Start the Year with a Tech Check
As the new year begins, it’s the perfect opportunity to refresh your technology habits and set yourself up for greater productivity and security. From decluttering your Downloads folder and automating repetitive tasks to tuning up your PC and organizing your digital life with a password manager, taking a few simple steps now can make a big difference throughout the year. Explore practical tips and tools to help you start your year with a tech check, making your workflow smoother and your devices more secure.
Delete Items in the Downloads Folder
Over time you have likely downloaded files from the Internet – white papers, images, music, documents, and more – and they may still live in your computer’s Downloads folder. Take a moment to review the folder (in Mac or Windows 11) and either move the files to a more suitable location or remove them.
Another place to clean up files and apps in Windows 11 is in Settings – Storage. Go to the cleanup recommendations and see if there are temporary, large, or unused files you can delete. Under Cleanup Recommendations, open Temporary Files and then click “See Advanced Options”. You can choose which files to delete, like temporary files, thumbnails, and more. Even if you have a terabyte solid-state drive, cleaning up files will help your computer operate faster, and your search will work better. Explore more options to free up drive space in Windows and set up Storage Sense to purge files automatically.
Turn Off Apps at Startup
If your Windows machine boots up more slowly than it used to one of the culprits could be too many apps running on startup. Do you really need Acrobat, Word, Outlook, your browser, and other applications automatically open when you start your computer? Probably not! In Windows, go to Settings and search for Startup. Choose Startup Apps. You can sort by name or startup impact. Toggle any high-impact apps to “off”. You may need administrative rights on your computer to turn off some apps at startup, so create a list for your IT support.
Trash Your Cache
Your internet browser, whether Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, or another, is one of the hardest-working applications on your computer. If it is acting sluggishly or won’t load a website update, it may be that you are storing too much in cache. While your cache serves a purpose by helping your browser load pages faster, it can also cause problems. Occasionally go and trash your cache. In Microsoft Edge, go to the “More” menu (…) and click Clear Browsing Data. In Google Chrome, go to the More (vertical dots) menu and choose Delete Browsing Data. Here you can choose what to delete (browsing history, cached images, download history, passwords, autofill data, etc.) and a time range for deletion (all time, last hour, 1 week, etc.). You can also choose to clear your browsing data when you close the browser, including cache, download history, and cookies. Note that removing cookies will log you out of most sites, though if you have a password manager, logging back in will take no time.
Check Your Passwords
If you use the same passwords repeatedly, use short passwords, or were using LastPass password manager, you probably should change your passwords. You can also check to see if your email address has been involved in a data breach or exposed on the Dark Web by checking HaveIBeenPwnd. You need not create a login for HaveiBeenPwnd. While you are digging around changing your passwords, go ahead and enable two factor authentication (using an authenticator when you can). You should probably do some checking to see what devices have logged into your account and remove them if you don’t recognize them. You can also see what apps have access to your account and remove them if you no longer need them.
Add Some Automation
There are many tools to help you reduce repetitive tasks and streamline your work. From tools like Zapier that can do things like send information collected from JotForm to Clio, or PowerAutomate (f/k/a Flow) in Microsoft 365 to copy attachments from emails to a OneDrive folder, to TextExpander to insert clauses into emails and documents or ActiveWords to trigger actions, pick a few processes in the firm that slow you down and see how you can improve them. Reduce administrative burden by setting up an online booking service to schedule appointments. You may already have the tools you need to improve document generation. Take the time to pick one or two to reap the benefits. Here are few simple things you can do to get started.
Reduce Redundancy
Redundancy in your tech stack often builds up gradually as new tools are adopted without retiring outdated ones. This situation can result in overlapping features, unnecessary expenses, and confusion among staff. To address this, start by identifying tools that offer similar capabilities, such as document sharing, e-signatures, or time tracking. Consolidating to a single solution that best fits your needs can help eliminate duplication. It’s also important to review usage data or analytics for each tool. If a particular application is rarely used or serves only a small group, consider whether it’s truly essential or if its functions could be absorbed by another platform.
Redundancy sometimes arises because certain tools do not integrate well with others. If possible, replace disconnected systems with a more integrated solution to reduce complexity and streamline workflows. Keep an eye out for “feature creep,” where primary platforms like practice management or CRM systems gradually add new functionalities. Before purchasing a new tool, check if your current systems already provide the needed features. Finally, engage with your team and ask which tools they use regularly and which they find redundant or confusing. Feedback from staff who work with these tools every day can often reveal unnecessary duplication and help guide your decisions.
Learn more about assessing your firm’s tech stack and return on investment to maximize not only dollars but efforts as well.
Unsubscribe from Email
Do you get a lot of gray mail? Gray mail consists of newsletters, announcements, promotions, and other emails that aren’t spam but clutter your inbox. Now in Gmail, there is a straightforward way to unsubscribe from these emails. Click on “More” under your Inbox and go to “Manage subscriptions. There, you will see all the emails you receive that you may not be reading. The filter shows the email address, sender, and the number of emails you have recently received. Click “Unsubscribe” to easily stop receiving them. Or, if you want to keep them can always create a label, like “newsletters” and add a filter to bypass your inbox.
If you want to reduce the number of email newsletters you receive via email, but still get the information, you can receive them in your Feedly or InoReader (Feed Readers) instead of your inbox.
Here are some other strategies for silencing the noise in your inbox.
Offload Unused Smartphone Apps
On your iPhone or iPad, you have likely downloaded many apps, some of which you rarely use. The iOS has an “Offload Unused App” feature that will help identify which apps you don’t use often. If you use this feature, it will remove the app, but not any data associated with the app so you can reinstall it if necessary and not have lost any information. If you want to get rid of the app and its data you can manually uninstall the app. Want to see what is taking up precious space? Head over to Settings and in General View tap “Usage” then “Manage Storage”. You can see what is taking up space and remove old files and apps you may not use. Downloaded files, like PDFs, can also take up space so you can delete those too.
Upgrade and Update
Is the clock ticking on support for your Office suite? Your version of Adobe Acrobat? Any other installed products? It is best to start planning for an upgrade or replacement now, rather than have something bad happen that can often end up being very costly. Review the apps on your phone. Are some too old to get updated? What about your desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone? Too old to install a supported operating system or get security patches? You get to go shopping!
Review Your Backup Strategy
You may have moved to more cloud applications during the pandemic. Are they being backed up? Are more folks doing work on laptops and saving documents locally or on external drives? Are those being backed up? Are your primary systems like installed QuickBooks or TimeMatters adequately backed up? Can they be backed up? Review your backups and make sure that you are backing up everything that you can, including cloud storage, to avert disaster. Once you have done so periodically do a test restore.
Review your Security
Whether you hire a company to do test your systems as ethical hackers, or DIY, make sure that you have implemented basic best practices for security and trained your team to recognize phishing threats. Are your smartphones protected? It is a lot to think about, but it is arguably your ethical duty under Rule 1.1 (Competency) to understand the benefits and risks of relevant technology and protect your client’s (and your firms) information as best you can.