003: Managing passwords and form filling data

This episode covers two more important foundation elements for a life admin system: having a password manager and collating data frequently used when filling out forms.

Mia and Dinah discuss how many passwords they need to manage life admin, and how difficult it is to have a fail-proof and secure system to store them all. They also consider how many forms they need to fill out with the same data over and over again. Mia admits to having a password book which put her at risk of identity theft.

They talk about the benefits of password managers, which can generate strong passwords for new accounts, store passwords securely, and autofill login forms with one master password. They operate on your computer as a browser extension and an app on your smart phone.

They go through how they approached choosing and setting up a password manager. They also outline how valuable the secure document storage and form filling functions of the apps are.

The benefits of a password manager include:

• Ability to generate and store strong passwords
• Eliminating the need to remember passwords
• Allowing you to easily access account passwords to allow you to complete your life admin wherever you are
• Ability to store form filling data, including credit card details, making online form filling much faster and simpler.

 LIFE ADMIN HIGHS OF THE WEEK 

• Dinah talks about how easy it was to buy tennis tickets quickly and easily with convenient access to her shared calendar and passwords on her phone – allowing a purchase of the tickets to happen within 5 minutes during a train ride.
• Mia talks about how she cleared out the deep clutter of her recipe folder, removing all useless and distracting things so can enjoy using the useful recipes that remain.

 LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK 

• Dinah talks about how she had changed credit cards to maximise her frequent flyer points but has found that the online app is so cumbersome that it makes managing the account too difficult and not worth the extra points.

 POWER TOOL 

•  Gretchin Rubin’s quiz on The Four Tendencies – Helps give you better insight into how to change and maintain new habits, by understanding how you respond to the inner and outer expectations placed on you.

 RESOURCES 

Last Pass password manager

Keeper password manager

Nicole Avery’s family productivity and organisation blog - Planning with Kids

 Gretchin Rubin’s book on The Four Tendencies

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