We’ve all experienced having a New Year’s resolution that we were really excited about, only to stick with it for a few weeks before it eventually gets away from us. “We’re only going to allow YouTube for 30 minutes after school this year!” Sound familiar?
While long-term goals and habits are important, they can also be overwhelming. So instead of adding a bunch of tech-related resolutions to your list, we’re giving you just a few one-and-done tech tips you can do as soon as the New Year starts. This way you can feel accomplished before January is even over!
5 Tech Tips to Start the New Year Right
Start with a mini tech detox
Emphasis here is on the mini. No matter what your family’s screen time looked like in the previous year, it’s always healthy to take some sort of break. So pick a time in January where it would make sense to go screen free with family. This could literally just be one evening where phones and gaming consoles are put away. Or, it could be a day, a weekend, or more. Whatever feels achievable to your family and significant enough to feel disconnected from the draw of technology.
Clean your tech devices
Did you know that the average smartphone is shown to host 18x more bacteria than a public restroom? We know — gross! And yet, only 21% of Americans report cleaning their device once a day (which is what health experts recommend).
The simplest way to clean your tech is to use a microfiber towel and distilled water to wipe down your screens. Be sure to include phones, computers, smartwatch faces, keyboards, phone cases, chargers, etc. You can also take a toothpick to gently scrape out the debris from hard-to-reach places like charging ports and earbuds.
Looking for an even simpler solution for your most-used tech? Get a UV sanitizer for smartphones that will kill germs in every crevice of the device, in just ten minutes!
Make sure data is backed up
You may already have an automatic back up process in place, but the start of a new year is a great time to make sure all important photos, files, etc. are properly saved. Popular options for cloud-based storage services include iCloud, Google Drive, and Dropbox. However, you can also go slightly more old-school by using an external hard drive.
Update important passwords
This one may sound tedious, but it can easily be done in a day. As far as protecting your online privacy, having strong passwords is one of the most surefire ways to keep those hackers at bay. Try to just prioritize your family’s most important accounts, such as your bank, email, healthcare, etc. We would recommend including your child’s social media accounts on this list of priorities (if they have any). Kids and teens are often targeted by scammers on social media, so it’s important these accounts are secure.
Review your family’s previous tech rules
Remember — the goal isn’t to focus on unrealistic long term resolutions here. But it doesn’t hurt to take some time to reflect on how the last year went in terms of screen time. Get the family together and talk about the rules or boundaries that everybody enjoyed and the ones that didn’t work so well. Bonus points if you had a tech contract that you can review! This can just be a time of reflection, but also an opportunity to think about possible changes for the New Year.
Start the New Year with Bark
Our bonus tech tip for the next year is to use Bark to make screen time and monitoring as simple and reliable as possible. Our goal is to be the powerful tool that helps puts your family’s tech rules into action. Whether it’s automatically blocking video games during homework time or quietly monitoring for inappropriate content on their social media, Bark can add efficiency and peace of mind to your digital parenting.
We offer a variety of products that help parents protect their kids online, including the Bark app, the Bark Watch, the Bark Phone, and the Bark Home. Check out our products page to find out which one is the best fit for your family.
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Bark helps families manage and protect their children’s digital lives.
