So you’re locked up in your home for the next few weeks or so (hopefully not anymore) probably binge-watching your favorite shows on Netflix and refreshing your social media feed every 30 minutes or so, but by now you’re probably sick of having that phone in your hand too. Even the most introverted ones of us are getting squeamish being locked up.
The good news is there are tons of ways you can pass the time. You asked, and the internet responded. From sharing recipes to crafts and arts, everyone seems to be doing it their own way. This update is for the tech geeks out there thinking of ways to pass the time. You could utilize this time to get your digital life organized. The best part, you don’t even require any fancy equipment.
1. Reset all your passwords and review your privacy settings
We often hurriedly sign up to various websites with the same password or keep horribly weak passwords. You could start off by installing a password manager (such as LastPass or Dashlane). With this, you can save credentials to all your websites and keep them secure. You also want to change all your passwords. Create stronger, new passwords, preferably randomly generated ones.
The next thing you need to work on is two-factor authentication which will give your accounts extra protection. Look for the apps that provide two-factor authentication and turn it on. (Two-factor authentication will send a code to you via SMS or E-mail whenever you log in to your social media accounts and hence keep them more secure). The final step is to go through your privacy settings on all your accounts (Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn, etc.) and review them plus make any necessary changes.
2. Clear our your E-mail
Am I the only one who doesn’t bother opening every other E-mail I receive? I open the major important ones and leave the rest unread. Well, now we have the time to sort through them! Clear out your trash and spam folders. You can also organize your e-mails into folders according to the topic or which need to be attended first. Or you could turn your E-mail into a Trello-style board with a to-do list (Apps such as Drag will do that for you). There are tons of apps to help you organize your e-mails. 
3. Organize your photo gallery
You probably take dozens of selfies, screenshots and save pictures off of the internet every day. At this point, your gallery must be a mess. Well now that you’re not out there snapping pictures, you have time to sort through your gallery. Sort your pictures into albums, clear out the ones you don’t need and create a backup for the important ones.
4. Backup all your documents and update your devices
Now that you’re backing up your photos you might as well work on creating a backup system for your documents as well. You could go for a cloud storage service like Dropbox or Microsoft’s OneDrive which will automatically create backups for all documents. If you’re a Mac user you can also go for the iCloud Drive to create a backup for your files. You should also create local backups for all your information online.
5. Scan all your devices/drives for viruses
Not all of us run regular virus scans (at least not on all our devices). Well, now you can. Gather around all your devices and run virus scans. You also want to run virus scans on all your drives as well. While doing so, clear out any junk files cluttering your storage and lagging your system.
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6. Cut off on the expensive subscriptions
All major sports leagues are on hiatus and you shouldn’t expect your favorite shows to be filming new episodes either. That means its time you cut off on your expensive cable/satellite TV services. You could filter through your YouTube TV, Hulu and Live TV subscriptions. Also consider ditching your cable bundle entirely and going for cheaper services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+. There are also some free streaming services available you might want to take a look at (such as Pluto TV, Tibu). 
7. Sort your notes and listings online
You need to reorganize EVERYTHING. Stop keeping notes everyplace you can get. Keep them well organized, there are tons of apps that can help with that. Trello, your own PC’s sticky notes, Notability, Evernote, Booksnote, Google Keep, etc. Organize them according to to-do lists for work and office. Now that you might be working from home, this could actually be very helpful. 
8. Tweak your Router Settings
The next thing you could do is work on your router settings. This can actually help you improve the performance of your router. You can start by going through its security settings, updating your router, disabling older wireless protocols, changing the channel width and changing your router’s location, etc.
9. Repurpose old tech lying around
Now let’s say you have an old phone lying around. You could try and repurpose it and get amazing hacks out of them. Let’s say you have an old tablet you don’t pretty much use anymore. You could plug it into your desk as a second monitor by using Apple’s Sidecar feature or Duet Display. You could also create a restricted device from this for your kids to use or turn your old phone into a Chromecast remote.
10. Go for a Raspberry Pi Project
Finally, if you’re up for it you could go for a Raspberry Pi Project. If you’re a beginner go for simpler projects such as a portable Bluetooth speaker, a remote control car, build an alarming motion sensor. You can also check out the Raspberry Pi tutorials available on our website to get you started.
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