English | EN TOP FIVE ESSENTIALS OF LIVING IN THE DIGITAL AGE
July 3, 2015
You know this… so let’s do this! These are the five things everybody should do to stay happy and healthy, digitally.
Take an hour to do these things and prevent days or weeks of hassle later in life. Really, do it now!
1. Backup –Install a backup solution, either use your Mac or Windows backup solution, or use a dedicated Cloud backup tool for a few dollars a month. You will be so happy you did this, if you ever lose your laptop or accidentally overwrite that all-so-important, almost-finished manuscript. Don’t forget your mobile devices: back up important data such as pictures, contacts and messages too!
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2. Passwords – Did you read all the news articles about passwords getting stolen? It’s almost certain one of your passwords will be stolen in your lifetime. So, regularly change and
improve your passwords. Make sure you use different passwords for different services, choose the right passwords (like this), or if you have too many to remember: install a password-manager. Again, same for your mobile device: make sure it auto-locks and uses a strong code or fingerprint, encryption, etc. as they are most likely to get lost or stolen.
3. Spam – How much time do you spend digging through emails? Why not make it a bit easier? Unsubscribe from newsletters you stopped reading. Consequently, hit ‘unsubscribe’ buttons on undesired emails, at least for emails that have somewhat reputable origin. For all others: Mark them as Spam so your spam-filter will become better at spotting them. More generally, create an email strategy.
4. Privacy settings – Who knows what about you? Visit the ‘privacy’ sections of Facebook and Google and any other platform you use regularly. Select the settings you feel comfortable with.
5. Money Alerts – Where does your money go? What’s happening? Set up alerts for your credit cards and bank accounts to notify you if something fishy is going on. Most banks and cards have notifications for expenses above a threshold. It’s easy to set up, and gives you peace of mind. If you want to be even more cautious online, consider using pre-paid cards instead.
Bonus one for the slightly more tech-savvy folks: Install ad-blocking and anti-tracking software in your browser, to prevent companies from tracking your online behavior without your consent.
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