Many people follow Dry January, cutting down on bad habits and improving in other areas to feel better
Your business also has bad habits.
You know they’re risky or inefficient. But “things are fine,” and you’re just too busy to fix them.
NOW is the best time to have a “Dry January” list and quit cold turkey on these bad habits.
Habit #1: Clicking “Remind Me Later” on Updates
You hit “later” today. You get the notification after a week. You click “later” again.
And then weeks turn into months.
We get it. Nobody wants to restart their computer in the middle of the day. But those updates aren’t just adding features; they are patching up security gaps.
Ignoring this little button leaves your network open to hackers.
A ransomware known as WannaCry exploited a vulnerability that Microsoft had fixed two months prior. Businesses that clicked “remind me later” fell victim to this attack, bringing 150 countries to a halt.
How to Quit
Schedule regular updates at the end-of-day, or on the weekend.
Ask your IT partner to do company-wide maintenance during slow months or when employees are on vacation.
Don’t leave gaps unattended.
Habit #2: Using One Password For Everything
You’ve got a favorite password.
It meets requirements, and it’s easy to remember. So you use it everywhere: email, banking, your Amazon account, and that random news portal you signed up for two years ago.
This is a BIG problem.
Data breaches happen constantly. Imagine the news portal gets hacked and its database is leaked. Your email and password are now in the hands of hackers.
They don’t have to guess your banking details. They’ll use the same password everywhere and see what opens.
This is called credential stuffing. Your “strong” password is a master key, and someone else has a copy
How to Quit
Use a Password Manager. Full stop.
LastPass, 1Password, and Password Boss are trusted, well-regulated, encrypted password managers that are recommended for small businesses.
You only need to remember one master password to access the account. It creates a unique and complex password for everything else.
Setup takes a few minutes. Peace of mind will last forever.
Habit #3: Sharing Passwords Over Text or Email
An employee is working remotely; “could you send me the login for XYZ?”
Via email or Slack; “Sure, It’s admin@company.com, password is Success2025!”
Problem solved in 30 seconds, great!
Except now that message lives forever.
In the inbox. On the cloud.
It is searchable. Forwarable.
If anyone’s email gets compromised, the hacker can search for “password” and collect all the credentials your team has ever shared.
How to Quit
Again. Password Managers.
You can share credentials with a recipient so they can gain access without being able to see the actual password.
No permanent record in your archives. Access can be revoked at any time.
If you must share manually, split the information across multiple channels, and change the password immediately after.
Habit #4: Making Everyone “Admin”
Your coworker needs a copy of a file on Google. The IT assistant has to change a setting.
Instead of trying to figure out permission settings, you just make them admin.
When someone has admin access, they can install software, disable security tools, change critical settings, and even delete important files.
And if their account gets phished? The attacker gets all those powers, too.
Allowing half your team full admin rights is like handing them the keys to the safe because they asked for a stapler.
How to Quit
Implement the principle of “Least Privileged.”
Only allow access to authorized individuals, and give them exactly what they need, nothing more.
It’s a small part from your end to avoid the cost of a breach, or a well-meaning employee who accidentally deletes your sales folder.
Habit #5: Being Content With “This Is How We Do It”
Something broke in 2021, so you found a manual workaround until it’s fixed.
It’s been 5 years since, and the temporary fix has become the status quo.
Sure, everyone knows the extra steps, and the job gets done (eventually).
But that additional time equals a staggering amount of lost productivity.
Even worse, the workaround depends on specific conditions, an older software version, or a soon-to-be-retired manager who knows the trick. When something changes, the whole thing collapses.
Nobody knows how to fix it properly, because you never did.
How to Quit
Every business quarter, make a list of all the workarounds your team uses. Don’t try to fix it yourself (if you could, you would have done so already).
Work with your IT provider or hire an MSP like us to help you fix them once and for all.
Imagine what your employees could do with that saved time?
Habit #6: One Spreadsheet That Runs Your Entire Business
You know the one.
One Excel file. Ten tabs. A crazy formula chain.
Nobody knows how it works; it just does.
The one who created it no longer works there.
What happens if the file is corrupted? If someone accidentally deletes a row that breaks the entire chain?
This spreadsheet is a single point of failure. It doesn’t integrate with other tools. They don’t have an easy audit trail. They’re almost never backed up properly.
This spreadsheet holds your business system with digital duct tape.
How to Quit
Document which business process this spreadsheet supports. Find a tool built for that purpose.
CRM for customer tracking. Inventory software for inventory. Scheduling tools for schedules.
These have backups, audit trails, user permissions, and don’t depend on one person’s memory. Spreadsheets are great tools, but they’re awful platforms.
Bad Habits Die Hard
You must already know some of these habits are bad. They persist because:
- The consequences are invisible until they’re catastrophic. Using an Excel file works perfectly until the day it doesn’t.
- The “proper way” feels time-consuming in the moment. Setting up a Password Manager takes a few hours. Typing your memorized password takes 3 seconds.
- Everyone else does it. When the whole team shares passwords via Slack, it doesn’t feel like a risk, it’s the norm.
Break the Autopilot
Dry January works not because of discipline, but because of the environment.
The same goes for your business.
Small business owners change their environment so that the right behaviour comes easily:
- Updates are pushed automatically
- Password Managers are a MUST company-wide
- Permissions get managed centrally, no handing out admin rights
- Workarounds get replaced with real solutions
- Spreadeets are migrated to proper systems
Go “Dry” this January
Are you ready to quit the habits that are quietly hurting your business?
A good IT partner helps you change the systems, so the right behavior becomes the default.
In just 15 minutes, we’ll learn about your business, the problems you have, and give you a roadmap to fix them forever.
No judgment. No jargon. Just a cleaner, safer, faster, more profitable 2026.
Schedule your 15-minute Discovery Call
Some habits are worth quitting. And January is a good time to start.
