How To Take Control of Your On-Line Life - 7 Tips

As the growth of the Internet continues, it is becoming easier to lose control of your on-line presence. Here are 7 tips to retake control.

1. Create your own home on the Internet.

If you are a serious Internet user, you will want to create a home for yourself on-line using either Yahoo! or Google.com. Both allow you to create e-mail accounts, a calendar, an address book, a personalized homepage, and much, much more for free. The best part is that you can access either on any computer with an Internet connection. It is a great way to limit what you have to transfer from home to office and vice versa.

2. Keep a master file of usernames and passwords.

Many computer security experts might disagree with this advice, but it is important to have a place where you can look up password and username information. You can still keep the file secure by limiting to your personal computer and your personal profile. Never ever make a copy of it. In addition, as you plan your will, funeral, etc., you will want to let your heirs know where the file is kept and how to get into it. You may have some personal writings on-line that you may wish to share with them.

3. Delete old accounts.

It is always a good idea to delete accounts that you wish to no longer keep active. This helps limit your exposure on-line and will help you keep track of all of your accounts on-line.

4. Update accounts you plan to keep.

If you plan to utilize the account, make sure that the information you've included is up to date. This is especially necessary with merchant accounts such as Amazon.com and Kohls.com. You don't want to have to fill in new credit card information when you are trying to finish up last minute Internet Christmas shopping.

5. Don't try to do too much.

Some people sign up for every free website under the sun. There is no need to do so. Only sign up for websites that you are planning to return to at least a few times. This will save you the trouble of having to constantly update your username/password file.

6. Limit your non-working time on the Internet.

Internet addiction is becoming a real problem. Limit the time you spend on the Internet in your leisure time. There is more to life than being on-line all of the time. However, you may find yourself working on-line. In such a case, make sure that you don't find yourself surfing the Internet instead of actually getting some work accomplished.

7. Keep your computer organized and clean.

Keeping your computer organized and clean is a surefire way to keep your surfing trouble free for years to come. If you visit Download.com, you will find several free anti-virus programs, as well as anti-adware and anti-spyware programs, to keep your computer as clean as can be. There are also a lot of organizational tools you can download for free or purchase for a small fee. By keeping your computer free of adware, spyware, and viruses, you won't slow down every time you try to get on-line.

In addition, it is also a great idea to keep your computer desktop organized. The more you play around on-line and learn about new software, the more clutter that accumulates on your desktop. Remove programs that you haven't used in the last year or so, and organize like files into easy to access folders. In addition, you may wish to organized shortcuts to similar programs into folders. With proper organization, your computer will become your best friend and keep you surfing the Internet trouble-free for years to come.