Now that we’ve gotten past the latest “apocalypse” and moved into a brand-new year, many of us are thinking of ways to improve ourselves (and our lives) over the coming months. With technology playing a bigger and bigger role in our daily work and personal activities, that makes February the perfect time to instill some new technology habits.

And so, here are my top five technology tips for 2013:

1. Back up everything. This is a piece of advice I have given readers and seminar attendees for years, but if anything, it’s more important today than it ever was in the past. Most of us have information on our laptops, cell phones, etc., that is literally irreplaceable to us, and could be worth tens of thousands of dollars. Besides, with the low costs of flash drives, cloud storage systems, and other backup systems, it makes no sense to ignore one of the most obvious ways to protect yourself against hard drive failure. I recommend Carbonite for only $54 a year. Do you think that’s worth all the pictures on your computer?

2. Start using stronger passwords. It’s a well-known fact that digital theft is on the rise, and yet a banking survey found that more than 10% of adults use “password” as their password, and “1234” as their pin number. Putting aside the obvious problems with those two, developing stronger passwords – especially for banking, credit cards, and financial accounts – is an easy way to prevent yourself from being a victim. Most thieves look for obvious targets, and keeping simple passwords marks you as easy prey.

3. Bookmark and save things that are important to you. As one best-selling productivity author wrote, “The biggest waste of time is having to ask the same question twice.” In other words, having a good organizational system that allows you to store and retrieve important bits of information on a daily basis is well worth the small investment of time, since it will save you from repeating the same actions, searches, etc., over and over again. Get in the habit of saving something you might want or need later, and then marking it with keywords (or keeping it in the right folder) so you can find it later.

4. Start getting more than entertainment from the Internet. The Internet is great for finding music, videos, pictures, and jokes. But, there are literally thousands of other things you could be doing with that time, like getting another degree, learning a new language, or improving your career skills. Besides, it doesn’t have to be an either-or choice: You can still use the Internet for entertainment while devoting a little bit of your day to reaching your long-term goals.

5. Make the most of every piece of software on your computer. For as much as software costs, and as much time as we spend using it, it’s amazing how often we put off necessary updates. Even worse, most people don’t know even basic tips and shortcuts for applications they use every day (like word processors, e-mail programs, and spreadsheets). So, in addition to keeping your software backed up and up to date, make a point of reading some tips and learning basic tools and navigation within each program. Doing so won’t take long, but it will save you a lot of time later.

Why not make this the year you start getting more from technology? Use these tips to be more efficient – and less stressed – and you won’t just improve 2013, but all the increasingly digital years that are yet to come.