Six tech resolutions for a more productive and less distracted 2017

Sick of being a slave to technology? Try these easily-implemented resolutions to get the most out of your devices  Rearranging your home screen will make it harder to get distracted when using your smartphone

 The new year is the perfect time to reinvent yourself, climb Kilimanjaro and commit to growing all of your food at home. But if that all sounds a bit exhausting and unrealistic, here are a few changes you can make to the way you use technology, which might help you start 2017 more productively and hopefully a little happier, too.⇉

Backup your data, for real this time

 This is up there with other life changes we know we should really be making, but are too boring to actually consider putting into place - like changing your passwords every month or taking up running. Thankfully, this is one you really don’t have to do that often, and it might really save your a lot of hassle later down the line.

 Whether you’re using iCloud, Google Drive or Dropbox, take a moment to dump all of your important files and photos onto the cloud. Not only does this mean that they’ll be accessible wherever you need them, it also lets you get up and running super-quickly if you need to reset your hard drive or you lose your device. For the price of an hour (or less) of boredom, you’ll save yourself a future full of forehead-slapping “oops, I forgot the USB stick” moments.

Cut out negative websites and apps

How often do you unlock your smartphone, forget what you originally intended to do, and end up scrolling your Facebook or Twitter feed instead? Visiting websites or apps can become a reflex rather than a conscious decision, even if you get very little out of the experience of being on that site.

Start by downloading a website time-tracking extension such as Webtime Tracker (for Chrome), which will tell you how much time you spend on each website you visit. Take a look at your most visited website sites, and think about whether the time you spent on them was really useful or enjoyable.

If it was enjoyable, then great - but if you’re not actually getting too much from time spent on certain sites, then consider making steps to break the habit of visiting them every single day. Log out of Facebook, stop your browser remembering your Twitter password, or if you really need to focus for a period of time, use an extension that blocks sites altogether for a time of your choosing.

The same applies to your smartphone. If the only thing you use Facebook for is messaging friends then delete the Facebook app but keep Messenger. Decide which apps you want less of, and put them at a distance from yourself by hiding them away in folders, if you can’t quite bear the thought of quitting them altogether.

Create your own charging station

 With every new bit of gear comes the heavy, heavy burden of keeping it charged so you can actually use it on a regular basis. My bedroom floor is basically a graveyard of gadgets – wireless headphones, fitness trackers – which I can’t quite muster up the energy to plug in and charge. And because if you don’t track your run then it didn’t happen (right?) then this, in turn, becomes an excuse for being a lazy oaf.

To save yourself from this sorry state, put together a simple charging bank and get in the habit of leaving your devices plugged in there when you’re not using them. Always keep a charged battery pack in your bag along with a charging cable, to deal with the inevitable event of running out of charge on a day you really, really need to use your phone.

Organise your smartphone apps

 Rearranging your home screen will make it easier to get to the apps you regularly use, and harder to find the ones that distract you. Start by moving all your apps to your home screen (on iOS), and putting the ones you want to use more at the bottom of the screen, within easy reach of your thumbs. Delete useless apps altogether and hide distractions right at the top of your screen or within folders.

Exchange your old gadgets for cash

 If your old devices are gathering dust in some godforsaken corner of your house, consider trading them in for cash or vouchers. Amazon lets you trade in phones, cameras, books and wearables in return for gift cards, while more specialist retailers such as CeX and Envirofone let you swap your old devices for cash.

Stop second screening

 I admit, this is a personal bugbear rather than something that you must do to revolutionise your life, but if you – or someone close to you – can’t watch TV without also scrolling Instagram and saying “wait, what just happened there?” just stop. You are annoying to watch TV with and your ability to do a full post-episode discussion is deeply compromised when you split your attention between two screens. Whatever you do when you’re watching solo is fine, but people who double-screen with friends should be forever condemned to watching Netflix on a tiny, tiny screen for eternity if they like their smartphones that much.

Three apps for a more productive 2017

 Wunderlist

 This to-do list app is also available for desktop browsers and lets you share lists with other people for the ultimate divide and conquer approach to grocery shopping.

 Pocket 

Bookmarks are so 2012. The Pocket app and browser extension lets you save articles and web pages offline so you can read them later on your smartphone and never miss out on a great article.

 Splitwise

 Automate the awkwardness of splitting bills with housemates or friends by using Splitwise. Whenever you pay for something, pop it into the app and it’ll calculate how much you’re owed from each person, taking into account your debts to people within and outside the same group.