Making sure to avoid bad tech habits is especially important nowadays, as most people spend the majority of their day in front of a screen. Constantly checking your company or personal devices for updates can lead to people being distracted. Bad tech habits, however, are not only about consistently checking for notifications but there are also plenty of habits that can be improved in order to increase both safety and security.
Bad Physical Tech Habits
1. Eating Over Your Device
It is very common for busy people to eat their lunch over their keyboard while continuing to work. While refraining from doing so might not be possible, we suggest regularly cleaning your devices. Hereby, it is important to wipe down the screen with a special cloth and potentially even use a tiny vacuum to lift the debris from your keyboard.
Tip: Make it a habit to clean down your device once a week to create a routine.
2. Poor Posture
When spending a big part of your day in front of your computer it is very crucial to avoid bad posture. Due to the working from home movement, many people have been working off kitchen tables, and dining chairs, which are not built ergonomically. Instead, we suggest making sure you have the correct home office set up and incorporate stretches and time away from your screen throughout your day.
3. Bad Manners
There are many situations in which checking your device is seen as inappropriate. If you are attending a meeting or a presentation, for example, failing to pay attention to the speaker can make you look unprofessional and distracting. Therefore, make sure you set your device to silent and let calls go through to voicemail. Ideally, unless you are waiting for an urgent update, it is better to leave your phone in your pocket to avoid this bad tech habit.
4. Bad Situation Awareness
When taking business calls outside of your home or office, it is important to take into consideration the people around you that might be able to overhear your conversation. If you must make a business call in public, make sure to keep it short and simple and ensure that you leave confidential details out. In fact, it is perfectly acceptable to tell the caller that you are currently unable to speak freely and that you will follow up with them in a different format (e.g., direct message or email), or reschedule the call to a more convenient time.
Besides that, situational awareness can also relate to walking or driving while using a device. Reaching for your phone to check for notifications whenever you stop at a red light can be seen as a dangerous tech habit. Hereby, a good rule for both walking and driving would be: If you cannot wait, stop safely before checking or responding.
Bad Digital Tech Habits
1. Fail to Back Up
When it comes to storing important memories in picture form, many people believe moving your photos onto your personal computer is sufficient. However, what happens if the computer is damaged, hacked, or stolen? This could lead to your personal content and memories being permanently deleted. To avoid this, one can rely on cloud-based applications, such as iCloud or Dropbox as well as removable hard drives to back up data and store it more securely.
Tip: Once it is all set up, it is advisable to schedule yourself a weekly or monthly reminder to back up your data.
2. Fail to Reboot
Failing to reboot your device is one of the most common bad tech habits. It is very tempting to close your computer at the end of the day without shutting it down to be able to open it back up faster in the morning. Nevertheless, it is crucial to shut down your computer at least a couple of times a week to give the machine a chance to update any apps and refresh your memory. By doing so, you are likely going to notice an uptick in processing speed.
3. Fail to Vary or Update Passwords
Relying on the same password or passcode on your personal accounts is a common mistake. This bad tech habit reduces your personal internet security which might make it easier for cybercriminals to steal your identity. Besides that, if you carry these passwords across to your working environment, you can find yourself compromising sensitive company data. We recommend changing passwords frequently (approximately 8 – 16 weeks) or immediately when you noticed a breach in security.
Tip: We recommend setting up a Password-Manager, such as LastPass, to store all your login details on a cloud. By doing so you simply have to input the account URL, your username, and password to gain easy access to your accounts, systems, websites, and applications.
4. Fail to Update
The last bad tech habit that is fairly coming is not updating your devices. Companies release updates to devices and computers in order to fix bugs that have been identified. If your device runs on an outdated version, those known vulnerabilities are a gateway for hackers and cybercriminals. Due to that, if you are notified about an update, install it as soon as you can. This way you close the door to a potential hacker attack.
By losing the bad tech habits mentioned above, you will be able to have a much cleaner, safer, and more secure environment. This can have a positive impact on both your personal and your professional life.
If you are interested in finding out more about correct tech habits or you are looking to take on an IT provider, contact us here. We currently offer a free IT consultation, so don’t forget to fill out our IT Workplace Assessment, so we can come back to you with our recommendations.