Tech Resolutions Everyone Can Master In 2023

With 2023 just around the corner, individuals from all walks of life will be putting pen to paper – or fingers to keys – to set out their goals for the months ahead.

For some, resolutions will be vague and overly-ambitious – dismissed before the first few weeks of the year have even passed. Others will embrace the transition as a time to do the things that, deep down, they know should already be part-and-parcel of their routine.

Those in the latter group will naturally kickstart 2023 with a greater sense of fulfilment – accomplishing things that are more achievable, and fast. Here, Systemwork founder, Jamie Durham, offers some suggestions for inspiration…

Use a password manager

With cyber security threats becoming a growing risk, there’s never been a more crucial time to strengthen your passwords. But it’s not just about using a mix of upper and lower case letters, as well as numbers and special characters. Increasingly difficult is the challenge of remembering which combination you’ve used for which site.

With password manager apps and extensions, you can keep everything secured in one central, online vault. As well as saving your login credentials, it generates ultra-secure suggestions and enables you to add ‘notes’ to different entries. Providing you remember the ‘master password’, you’ll have access to everything. No more loose, unsecure notes or pressures to memorise.

Take care of your devices

Personally and professionally, technology has become an integral component of our life today. In many ways, this is a great thing, but let’s not forget how costly devices can be. That’s why – from tablets and smartphones to laptops, PCs, and TVs – protecting them is vital.

If you haven’t already, you should have a screen protector and some form of case on every device – particularly if it’s one that travels with you. This adds that much-needed safety blanket for any accidental drops or scrapes, to ensure everything remains in full working order. Things like this, as well as keeping liquids away and being gentle with storage, should be a given. But not everything is quite so obvious.

There’s a common misconception, for example, that draining your device’s battery to zero optimise its charge life. In reality, the lithium-ion batteries typically used across a range of tech are not meant to be used this way – and letting the power run out completely actually has an adverse effect. So, make sure you keep on top of your charging routines in 2023 too, in order to improve longevity.

Clean up your desktop

Not only does a cluttered desktop act as a distraction for productivity, but it severely slows down your computer too. It can be a tough beast to tame, especially if you haven’t paid it attention in a while, but purging any apps or documents that aren’t used and creating necessary shortcuts will seriously maximise the efficiency of your device.

However, it’s not necessarily the original tidy that’s the issue – because all you need to do is press ‘delete’ or drag things around. For many, ongoing maintenance can be the biggest challenge. Schedule a periodic session to organise any stray items that have gathered since your last clean-up, so it doesn’t fall to the bottom of the agenda.

Backup important files

Have you ever experienced that horrifying moment of panic where you thought everything on your device had been wiped? It’s a horrible feeling, and we face enough challenges day-to-day without constantly worrying about something so unavoidable.

Devices get lost, devices fail, and cyber security attacks are only becoming more commonplace. That’s why every file you own – images, documents, apps, and more – should be stored in multiple places. This year is your time to take an inventory of your device’s most important storage, and ensure its copied elsewhere.

For example, images could be stored locally on the device, as well as on the cloud, and you could even have a physical album too. The worst thing you can do is wait until you fall victim to data loss, to do something about it. Prevention is always better than the cure!