It’s a new year—and that means it’s time to make some of those dreaded resolutions. With the increasing prominence of tech in our daily lives, it’s not a bad idea to start reeling in those bad tech habits.
So here are five new year’s tech resolutions that all of us should probably make:
1. Keep your phone away from your bed
If you’re daily tradition starts and ends with a phone in your face, it might be time to rein in your usage at night. Not only is stuffing all that blue light into your eyes bad for your brain, but it’s also terrible for your sleeping schedule.
Keep your phone on the other side of the room, pick up a book, and let your brain go gently power down into its rest.
2. Get a smartphone mount for your car
In a lot of states, it’s illegal to use your phone in your hand while driving—and we all know how dangerous texting while driving is. With how good Siri and Google Assistant have become, it’s time to finally get and actually use one of those smartphone mounts in your car that will keep your smartphone out of your hands while driving.
There are even some out there that use magnets that you can put in your phone case to make it more convenient.
3. Get a handle on your subscriptions
Photo by Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images.
So you planned on just doing the free one-month trial and then quitting? Yeah, right. It’s time to look at where your money is going each month and determine whether you still actually use what you are paying for.
Here are some places to check to get your started:
1. Streaming services (Netflix, Spotify, etc.)
2. Monthly crowdfunding donations
3. Cloud storage services (Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, etc.)
4. Premium apps (Adobe Creative Cloud, Dashlane, etc.)
4. Change your passwords
This one is an easy, one-time task that we should all do once and awhile. It’s time to go through your most used accounts and switch up your passwords, for security purposes.
The most important will be things like your Google account that manage multiple services and apps, social media accounts, and online banking accounts.
5. Actually start using those calendar and productivity apps
Our phones are filled with all kinds of useful apps that make things like productivity and scheduling far easier and more convenient than before. However, if you’re anything like me, you find yourself forgetting to use them more often than not.
So whether it’s something simple like Google Calendar or Evernote, or even something a little more demanding like to-do list or goal-keeping apps, let’s all try using them for more than a few days.