If those who can’t do are the best teachers, then sloths, the animal embodiment ‘can’t do,’ may very well be the best teachers in the world. Let’s see what they say about time management:
Most computer security mishaps are a result of human error. Sure, systems can fail. However, most of the time, humans are the weak link. When it comes to digital security, the best tips are often the simplest. Here’s our top 6:
This comic was created by for the Toggl Team – the people behind So what are these tips really about? Well let’s break them down:
1. Use strong passwords
We know, you’ve heard it a million times. But maybe this time it will stick.
Using a is much more secure a password then a jumble of letter and numbers. It makes the passwords you do need to remember (like the one to your password manager), more secure. It takes a computer much longer to guess full words than random letter scrambles.
Opening a dictionary and just picking words at random is a good strategy. Want to know more about what makes a good password? Check out this :
2. Don’t reuse passwords
Don’t just use a variation of the same password. If someone guesses one password then a computer can, with ease, guess your variations, making it highly insecure. See comic above for more info.
3. Use a password manager
Let’s face it: your brain is a dummy. It won’t be able to remember plenty of good passwords. And after all, the best passwords are the ones you don’t remember. A password manager is the only way to have a wide variety of truly secure passwords.
Password managers are easy to use, cheap or free, and can save major frustrations in the long run. Worried what could happen if someone gets the password to your password manager? This is a common reason cited for not using managers and it’s a bad one at that. Why?
Most password managers use multiple login verification steps. So if someone did get your password, they still wouldn’t be able to login. Good managers will also have the option to enable 2-factor-authentication. Don’t know what that is? Skip down to #5 for more info.
4. Look at URLs
Never enter personal information before knowing that you’re on the correct site. Phishing is one of the easiest ways for hackers to get your information. What is phishing?
Phishing is the attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details etc. for malicious reasons, by disguising as a trustworthy entity (such as a site you know and trust with your information) in an electronic communication.
Always check URLs before you click on links (in emails and online). Make sure you’re on the right page when you enter login information. After all, it could be just a fancy copycat.
5. Don’t allow physical access to your machine
This one is a bit different from the rest. The physical security of devices is important partially because people don’t often think of it when they hear ‘digital security.’ Your actual physical phone or computer tends to be where you let your guard down.
If you have an unlocked device, it wouldn’t take much time for someone to install programs that do tons of fun malicious things (like tracking your keystrokes to get your passwords) without your knowledge. Make sure you lock your computer when you leave it and always protect it, and your other devices, with secure passwords.
6. Enable 2 Factor Authentication
If someone steals your password, then 2FA can prevent them from logging into all your precious accounts. 2 Factor Authentication means that you’ll need 2 devices to login. Generally, the devices are a cellphone and a computer. Your first device (let’s say your computer) will need a token (generally a string of random numbers or letter) that you can retrieve from an app on your phone.
Enter it after your password and you’re in your account. Don’t have the second code? No dice. This helps prevent strangers from getting into your accounts. Unless someone takes your phone, then you may be screwed.
We don’t mean to worry you and by no means should you throw your computer out the window in an attempt to rid yourself of this threatening digital world to which you’ve just been exposed. Instead, we’d like you to think of the internet as a busy city.
It’s somewhere you can go and experience amazing things. Sure, there are bad things that happen. But as long as you know what to look for and approach your activities with warranted caution, you’ll be able to still have those experiences that drew you there initially.
Now go change your passwords.
When you start any new job, you bring to it your own set of expectations. The same goes for freelancing. If you decide to become a freelancer, what you picture may be just slightly different than the reality…
This comic was created by for the Toggl Team – the people behind
We do these comics to give you a mental break from your epic daily adventures – like creating an amazing product or trying to find your next great client.
If you’re a freelancer, chances are you’ll like this comic where we explain .
If you’re a developer, boy do we have some great stuff for you. We did this awesome comic about using different programming languages to as well as this comic that theorized what might happen if (spoiler alert: it’s not great).
You might also enjoy – a highly realistic, profoundly immoral game about life in the gritty startup scene of Silicon Valley. We built the entire game during a weeklong team retreat in the Scottish lowlands (highlands were not good, terrible wifi).
Also, since a lot of our users work in development, we also have this handy guide
Oh boy, will we ever. We like doing these so much that we’ve started putting out a new one every Thursday. You can follow our blog, , or to keep up to date.
If you have any fresh ideas that we could put into a comic, do let us know in the comments below and we promise to add you as an easter egg when it comes out.
Until then – keep on trackin’!
It’s not deja vu. They’re everywhere. No matter where you work, there always seems to be a few familiar characters hanging around.
The Work From Home Freelancer was created by who spends her days drawing and screenprinting at her home in Denton, Texas.
The way we work from home is pretty new, but the house as a workplace is not. Telecommuting was first proposed in 1973 by former NASA engineer Jack Nilles, who thought of it primarily as an alternative to transportation. When he penned his case-study The Telecommunications-Transportation Tradeoff, American cities were booming. The 1950s and 60s had popularized the car. The 70s made it ubiquitous. However, the 1974 OPEC crisis led to increasing gas prices. Reliance on cars started to concern some people.
In the present day, avoiding commutes is still cited as a reason people work from home. Cities are getting more expensive. People are moving further away from their jobs in . Increased traffic congestion stretches short distances into long commutes. But the way we work has also changed. Freelance and contract work is on the rise, and the internet has made it easier than ever to work from where ever there’s access.
But, as always, there is a trade-off.
The issues of working from home
I think a lot about working from home. All of us at Toggl do; we’re a fully remote company. A number of us were freelancers before Toggl. For most, working from home is not an entirely new concept.
Working from home is fantastic, many of which I’m sure you could guess, even if you don’t work from home. But there are some not so great things. Every 6 months, we do a workplace-wide survey to check up and see how people feel about the company and their work. On every survey, at least some people report feeling lonely or isolated.
Every 6 months, we do a workplace-wide survey to check up and see how people feel about the company and their work. On every survey, at least some people report feeling lonely or isolated.
It makes sense. As distracting as offices can be, the distraction can sometimes be good for your mental health. Spending face-to-face time with other people is good for you. Offices automatically enforce face-to-face time.
Healthy freelancer lifestyle
As a freelancer or remote worker, you are wholly reliant on yourself to schedule most your human interaction. If you’re also responsible for bringing in jobs, planning your work day and motivating yourself to get the work done, any additional responsibilities can be draining. On the freelance scale of priorities, earning money and its associated activities is number 1. Having a healthy lifestyle often falls near the bottom.
One’s ability to spend time with other people and pursue a healthy lifestyle is dependent on many factors. Listing them would be beyond the scope of this post. But their benefits are universal. Taking small steps towards caring for your mental well being is all we can ask. Our suggestion is to start working these little things into a routine.
We are . If you search ‘how to be a better freelancer’ or ‘how to get work done from home,’ I will almost guarantee that every list or article mentions routine. Taking care of yourself needs to be a part of yours.
Like I said, start small! Make a list of things you can do for yourself which could help improve your mental health. Maybe your lack of social interaction is hurting your mood. Perhaps you’re just spending too much time at your house.
Once you identify a bigger issue, you can break it down into smaller bits, then add those bits to a checklist.
For example, if you’re struggling with a lack of social interaction, maybe the first goal could be finding a group of freelancers you can work with or even just talk to. The research of discovering a group can be your small, achievable first step. Set aside a chunk of your day to knocking that off your checklist. Set a timer! You can then repeat this method of breaking down the big tasks into smaller bits until you’ve found the social support that’s right for you.
No matter your problem, breaking down your goals into small achievable tasks is a great way to make daunting goals doable. Plus if you continue doing this every day, you’ll form a habit. So what are you waiting for? It’s time to take care of yourself.
It’s the beginning of a new year and resolutions season is here. If your goals include improving your work life, you may wanna give these tips from famous robots a look.
From time-to-time, we all like to have a little good-humored fun. If you spend your time with a developer, you might be tempted to mess with them.
Looking for great books to help advance your career? Do you want help transforming into a productivity machine? Well then look further my friend, because these books will probably not help. But if you want a little bad advice, look no further…
This comic was created by Elizabeth Pich, half of the talent behind for the Toggl Team. Often, we wear ourselves thin for our jobs, giving it all at the expense of our health and joy. It’s hard to . It’s hard to . We attribute this frustration to having the wrong job or not doing what we love, but stressors can wear you down even if you have your dream job.
Stressors can wear you down even if you have your dream job.
It doesn’t matter what you do. Take time to do something different that makes you smile. It could be art classes or therapy or cooking a beautiful meal. Maybe you don’t know what that thing is yet. But what a treat! You get to try lots of things to find out precisely what makes you happy. Maybe trying new things is your thing! So take a break and make some nice memories.
A Job is a Job
Another day breaks, you pour out of bed.
Not a minute awake and in creeps the dread.
The dread of the world waiting outside your door
With its deadlines, appointments, its meetings, its chores!
You feel uninspired as you sit in your cube.
A few minutes of joy watching cat clips on YouTube.
When you’re colleagues ask a friendly “How do you do?”
You simply say “Fine”, but you’d like to say “Blue”.
You say to yourself, that’s the way it must be.
There’s duties and schedules, and your kid’s dentist fees.
A job is a job and a job must be done!
There’s no time to sit around and simply have fun!
So you slumpity-slump your way through each day.
And you gripe, and you type, as you labor away.
Now, this will not do. No, this simply won’t do!
Who’s running this show, here? It’s you, my dear, you!
It’s time to start asking what do you want to do?
Plan some time for yourself, two, three hours a day.
Leave your smartphone at home – go out and play.
Why have we stopped playing? How silly, how wrong!
To think growing up means being earnest all day long.
Remember, you liked to go out and dance?
You once played guitar in that weird indie band.
Or painting, whatever did happen to that?
Strange how all of those passions fell flat.
Now, a job is a job, and a job must be done.
But a you is a you, and you must also have fun.
So take a week off, one, or two, six, or eight!
This is your mental health – and that simply can’t wait.
But wait! It’s not easy when money is tight.
That’s true, but you can still take that art course at night.
If risks aren’t your thing, work part-time for a while.
In your new found free time, do things that make you smile.
Sure there’s bosses, and partners, and clients to whoo.
But in the grand scheme of things, you’re working for you.
And if they don’t get it – that self-care must be.
Well then, good riddance, there’s other job-fish in the sea!
Taking care of yourself is the first job of all.
If you don’t work at that, soon you’ll have no job at all.
So, eat a grand meal, sing a song, learn Malay.
Not just once in a while – do these things every day.
Yes, a job is a job and a job must be done.
But taking care of yourself is job Number One
We do comics like this every week, so keep an eye on our or !