Dry January for Your Business: 6 Tech Habits to Quit Cold Turkey

Millions of people are doing Dry January right now.

They’re cutting out the one thing they know isn’t good for them because they want to feel better, work better, and stop pretending “I’ll start Monday” is a plan.

Your business has a Dry January list too.

It’s just made of tech habits instead of cocktails.

You know the ones. Everyone knows they’re risky or inefficient. Everyone still does them because “it’s fine” and “we’re busy.”

Until it’s not fine.

Here are six bad tech habits small businesses need to quit cold turkey and what to do instead.

What Are the Most Common Bad IT Habits for Small Businesses?

The most damaging IT habits small businesses should stop include delaying software updates, reusing passwords, sharing login credentials insecurely, giving unnecessary admin access, relying on long-term workarounds, and running critical operations from unsecured spreadsheets. These habits increase security risks, slow productivity, and quietly cost businesses thousands of dollars each year.

Habit #1: Clicking “Remind Me Later” on Software Updates

That little button has done more damage to small businesses than most hackers ever could.

Updates aren’t just about new features they often patch known security vulnerabilities that cybercriminals are actively exploiting. When “later” turns into weeks or months, you’re running software attackers already know how to break into.

This is exactly how major ransomware attacks like WannaCry spread so quickly. Microsoft had released a patch months earlier. The businesses that were hit hadn’t installed it.

Quit it: Schedule updates after hours or let your IT provider manage them quietly in the background. No surprise restarts. No open doors for attackers.

Habit #2: Reusing the Same Password Everywhere

You have a favorite password.

It meets requirements. It’s easy to remember. And it’s used for e-mail, banking, online shopping, accounting software, and that random industry forum from three years ago.

Here’s the problem: when any one of those sites is breached, your email and password combination gets sold. Hackers then try it everywhere else. This is called credential stuffing, and it’s one of the most common causes of business account breaches.

Your “strong” password becomes a master key and someone else has a copy.

Quit it: Use a password manager like 1Password, Bitwarden, or LastPass. You remember one master password. Everything else is unique, encrypted, and secure.

Habit #3: Sharing Passwords Over Text, Email, or Slack

“Can you send me the login?” “Sure it’s admin@company.com, password is Summer2024!”

That message now lives forever in inboxes, cloud backups, search histories, and forwarded threads. If any account involved gets compromised, attackers can harvest credentials instantly.

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

Quit it: Use password managers with secure sharing. The recipient never sees the password, access can be revoked instantly, and nothing is left behind in message history.

Habit #4: Giving Everyone Admin Rights Because “It’s Easier”

Someone needed to install software once. Instead of setting proper permissions, admin access was handed out.

Now half the company can install software, disable security tools, and change system settings. If one of those accounts gets phished, the attacker gets full control.

Ransomware loves admin accounts.

Quit it: Follow the principle of least privilege. Employees get only the access they need nothing more. It takes a few extra minutes upfront and saves massive pain later.

Habit #5: “Temporary” Workarounds That Became Permanent

Something broke. You patched it. “We’ll fix it later.”

That was years ago.

Now everyone relies on a fragile workaround that requires tribal knowledge, extra steps, and constant babysitting. These shortcuts quietly drain productivity and collapse the moment something changes.

Quit it: Make a list of workarounds your team uses. Don’t try to fix them yourself if you could, you already would have. Let a professional eliminate them permanently.

Habit #6: The Spreadsheet That Runs Your Entire Business

You know the one.

Twelve tabs. Complex formulas. Only one person really understands it and they might not work here anymore.

Spreadsheets don’t scale. They lack audit trails, proper permissions, reliable backups, and integration with other systems. They’re tools not platforms.

Quit it: Document what the spreadsheet actually does, then move that process into proper software designed for the job. Your future self will thank you.

Why These Habits Are So Hard to Break

You already knew most of these were bad ideas.

The problem isn’t awareness it’s time.

Bad tech habits stick around because:

• The consequences are invisible until they’re catastrophic

• The “right way” feels slower in the moment

• Everyone else is doing it, so it feels normal

  
  

This is why Dry January works. It breaks autopilot and forces awareness.

How to Quit These Tech Habits Without Relying on Willpower

Willpower doesn’t work. Systems do.

Businesses that successfully break bad tech habits change their environment:

• Password managers replace insecure sharing

• Updates run automatically

• Permissions are centrally managed

• Workarounds are replaced with real solutions

• Critical systems are properly backed up and monitored

  
  

The right behavior becomes the easy behavior.

That’s what a good IT partner actually does.

IT Support for Small Businesses in Fort Smith, Fayetteville, and Tulsa

Small businesses in Fort Smith and Fayetteville, Arkansas, as well as Tulsa, Oklahoma and the surrounding areas, face the same challenge: technology habits that quietly slow teams down and increase risk.

At Preferred Office Technologies, we help businesses identify these habits and replace them with systems that are secure, efficient, and easy to manage without forcing owners to become IT experts.

When Should a Small Business Fix These IT Habits?

Before something breaks.

The best time to address bad IT habits is before a breach, outage, or productivity crisis forces action. January is ideal but the right time is whenever inefficiencies are costing your team time or increasing risk.

Ready to Quit the Tech Habits Hurting Your Business?

If your business operates in Fort Smith, Fayetteville, or surrounding Arkansas communities or in Tulsa and surrounding Oklahoma areas we can help.

Book a 15-minute Bad Habit Audit with Preferred Office Technologies. We’ll identify where your systems are holding you back and give you a clear, practical roadmap forward.

👉 Schedule your discovery call:https://www.preferred-office.com/contact

Because some habits are worth quitting cold turkey and January is a great time to start.