Dry January, Business Edition: 6 Tech Habits To Cut Out Now

Millions of people start the year by committing to Dry January.

They’re cutting out habits they know are holding them back so they can feel better, think more clearly, and work more effectively.

That same reset applies to your business.
It just focuses on technology habits rather than drinks.

These habits are familiar. Most people know they are inefficient or risky, but they keep using them anyway because things are busy and “it’s fine for now” feels easier.

Until it isn’t.

Below are six common tech habits that small businesses should stop using immediately, along with better alternatives that make work easier, safer, and more efficient.

Habit #1: Clicking "Remind Me Later" When Prompted to Update.

That small “remind me later” option has caused more harm to small businesses than most cybercriminals ever could.

It is understandable. No one wants their computer to restart in the middle of a busy workday. But software updates are not just about new features. Many of them fix security weaknesses that attackers are actively targeting.

Putting updates off for later often turns into days, then weeks, and eventually months. At that point, businesses are running systems with known security flaws that criminals already know how to exploit.

The WannaCry ransomware attack is a clear example. It disrupted organizations around the world by taking advantage of a security issue Microsoft had already fixed two months earlier. Every affected system had skipped that update.

The result... was a massive disruption. Businesses across more than 150 countries were impacted, with billions lost as operations came to a standstill.

Quit it: Set updates to run at the end of the day or allow your IT provider to install them quietly in the background. No interruptions, no unexpected restarts, and no unnecessary exposure to attackers.

Habit #2: A Single Password That Secures All Accounts

Most people have a favorite password.

It meets all the “strength” requirements, feels secure, and is easy to recall. You use it everywhere: your email, banking, Amazon account, accounting software, even that niche forum you joined years ago.

Here's the issue: Data breaches happen all the time. That obscure forum? Its database may have been leaked last year, and your email-password combination could now be circulating on hacker marketplaces.

Attackers don’t need to guess your banking password. They already have it and simply try it across different accounts to see what works.

This technique is called credential stuffing, and it’s responsible for a large portion of account breaches. Your supposedly strong password is effectively a master key, and someone else has a copy.

Quit it: Use a password manager. End of story. Tools like LastPass, 1Password, or Bitwarden store and generate unique, complex passwords for every account. You only need to remember a single master password. Setup takes minutes, but the security and peace of mind last indefinitely.

Habit #3: Sending Passwords via Email or Chat

“Hi, can you send me the login for the shared account?”

“Sure! Email is admin@company.com, password is Summer2024.”

Shared over Slack, text, or email. Problem solved in seconds.

The problem is that now this message exists forever.

It sits in your sent folder, in their inbox, backed up to the cloud, searchable and forwardable. If anyone’s account is ever compromised, attackers can search for keywords like “password” and collect every credential your team has shared.

It’s the digital equivalent of writing your house key on a postcard and mailing it.

Quit it: Use a password manager with secure sharing features. The person who needs access can log in without ever seeing the actual password. Access can be revoked anytime, and there’s no permanent record floating around email archives. If you absolutely must share credentials manually, split them across different channels and change the password immediately afterward.

Habit #4: Giving All Users Admin Access for Convenience

An employee needed to install software or adjust a setting. Instead of figuring out the exact permission required, you just made them an admin.

Before long, half the team has full administrative access because it seemed faster than doing it correctly.

What does admin access really allow? Users can install programs, disable security tools, change critical system settings, or delete important files. If their login is compromised, an attacker gains all those same powers.

Ransomware loves admin accounts. The more access a user has = the faster and more damaging an attack can be.

Giving everyone admin rights is like handing out keys to the company safe just because one person needed a stapler once.

Quit it: Apply the principle of least privilege: Each person should have access only to what they need to do their job. Setting permissions correctly may take a few extra minutes, but it is a small investment compared to the cost of a security breach or an employee accidentally deleting important files.

Habit #5: “Quick” Fixes That Ended Up Sticking Around

Something stopped working. You found a quick workaround and said, “We’ll resolve it properly down the line.”

That was years ago. Now that workaround has just become the way things are done.

Yes, it takes a few extra steps. Yes, everyone has to remember the trick. But the work still gets done, so why bother fixing it?

Because those small extra steps, repeated by multiple people every day, add up to a huge loss in productivity.

Even worse: Workarounds make systems fragile. They rely on certain conditions, specific software versions, or the memory of the people who know the trick. When anything changes, the process breaks. No one remembers the proper way to fix it because it was never documented or corrected.

Quit it: Start by listing all the workarounds your team uses. Do not try to fix them yourself—that is why they became permanent. Instead, let experts help resolve them once and for all. The result is less frustration, smoother operations, and more time for everyone.

Habit #6: The Single Spreadsheet Keeping Your Business Afloat

You know the spreadsheet.

A single Excel file. Dozens of tabs. A tangle of formulas no one really understands. Only a few people know how it works, and the person who created it is no longer with the company.

If the file becomes corrupted, what is the backup plan? If the expert leaves, who keeps it running?

That spreadsheet is a serious single point of failure.

Spreadsheets have serious limitations. They leave no clear record of changes. A single accidental deletion can erase important data without anyone noticing. They do not scale well, rarely sync with other systems, and are often not backed up correctly. Essentially, a critical part of your business is running on fragile digital duct tape.

Quit it: Identify exactly what business processes the spreadsheet supports, not just the file itself. Then switch to tools built for those purposes. Use a CRM to manage customers, specialized inventory software to track stock, and scheduling applications to organize workflows. These systems include proper backups, user permissions, and audit logs. They do not rely on a single employee’s knowledge. Spreadsheets are helpful for calculations, but they are unreliable as the backbone of your business operations.

Why These Tech Routines Are Difficult to Quit

Most of these habits are not a mystery. You already know they are risky or inefficient. The problem is not knowledge; it is time and priorities.

These habits continue because:

• Consequences are often hidden until something goes wrong. Reusing passwords works fine until a breach occurs and everything collapses at once.
• The correct approach feels slower at the moment. Setting up a password manager or configuring proper permissions may take hours, while a shortcut takes seconds. It seems easier until you consider the potential cost of a security breach or lost productivity.
• Everyone is doing it. When your team shares passwords via chat or uses the same spreadsheet workaround, it feels normal. When risky behavior becomes normalized, it stays invisible until it causes problems.

This is why Dry January works for people. It forces attention, breaks autopilot routines, and reveals what has been hidden.

How to Actually Break These Habits

Willpower alone rarely works.
The key to change is adjusting the environment.

Same with business technology.

Companies that successfully eliminate these habits make the right behavior the easiest option:

• Deploy password managers across the company so insecure credential sharing is impossible.
• Push software updates automatically to remove the option of delaying them.
• Manage permissions centrally so admin rights are granted only when needed.
• Replace workarounds with proper systems and processes that do not rely on one person’s memory.
• Move critical spreadsheets into specialized software with backups, access controls, and audit logs.

When the correct way is the simple choice, old habits fade naturally.

This is what a good IT partner provides. They do not just explain what to do; they restructure your systems so safe, efficient, and correct behaviors become the default.

Ready to Quit the Habits That Are Silently Harming Your Business?

Schedule a Bad Habit Audit.

Within 15 minutes, we will review your business, identify problem areas, and provide a clear plan to fix them for good.

No judgment. No confusing tech jargon. Just a safer, smoother, and more productive 2026.

Book your 15-minute discovery call here

Because certain habits are best quit cold turkey.
And January gives you the perfect chance to do it.