Technology Resolutions for 2015 

Now that you are back to work from weeks of feasting, merry-making and holidaying, it’s time to get rid of all the excesses and spring clean various aspects of your life to live effectively. While most of such resolutions revolve around losing weight, kicking up bad habits, improving finances or finishing a project, managing technology better should also be a part of the resolutions since it occupies such a significant part in our lives. On an average, people across the globe are spending up to 10 hours on electronic media per day. Thus, it’s important and a good time, too, to take a relook at our online and offline lives and work towards striking a balance. 

Here is a list of technology resolutions that will help you use technology effectively and free up more time for your offline life:

Clean your gadgets
Yes, you heard it right. Studies have shown that remote controls, cell phones, keyboards have often more bacteria than toilet seats. Keeping the gadgets clean is not a difficult task. The market is flooded with non-abrasive cleaning agents that you can use to keep your gadgets neat and bacteria-free. 

Spring clean your inbox, desktop
We all have faced this situation – an extremely busy desktop and inboxes that have zillions of mails to the extent that finding a mail through the maze can be a task. Clutter not only slows down the computer or laptop but also takes up more time to access what you need. Delete unnecessary files/mails, photographs and save important yet not-so-urgent information in folders for accessing it later without much ado. 

Update your software regularly
It may be annoying to restart your phone or laptop but regular updates help in ensuring that your devices run without any glitches. 

Don’t be a slacker on the password front 
Get creative and make your passwords very strong. The more unique the password, the stronger it will be. You could also consider downloading a password manager like 1Password, for example.

Keep a reliable backup
Again, looks like a no-brainer but we often forget to do this simple yet very important task of keeping a secure and reliable back-up of all our data. As they say, a stitch in time saves nine. 

Relook at your privacy settings, social media accounts & photographs
Delete your old accounts that you haven’t been using or give it a fresh lease of life if your blog platform or Flickr account is lying idle. Check your privacy settings and ensure that you are in control of disseminating your information. Organise your photographs and recheck on the permission settings.

Upgrade Your Wi-Fi
If you are still using an old router or facing patchy connectivity in your big house, it would be worth your while to upgrade. There are multiple options available. Choose the one that best works for you. 

Have a stronger handle around your data plan
It will help to download data plan applications that help monitor data usage, send alerts on approaching usage limits and also point out the data hogging apps. Having a stronger handle around the data plan will help you avoid heartburn associated with huge bills.