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Here are 5 tips for a tech detox
Are you among the 69 percent of drivers who use their cell phone while driving? Do you count yourself in the 72 percent of students who text in their sleep (but don’t remember doing so)? Or are you one of the 75 percent of Americans who use their phone while on the toilet (including the 40.5 percent who use their phone to set the toilet mood)? If so, it could be time to take a little break from your devices and embark on a technology detox. Here are five tips you can follow to bring balance back to your tech usage.
1. Be smart at work
For most of us it’s simply not feasible to completely disconnect from technology. There are work emails to check, PowerPoint presentations to deliver and a constantly buzzing cell phone to address. However, you can lighten your tech burden during your workday in a few easy ways. Avoid emailing a colleague if you can walk to their desk for a quick chat. Don’t spend your lunch break glued to social media. And check your email at scheduled times so it doesn’t dominate your entire day.
2. Set rules at home
Detoxing doesn’t necessarily mean completely banning yourself from all technology. Rather, it’s more about finding a healthy balance. To achieve this, set clear rules for your home life. That could mean turning your phone off at 8pm every night, shutting off all screens an hour before bed, and keeping devices out of your bedroom. If you want some downtime before bed, try reading a book, doing a meditation session or simply talking with your loved ones.
3. Embrace a low-tech hobby
An old-school hobby can be a great way to take your focus away from technology and on to more physical tasks. Perhaps getting your hands dirty in a vegetable garden appeals, or maybe it’s time to pursue your long-held passion for furniture making. Joining a sports club is another great way to get away from screens, or take up surfing, golf, cycling or hiking to boost your time in the great outdoors. And if you have kids, find a low-tech activity you can all get involved in.
4. Be present at social occasions
Even our social occasions are interrupted by our obsession with technology. Keep your phone out of sight and out of mind while at dinner with friends or family, and ask guests to your next dinner party to hand in their devices as they arrive. Without the constant beeping, buzzing and flashing of phones, you’ll all likely find it much easier to be more present in the moment.
5. Track your tech usage
Like it or not, technology isn’t going anywhere. From your smartphone to your tablet or laptop, it’s a constant presence in our modern lives. The key to avoiding technology overload is simply to take a mindful approach to ensure you’re not falling into unwanted habits. Ironically, there are a range of apps you can use to monitor and reduce your screen time. For example, Moment tracks your phone usage against the goals you’ve set, and Forest rewards you for time spent not using your phone by planting real-world trees.
Power Primer FAQs
Heard about Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) but still have some questions?
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Is your business ready for cyber litigation?
When household brands suffer data breaches, you’re on notice that your business could be the next potential target for cybercriminals.
This has the potential to impact your brand, reputation and worse. There are also regulatory and legal obligations in most jurisdictions that require you to safeguard and secure consumer data. Fail to do this and you risk exposing yourself to legal liability and even litigation from your partners, clients and customers.
The sensible thing to do is to have a policy and plan of action for dealing with cyber security breaches, with a clear awareness of the legal implications.
If you are not sure how prepared your business is for litigation, start by asking these 3 questions:
1. How secure is your operation?
Your cybersecurity program not only needs to be as hacker-proof as possible, it needs to be ready for litigation. The better your cybersecurity program protects your assets against reasonable and realistic threats, the better it will stand up in court when someone’s questioning how seriously you took your duty of care. A court is unlikely to expect your cybersecurity program to be bullet-proof, but it must be highly defensible. You must be able to show that it was given careful thought and was reasonable in all circumstances.
2. Are my staff up to speed?
Your staff can be the weakest link when it comes to cybersecurity, so make sure they understand their responsibilities. Consider the need to upskill, re-hire, or supplement IT staff if you don’t have people with right skill set. You need someone with exemplary security credentials, an individual who can take the witness stand and speak about your security measures with real authority.
3. Other questions to ask
You also need to be constantly asking yourself these questions – things you could be asked in court by a lawyer trying to prove you didn’t do enough. So, make sure you have watertight answers before declaring your cybersecurity program is up to standard.
- Are we sure what we’re doing is best practice? How do we know? Can we show how we came to these conclusions?
- What security measures do we use to protect our data?
- Have we declared our objectives and plans in writing, so everyone is clear?
- Does our cybersecurity program take into account business strategy—are we across any planned mergers?
- Do we know the risks posed by our vendors and other partners?
- Are we mitigating all the potential cybersecurity risks?
- Do we have an emergency plan for a sudden attack? Why is it the best plan possible? Does everyone know what it is?
- Has everyone been trained in the physical security of IT (e.g. laptop theft) and social engineering attacks?
- How are we making sure this isn’t all written out and just put in a drawer?
Fail to ask the right questions and you risk exposing yourself to a fine, litigation or worse. The key is to be prepared and have an effective cybersecurity policy in place before an event occurs.
The Cost of Downtime: Is it worth it?
Is it worth it?
Power is essential to any IT solution.
Downtime is simply something you can’t afford.
Take a look at this worksheet to see how much you could be at risk if your power solution isn’t built from the ground up to prevent a devastating loss in productivity.
