Our Opinion
For Rob it was easy to pin down what his worst habit is: He knows it’s checking his phone both before he goes to bed and after he wakes up. “I’m aware of it, though, and working on it, but it’s terrible,” he says. He picks it up without even a particular goal in mind, then just finds something to do, like check his emails, even if he just did it recently. Or he’ll read his favorite news sites, “just because they’re there.” Interestingly, Ryan says his worst tech habit is not using technology enough. He has a lot on his plate and knows there are various apps that could help him organize, plan, save time, etc., but he just doesn’t use them. He doesn’t know if it’s “some sort of subconscious desire” to avoid using his phone too much or if he’s “just too lazy to get everything set up.” He figures it’s the latter and knows his life would be better off if he did set it all up.
Phil claims to have many bad habits. He lists them as not emptying his inbox until he has 45,000 read emails, checking his email on the computer on his way to the bathroom in the middle of the night, his cable management that’s “an international disgrace,” and not recycling in the office, even though he does elsewhere, as he quips that “environmentalists with flaming torches camp outside my lab waiting for an opportunity to destroy me for this blatant hypocrisy.” His worst habit, though, is “constant, twitchy Facebook checking and usage.” Miguel’s worst tech habit is bad password management. Despite preaching to readers all the time to “use unique passwords,” he only does so for “mission-critical services” and places where he has sensitive data. He has the same password for at least twenty of his accounts. He doesn’t trust third-party or cloud-based password managers because “they have a tendency to provide a single point of failure” for his security. He feels local password management is better but best for people with cybersecurity expertise. Fabio knows his worst tech habit is not signing out properly from certain accounts. While he always signs out of the important accounts, for the ones that are not important, he says, “I just close the window and move on with my day.” Alex first points to “reflexive examination of mobile phone apps.” He also calls out his “obsessive need to carefully manage cables,” which he knows sounds like a “self-impressed answer to ‘What is your greatest weakness?’ for an audio tech.” Sounds like maybe he could help Phil. Simon calls attention to his “desktop management and the lack of it.” He spends most of his computing time looking at windows, so he’s rarely looking at the desktop. When he does, “it’s usually a pile of images, files, and documents that slowly grows until I finally decide to tidy up.”
Like Miguel, I’m really bad with my password management. I have one I like to use that I just keep adding dates after it. I have four dates that I’ve used, so when I have to remember a password, what I’m really doing is remembering when it was that I signed up for that account or service. But with the iOS 12 beta, Siri will show you your passwords, and iOS will create a unique password for you if you want. I’ve been having it create them for me for the sites that I won’t be signing into every day when I don’t need something memorable. And, of course, Facebook. I see the notifications come in, and I have to interrupt my writing to go check it out. I also check it in between the articles I write. It’s a nice little break, but I’ve also noticed that it slows down my brain. If I stayed on task, I’d get so much more done.
Your Opinion
Even tech writers have many bad tech habits, apparently. Are you with us as well? Do you have bad password management? Are your cables a mess? Do you check Facebook far too often? What is your worst tech habit? Commiserate with us in the comments section below.
