Keeping

Technology is present in every aspect of our lives in one way or another, and while this is a great thing, technology certainly doesn’t come cheap. We have everything from high-powered home tech items to small but mighty portable or even wearable tech that we have on hand at any given moment.

So, how can you protect your gadgets and keep them safe? Here are our top three tips to help you do just that.

Reasonable Care

One of the most obvious and yet, somehow, most overlooked, ways of keeping your gadgets safe is to exercise reasonable care. Now, what is reasonable care? Well, reasonable care is the process of making sure you are using common sense when it comes to the care of your gadgets, and not being irresponsible.

Reasonable care varies from gadget to gadget by maybe things like:

• Not carrying a mobile phone in your hand, back pocket, or an unzipped handbag
• Always carrying a secure laptop or tablet case
• Ensuring cameras or video equipment have hand or neck straps
• Having a password on your devices
• Ensuring wearable tech is fastened tightly
• Not leaving doors or window in your home unlocked
• Not leaving items where they can be seen through car windows.

Insurances

Outside of reasonable care, there are also some various insurances you can look into to ensure that your tech is kept safe. This would be a good option for anyone who relies heavily on their gadgets and needs them to be functioning at all times.

Most gadgets, when sold, will come with the option of adding insurance to your order. Most often with items such as laptops, mobile phones, tablets, etc., these individual policies will cover you for that item. This type of insurance has its pros and cons. It is a great choice if you are only looking to cover one high-value item, but this can end up costly if you end up with multiple policies because you want to cover various items.

If this is the case, consider instead investing in home contents insurance or personal possessions insurance. Your home contents policy will be able to cover larger tech items that don’t leave your home, for example, TVs, games consoles, desktop computers, sound systems, etc. In contrast, personal possessions insurance will protect items that you regularly take out and about with you, such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and smartwatches, etc.

Built-In and Added Safety Measures

Most of the tech items we use every day, such as phones and laptops, etc., all have built-in safety measures that you should ensure you are using to keep your tech safe.

For example, almost all smartphones and tablets come with the ability to add a numeric or text password, a fingerprint or facial recognition in order to keep your phone or tablet phone locked. Some devices also come with the option to wipe the device after a pre-determined number of wrong passwords. iPhones also have a built-in feature called ‘Find My iPhone’ which can be used to help you locate a lost or stolen device.

Also, it is important to protect your items not only from theft but from damage. Consider purchasing protective cases for any items that you carry day to day as well as tempered glass screen protectors for mobile phones, tablets, and smartwatches.

Regardless of what type of devices you have, it is important that you protect them. For some people, their technology is extremely important. Some people use it for health reasons, and others need it for their job. Others simply love their devices and want to be responsible and take good care of them – after all, some devices cost a substantial amount of money.

By taking some time to follow these tips, you will also be able to show more responsibility when it comes to your beloved gadgets.

You’ve heard the saying that a couple becomes one person in a relationship. It’s even mentioned in traditional wedding vows. While you and your partner share an eternal bond, you are both individuals who still need personal space and independence. Too much togetherness can spoil the best relationships.

Humans are social beings who need contact with others. We are also biologically hardwired to seek out a mate for romance and procreation. However, that doesn’t mean we relinquish our independence and don’t crave occasional solitude.

Establishing Healthy Boundaries

Within every relationship, be it family, friends, or love, healthy boundaries exist. You want your person to spend time with you and to care, yet you don’t want to be smothered. Finding that golden ratio between togetherness and individuality is a labor of love.

A successful relationship depends on love, passion, empathy, and mutual respect. If either of these virtues become unbalanced, it will affect your relationship. Although spending time together is a couple is crucial, too much togetherness can breed boredom and contempt.

Healthy boundaries are not automatic, nor are they static. During your romantic journey, you and your partner will often need to re-evaluate the space you give each other. It’s especially true if you feel your individuality and independence are waning.

Loving as an Individual

How can you communicate your need for space without coming across as selfish or distant? Remember that your partner fell in love with you as an individual. If he is so wrapped up in your attention, you may soon lose your essential elements that he adored in the first place.

You’ve probably heard that you can’t love anyone else until you love yourself. It doesn’t mean that you become an arrogant narcissist. Loving yourself includes extending the same kindness, dignity, and respect to yourself as you would any other person.

Be cautious of a love interest who is consumed with you being with him. Of course, you want them to want you. However, if he starts to be resentful or aggressive when you request some space, he could be too needy or controlling for a lasting relationship.

15 Ways to Maintain Independence While in a Loving Relationship

If you are in a new relationship or an established one, you may need to reassert your independence and individuality. But how do you do it without seeming aloof or callous? Consider these 15 ways that you can bond with your mate while still maintaining freedom.

1. Maintain a Separate Social Life

When you were single, you probably had a rocking social life that included parties, vacations, and other group events. You had your circle of friends, and you knew how to have a good time. That doesn’t need to stop just because you are in a relationship.

Although spending time together in a group setting is essential for a couple, maintaining a single social time is essential. If you’re a woman, consider a standing date each week to have fun with your girlfriends. Guys might enjoy the weekly poker night or watching the big games with his buddies.

2. Go on a Date with Yourself

Everyone needs some alone time to be with their thoughts and recharge their spirits. Gently let your mate know that just because you crave some solitude doesn’t mean you don’t want to be with him or love him any less. On a positive note, spending time alone can make you appreciate your person even more.

Make a point to set aside time each day for each of you to do something alone. Maybe you are uplifted by a solo walk through the woods or by the water. Spend time journaling, planning, or just relax on the deck enjoying your own company.

You’ll both discover the meaning of absence, making the heart grow fonder. People need periodic seclusion to grow mentally and spiritually. When you spend these quiet moments alone, you’ll have more interesting things to discuss when you’re together.

3.The Solo Creative Genius

Some talents and hobbies just don’t lend themselves to group efforts. How many authors could write a novel with a bunch of other people? Unless you are in a book club, reading is pretty much a solitary activity.

Being alone can often enhance your creative powers. You needn’t shelve your hobbies and interests to stay in a relationship. While you maintain what you’ve always enjoyed, maybe you and your love can explore hobbies and interests that you can do together.

4. Sleeping Single in A King Size Bed

Today, it’s almost laughable to watch vintage movies and tv shows that portray husbands and wives sleeping in separate beds. The censors expected the audience to use their imagination as to how these make-believe couples had a houseful of children. It wasn’t until the late 60s until tv married couple shared a bed, and that was the Stevens from Bewitched.

Get the couple’s time you want in bed without sacrificing the sleep you crave snuggled on your side of the bed. Spend the first 30 minutes or so cuddling, talking, or making love, then go off to dreamland on your side. It can make your cuddling time much more meaningful.

5. Maintain Your Own Space

Virginia Wolfe understood the significance of keeping a space for yourself. Even when you share a home as a couple, you still need that special room or corner to be a welcome retreat of solitude. Whether it’s a study, art studio, or just a small reading nook in the corner of the living room, you both should have a sacred space devoted to yourselves.

6. Take A Relationship Break

Do be cautious about approaching this suggestion because it may not be received well unless the idea is presented correctly. Being together too much can be just as damaging to a relationship as staying apart can. Enjoying a little reprieve from your relationship helps you both reboot your independence and sort out your feelings.

Present the idea in a positive way, such as a minivacation for yourself. Reassure your person of your love, and you just need some alone time. Occasional breaks can often strengthen a couple’s relationship.

7. Stand up for Yourself as an Individual

Do you sometimes feel like you’ve lost sight of who you are in a relationship? Although you enjoy being identified as your lover’s person, that’s not everything you are. If you’ve relinquished control of your liberty and your right to voice your opinions and be heard, you may need to rethink the relationship.

Have frequent conversations with your mate about your dreams and what matters most to you. Take time to listen to what he wants too. When you assert your individuality and independence, you gain greater respect and closeness as a couple.

8. Recognize the Difference Between Love and Codependence

Of course, you and your beau should trust and depend on each other as needed. However, a relationship built on dependency is a slippery slope. When you are codependent, you no longer have healthy boundaries, and your individuality and independence have faded.

Discuss these issues with your partner if you feel like codependency as overtaken your relationship. If the relationship becomes toxic or abusive, it’s time to call it quits. Codependency and toxicity aren’t examples of healthy love.

9. You can still be Independent and Ask for Help

Just because you assert your independence doesn’t mean you can do everything by yourself. It’s a hallmark of a self-assured individual to know when help is needed. When a task is overwhelming for either partner, it’s ok to ask each other for a hand.

10. Encourage Your Partner to be Independent

If you want liberty for yourself, you can’t expect any less from your mate. Be your partner’s cheerleader, and you should encourage him to explore separate interests and hobbies. Let him know that you respect his need for solitude and allow him the same space you expect for yourself.

11. Prioritize Your Goals

As you enjoy solitude in your sanctuary, take mental notes of things that matter the most. Have you been true to the goals you’ve had for years, or have you pushed them aside in your relationship? Learn to prioritize your goals and see how they are working for you.

12. Independence Doesn’t Mean Unfaithful

Unless you are in a causal relationship without commitment, seeing other people is still cheating. When you are partying solo with your friends, it doesn’t give you an excuse to step out on your mate. Your individuality and independence usually foster a deeper sense of commitment from you both.

13. Take Care of Yourself

Use your alone time to pamper yourself with a massage, spa day, or a leisurely soak in the bathtub. Treat yourself to a manicure or watch that romantic movie that you’ve wanted to see, but he doesn’t. Caring for yourself releases stress and allows you to be more loving with your partner.

14. Don’t Shut Your Mate Out

When you are expressing your desire to be more independent in a relationship, be open and honest. If you seek solitude secretly, it can make your lover doubtful of your commitment. The time to discuss healthy boundaries and freedom is never in the heat of an argument.

15. Know When to Pack Up

If you are having doubts about the viability of your relationship, talk to your partner. Is he still hindering you from being your person, and you feel miserable? It’s time to pack up and move on.

Final Thoughts on Affirming Your Independence While Growing Closer to Your Partner

Two people in love form a committed relationship. It doesn’t negate each person’s individuality or freedom of expression. Once you and your partner realize these principles, they can enrich your lives as a couple for years.

Having a friend who is lousy at keeping secrets is an unfortunate situation that could end your relationship. It’s one of the basic rules of a friendship, but it still happens, none the less. When you realize a friend betrayed you in this way, you’ll likely be shocked and hurt by it.

Unfortunately, some people may have difficulty keeping things to themselves. Even when they have every intention of keeping their word, they may slip up and mention it to someone else.

You can talk to your friend about this in a thoughtful way. That way, there are no other hard feelings that come out of the discussion. Plus, you can take additional precautions next time to make sure that your secret is safe.

Just remember that being kind is vital, especially if the friendship is important to you. Everyone does or says things that they regret, and your friend may be feeling regret already. Since you’re also feeling regret for confiding in them, keep that in mind the next time you have a secret.

What to Do When Your Friend is Lousy at Keeping Secrets

1 – Confront Them and Tell Them How It Makes You Feel

While you are confronting them about exposing your secrets, this isn’t the only reason you should talk about it. It’s essential to explain to them not only how angry you are, but also how it hurt you. By talking about it, you’re preventing negative feelings from festering.

If you allow negative feelings to fester, you’re only hurting yourself. It can be detrimental to your well-being and mental health. You have to tell the friend exactly how you felt that they exposed your secret.

You should consider the fact that your friend didn’t realize how serious it was when they told your secret. Talking about it can shed light on it if that was the case, and you can help your friend understand. This chat could be all it takes to make them better at keeping secrets in the future.

Keeping the feelings and thoughts to yourself will not help the situation. The only way to make it better is by talking about it. Just remember to be kind as you are explaining it, because your friend may not have realized the mistake.

2 – Forgive Them Even if They Don’t Apologize

Forgiveness doesn’t mean that you are saying what they did was acceptable. It also doesn’t mean that you are letting anyone take advantage of you. The purpose of forgiveness in this situation is solely for personal reasons.

Just like talking about it will help you avoid negative emotions, forgiveness will, too. Without forgiveness, it will eat away at you and make it worse. You’ll continue to feel awful about what happened, and it’ll take a toll on your mental health.

So, even if your friend doesn’t apologize for not telling someone your secret, forgive them anyway. Not for their sake, but for yours.

You don’t want to live with negative emotions forever. Unfortunately, if you don’t address it with the person who caused it, it’ll linger much longer than necessary. The feelings may end up staying with you forever, and it’ll severely impact your relationship with that friend.

3 – Stop Telling Them Your Secrets

If you have already talked to your friend about keeping secrets that you tell them and nothing changed, it’s time to reevaluate your friendship. This doesn’t mean you have to stop being their friend entirely. Instead, it just means that you have to decide if the relationship should change from what it is now.

Even if that person is your best friend, you have to think about your well-being when deciding. If they have struggled to keep your secrets, knowing that it hurts you, then stop telling them things.

You don’t even have to tell them that you aren’t going to share secrets with them anymore. If you’re worried about upsetting them, just stop telling them without mentioning it. They may notice so that the conversation may come up eventually, but chances are they won’t figure it out.

4 – Find a Friend Who Is Good at Keeping Secrets

Turn to a friend you can that you can trust. Don’t tell all of the details and secrets to the friend that you know will tell others. Find the friends who will keep any secret you ask them to.

Instead of continuing to tell your friend who can’t keep secrets, turn to a friend whom you can that you can trust.

If you find a friend who can keep your secrets, you will find so much relief. You won’t have to keep secrets to yourself, and you won’t have to stress about your secrets being told.

5 – Ask Yourself If the Friendship is Worth Repairing

Even if you decide that you want to end the friendship, you should still confront the friend. Telling them how it made you feel is essential no matter what the future of your relationship is. Sometimes, it’s impossible to repair friendships after a betrayal involving trust.

If you find that the relationship irreparable, you have to make that decision and stick to it. This outcome means that you shouldn’t text or call the friend. You have to make a clean break, or you’ll always have mixed feelings on the situations.

By making a clean break, you’re allowing yourself to walk away with a clear conscious. You’ve forgiven, explained your feelings, and decided to end the relationship. This move will enable you to heal and move on positively.

6 – Remember That Trust is Important in a Friendship

It is essential for both you and the friend who exposed your secret to remember that trust is important. You can’t have a healthy relationship if there is no trust between the two of you. This could always be a burden on the friendship, causing lingering negative emotions.

If you think that trust cannot be quickly earned back, stepping away may be best. If you decide to continue the friendship, make it clear that your friend has to earn the trust back.

It may take time, or it may occur sooner than you think. Either way, trust is important and will have to be earned back at this point.

The Way to Make Sure Your Secrets Are Always Safe

Keep Them to Yourself

Sometimes it feels so important to get something off your chest. It may be best to ignore these feelings, however, because you never know who you can fully trust. If your secret is serious and you don’t want it out, force yourself to keep it inside.

You never know when a relationship with a friend will end, and they will look for a way to hurt you. Additionally, the one person you trusted may turn to their significant other or family member. The friend may think that the person they choose to tell will also keep the secret, but that is rarely the case.

Just because your friend trusted the person that they told your secret to doesn’t mean that you should, too. Remember that the people your friend trusts have little loyalty to you, so your secrets are not safe with them. If this happens, your friend likely didn’t mean to hurt you, but the damage will have been done anyway.

The only way to completely prevent your secrets from being exposed is by keeping them to yourself. There is one other safe place you can turn to for complete secrecy, however. You won’t have to worry about your secret being exposed, and this is with a therapist.

Talk to a Therapist (not your friends)

Sometimes, keeping a secret to yourself can be impossible. It’s good to talk about what is bothering you, especially if it is causing negative emotions. When this happens, and you don’t want to risk your secret getting out, consider a therapist.

When you tell something to a therapist, you can guarantee that they are good at keeping secrets. This is because they are legally required to keep what you have told them confidential. Even better, a therapist can help you work through it in ways that a friend can’t.

Final Thoughts on How to Cope with a Friend Who is Bad at Keeping Secrets

It is hard to deal with a friend who isn’t good at keeping secrets. You will likely be hurt and feel betrayed, but all you can do is explain to your friend how it upset you. If the friendship is important to you, make sure you are kind when you confront them.

The next time you have a secret that you want to keep, consider other ways you can deal with it. You can choose a different friend to confide in, or you can keep it to yourself.

If keeping it to yourself isn’t an option, a therapist can help, too. Then, you won’t have to worry about a friend keeping your secrets for you. You’ll be able to get it off your chest and feel secure knowing that your secret is safe.

The Importance of Keeping a Clean Office

Take a moment to observe your office. 

Do you stacks of papers, folders scattered about, and trash bins filled to the brim? Isn’t a messy working space an eyesore? 

A clean office can do more than make your business look like eye-candy. It can boost productivity and impress your clients too.

Not sure how? Read on and discover the benefits of a clean office here:

1. Reduce Stress

Did you know that mess and clutter increases stress levels? A messy workstation can overload the brain with too many stimuli and distractions. You and your employees will also find it difficult to relax.

There’s also the fact that clutter sends the wrong message to the human brain. If you feel like you never get work done, it might be due to a messy desk. Too much clutter makes it look like nothing gets done.

2. Increase Productivity

It’s no surprise that clutter also negatively affects productivity. A messy, cluttered office with papers strewn about gives off a lazy, exhausting vibe to every employee in the area. 

With a clean office, everyone enjoys the ease of finding crucial papers or tools. They don’t have to waste time digging through the mess. A clean, organized office also encourages employees to work faster and more diligently, as if to reflect the organized environment they work in.

3. Health and Safety

Don’t forget OSHA guidelines! Anything that could cause harm to your employees — and to your customers too — may lead to legal concerns.

A clean office won’t have to waste time dealing with the health risks associated with mold, falling hazards, or illnesses spreading. More importantly, you don’t want customers getting sick simply because they walked into your office! Keep it clean and you can avoid lawsuits or angry rants from customers who easily contract viral infections.

Of course, if you want to meet these health standards, you need office cleaning services. Don’t try to wing it! You might use the wrong chemicals and cause further health risks.

4. A Clean Office Reflects Your Brand

One of the first things people notice as soon as they walk into an office is aesthetics. How beautiful does the place look? People will walk away disappointed and disgruntled if the first thing they notice is a messy office!

This doesn’t only affect you or some employees. Customer opinions also affect the brand as a whole. If you try to open a new branch elsewhere but people already know about poor sanitation in your office, they might not want to give your new location a try.

5. An Inviting Space

Do you want customers to keep coming back? A clean environment can convince them to return. People want to see clean chairs they can rest on, clean tables they get some coffee at, and office desks that reflect the diligence and organized work of your staff.

This is why you shouldn’t hesitate to hire professional office cleaning services. Your employees are too busy attending to customers. Get the professionals to keep the place clean and inviting at all times.

Improve Your Business Today!

Maintaining a clean office benefits your staff and your customers. Cleaner environments invite people to come in and they’ll walk out with a positive opinion of your brand. Clean offices also encourage productivity while reducing stress!

That said, it doesn’t end with professional cleaning. You could do more to improve your business. Fortunately, we’ve got more guides to walk you through so don’t hesitate to give them a read today.