You may recall in my last newsletter that I mentioned how forgotten, lost and cluttered our passwords tend to be.
You may have a more sophisticated way of marking down passwords than the one pictured above (and I hope you do), but even still our systems can always be improved upon and decluttered.
Let me walk you down my own journey with passwords and full disclosure, it is not a pretty journey. My system for keeping track of passwords used to involve what I now see as a ridiculous jumble of confusion. Every time I had to create a password, I would save it in my phone as a contact with the first name being _________ (the item for which the password belonged) and the last name being “Password.” So for example, my password for Amazon would be saved as Amazon (first name) and Password (second name). This would be the same way I would save every password such as Crave, Netflix, etc. This “system” seemed good at the time, but saving stuff in my contacts this way left me not only with an overstuffed P in my contacts, but also a bigger problem – I often could not find these passwords.
Other problem password systems include: writing passwords down in a notebook (what if this item becomes lost)? Also, if you want to keep track of your passwords in your ‘notes’ or ‘pages’ function, it is important to find a consistent system so that you can easily retrieve forgotten passwords, which happens all the time.
So how do we even get started with this password problem you ask? Well, I have some ideas.
#1 – A good time for a forensic
We all know that we are in an age where passwords can become not only forgotten but also compromised. So this is a great opportunity to go through each and every one of your passwords and related sites and not only ensure you have the password written down in an organized way, but also perhaps look into if this password needs changing. You may also have passwords to sites that you are no longer accessing which can result in some deleting (always a favourite activity of mine and a wonderful way to declutter)!
#2 – How to keep a neat, non cluttered Password list
Once you have gone through all of your passwords ensuring that you have all of the essential ones, I suggest you make an organized list in your notes or pages function. Alphabetical works great. If you are an old school person and wish to have a hard copy list, here is my suggestion: after you write this list out, take a picture of it with your phone and voila now you have a back-up copy too.
#3 – Don’t use the same exact password for every site, but make it similar
Although I agree with the pundits who advise not to use the same password for every site, I also don’t believe in having wholly different passwords either – this makes it very hard to remember passwords and I am not down for it! Stay with me for a moment! I suggest using different variations of something that make the passwords different enough to keep your valuable information safe. For example: if you like as your password base FleetwoodMac, you can also use (for different sites):
-#FleetwoodMac
-FleetwoodMac123
-##FleetwoodMac!
You get the gist! This will help you remember passwords easier, and you always have that master list when you need it!
So with all of this in mind, good luck decluttering your passwords! It may not be the most fun job of your day but after you are complete you will have a lot of password problems resolved 🙂
Aside from helping with all of our decluttering needs, Avery hosts the Journey Into Yoga Podcast where she guides you through a different yoga pose each week explaining all that it has to offer the body and mind. Episodes and more can be found at averyrich.com. Check out this week’s show where Avery continues the journey through the poses that make up a sun salute, moving to the next posture: a choice between upward facing dog or cobra – you can find the episode below!
Avery Rich
Avery hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba, with a background in both law and yoga! As a long time Yoga Instructor, she hosts the Journey Into Yoga podcast, a show which explores and demystifies a different yoga posture each week. A true believer in creating space in our bodies through yoga, her Declutter U newsletter is designed to provide tips and tools on how to create more space in our lives by decluttering.
