You don’t have to be an IT professional to benefit from a few typically “geeky” skills. Whether you want to set up your own blog, troubleshoot your own laptop issues, or get better performance from your mobile phone, working on the following skills will help you avoid spending hours on the phone with a customer service call center.
1. Back up your devices.
Whether you use an outdated flip phone or a brand-new tablet, it’s important to have some backup solution. Cloud storage is an easy option, but you should explore all your options to choose the best one for you. These include external hard drives, network drives, CDs, and backup apps.
2. Make your Wi-Fi network more secure.
Have you ever started searching for a Wi-Fi network and noticed just how many unsecured options there are? Don’t let yours be one of them. Learn how to create a password to protect your network and make it private.
3. Know the basics of HTML.
Learning some form of coding can be useful in various circumstances. You don’t have to keep up with every new language, however. Learn the basic HTML tags; these will take a long way when it comes to formatting your documents or creating a website.
4. Know keyboard shortcuts.
You probably already know Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V to copy and paste into a document, but many other keyboard shortcuts are just as useful. For example, did you know that you can use J and K to move up and down when browsing a list? Or that Ctrl-Z will undo a mistake quickly? The more of these you learn, the easier life is.
5. Install a new hard drive.
Could your computer use a bit of TLC? It’s only natural that an issue with the hard drive will pop up at some point, making this DIY skill a handy one. Watch a few YouTube videos for instructions, or take a computing course to learn the basics. Believe me; it’s worth it.
6. Get around web content filters.
If you’re using a public computer with restricted web content, bypassing a proxy server such as those listed at proxies.org is easy. Virtual private networks can also be a way to get around these filters.
7. Stream media content.
If you don’t know how to stream television, music, and games yet, you’re missing out on many of the major pleasures of the internet. Learn how to use streaming services like Hulu or Spotify and hook these up to your home television.
8. Securely erase your data.
Do you need to get rid of your computer’s data securely? Learn how to perform a zero fill, which overwrites a new pattern consisting of 0s all over your hard disk. Without this, anyone can still access your disk.
These are just a few of the skills that help make life easier. You can find more ideas here in this list or follow a few tech blogs to start viewing tutorials.
