy to just not back up your data – although there are many reminders out there that you should be doing this, they are very easy to ignore. Most of us don’t know how to back up efficiently and still others of us don’t really know the best tools or methods of doing it. The easiest way to start this up in 2016 is to start up a subscription to BackBlaze or CrashPlan. For $5 a month you can back up all your files continuously in the background. Set it up once and never worry about it – it makes it very automatic. I can’t tell you how glad I was for my subscription to BackBlaze when my computer hard drive broke with a client’s project on it.
2.) Using the same password all the time. I know, I know. It’s hard to remember all the passwords for all the sites that you use. However, a simple program such as LastPass can take the guesswork (literally) out of remembering unique passwords for multiple sites. LastPass is also cross – platform, meaning you can use it on any computer that you use and your passwords will go with you. LastPass was one of the better things that I did for myself last year – and I encourage you to do the same thing.
3.) Downloading free software / movies. If you’re one of those people that still uses pirated software / movies, then you’re not alone. However, you are at high risk for also getting a malicious virus, trojan, or malware on your computer by utilizing free software download sites. The instant I downloaded a “free” program last year (to help me open .rar files) I was subjected to the Conduit malware. It never fails. I highly recommend that you curtail your download habits in 2016.
4.) Running Flash. This is a contentious topic, but the truth is that Flash is going the way of the dodo. However, there are still many people using it to hack into unsuspecting users computers. Not only that, but Flash is a huge battery hog. Using it on a laptop or tablet will drain battery life very quickly. Our previous article on disabling Flash has all you need to know about getting rid of it once and for all.
5.) Not Updating Your Software. I used to be very bad about updating my software. When Flash or my browser or even Windows said that updates were available, I just put it off. And I put it off basically forever. However there are big risks in doing this – usually these updates address security issues and flaws, and by not updating you are opening yourself up to attacks. Enable the auto-update feature on all your software to stop worrying about it once and for all.
