January 12, 2026
Right now, millions are embracing the Dry January challenge.
They're ditching the habit they know harms them, aiming to boost their energy, productivity, and stop the endless cycle of "I'll start Monday."
Your business has its own version of Dry January — a list of tech habits to eliminate.
Instead of cocktails, these are your risky digital behaviors.
You know them well. They're known risks or inefficiencies that persist because "it's fine" or "we're too busy."
Until suddenly, it's not fine anymore.
Discover six damaging tech habits to drop immediately and smarter alternatives to adopt this month.
Habit #1: Postponing Software Updates by Clicking "Remind Me Later"
This tiny button has inflicted more damage on small businesses than many cyberattacks.
We understand—interruptions during work are frustrating. But updates don't just add features; they patch urgent security vulnerabilities hackers exploit.
Delaying updates from days to weeks to months leaves your system exposed with known security gaps.
Remember the WannaCry ransomware? It paralyzed companies worldwide by exploiting a vulnerability patched by Microsoft two months earlier—one that victims had ignored by clicking "remind me later" repeatedly.
The fallout cost businesses across 150+ countries billions and halted operations.
Action Step: Schedule updates during off-hours or automate them through your IT team. This ensures seamless security without disrupting your workflow or leaving doors open to threats.
Habit #2: Reusing a Single Password Across All Accounts
We all have that go-to password.
It's "secure enough," memorable, and used everywhere — from email and banking to shopping sites and old forums.
The issue? Data breaches expose these credentials constantly. That forgotten forum's leaked database could hold your login info, now sold on hacker marketplaces.
Hackers don't need to guess—they try stolen credentials on your bank and other sensitive sites.
This attack, called credential stuffing, causes a large portion of account compromises. Your "strong" password might already be compromised.
Action Step: Adopt a password manager like LastPass, 1Password, or Bitwarden. They create and store unique, complex passwords for you, requiring you to remember only one master password. Setup is quick, and it delivers lasting security peace of mind.
Habit #3: Sharing Passwords Via Email or Messaging Apps
Requests like "Can you send me the shared account login?" are common.
Responses quickly share emails and passwords through Slack, text, or email—solving problems instantly.
But these messages remain forever — saved in sent folders, inboxes, backups, and cloud storage, searchable and forwardable.
One compromised account with a simple "password" search can expose every credential your team has shared, putting your security at risk.
Sharing passwords like this is equivalent to mailing your house key openly.
Action Step: Use the secure sharing features built into password managers. Recipients gain access without seeing the actual password and you can revoke permissions anytime. If manual sharing is unavoidable, split credentials across channels and change passwords immediately afterward.
Habit #4: Granting Everyone Admin Rights for Convenience
Often, someone needs to install software or adjust a setting. Instead of configuring precise permissions, everyone is made an admin for simplicity.
This results in too many employees holding full administrative control.
Admin rights allow installing programs, disabling security, altering configurations, or deleting vital files. If credentials are stolen, attackers gain these powers too.
Ransomware especially targets admin accounts, enabling rapid and severe damage.
Giving everyone admin privileges is like handing out keys to the safe because someone needed a stapler.
Action Step: Follow the principle of least privilege: assign access only to what's necessary. Investing a few minutes to set correct permissions protects you far better than risking costly breaches or unintended data loss.
Habit #5: Allowing Temporary Workarounds to Become Permanent Procedures
Something broke, so you applied a quick fix, promising to resolve it properly later.
Years later, that workaround is entrenched as the standard process.
Although clunky, the job gets done, so no one questions the inefficient, multi-step routine.
However, extra steps multiplied across your entire team daily equate to significant lost productivity.
More critically, these stopgap measures depend on specific conditions, software versions, or individuals who understand the quirks. When changes inevitably occur, systems fail and know-how disappears.
Action Step: List all current workarounds. Don't try to fix them solo; instead, let experts help you replace these fragile processes with reliable solutions that save time and reduce frustration.
Habit #6: Relying on a Complex Spreadsheet to Run Your Business
You recognize that single Excel file with countless tabs and bewildering formulas.
Only a few employees understand it, and the creator is no longer around.
What's your backup if this file becomes corrupted? Who will maintain it if your key employee leaves?
This spreadsheet acts as a high-risk single point of failure.
Spreadsheets lack clear audit trails. An accidental deletion could cause irreversible damage. They don't scale well, integrate poorly with tools, and are often improperly backed up—making critical systems vulnerable.
Action Step: Document the business processes the spreadsheet supports, then transition those functions to specialized software like CRM for customer management, inventory systems, or scheduling tools. These solutions offer backups, permissions, and reliability beyond any spreadsheet.
Why These Dangerous Habits Persist
You already know these habits put your business at risk.
It's not ignorance — it's being overwhelmed.
These bad tech behaviors stick because:
- Negative outcomes remain invisible until disaster strikes. Password reuse works fine until a breach reveals the damage all at once.
- The right way often feels slower initially. Setting up a password manager takes hours, while typing a known password takes seconds. The difference becomes clear only after the severe consequences of a breach.
- When the whole team shares insecure habits, risks feel normalized and invisible.
This is why Dry January succeeds: It creates awareness and breaks autopilot, making invisible dangers visible.
How to Successfully Break These Habits Without Relying on Willpower Alone
Willpower alone won't break Dry January habits.
Changing your environment will.
It's the same with your business technology.
Companies that truly overcome these bad tech habits do so by reshaping their environment to make good practices effortless:
- Company-wide password managers eliminate insecure credential sharing.
- Automated updates remove the option to delay important patches.
- Centralized permission management stops unnecessary admin rights from being granted.
- Workarounds are replaced by permanent, scalable solutions that don't rely on tribal knowledge.
- Critical processes shift from fragile spreadsheets to secure, backed-up software platforms.
In this new setup, the right choice is the easy choice, and risky habits become inconvenient.
That's the mark of an excellent IT partner: not lecturing but transforming your systems so that secure, efficient behaviors are the default.
Are You Ready to End the Tech Habits Silently Holding Your Business Back?
Schedule a Bad Habit Audit today.
In just 15 minutes, we'll explore your business's challenges and provide a clear road map to permanently resolve them.
No judgment. No tech jargon. Just a safer, cleaner, faster, and more profitable 2026 awaiting you.
Click here or give us a call at 404-719-5222 to book your 15-Minute Discovery Call.
Because some habits deserve to be quit cold turkey.
And there's no better time than January to begin.
