Archive for ‘Tech’ Category
Don’t Get Locked Out: How to Set up a Recovery Contact for Apple and Google
Our relationship to technology gets ever more complicated with each passing year.
People are glued to their phones. Some folks fall in love with their AI chatbots. We get so frustrated when we can’t live with our technology, but we know from experience we also can’t live without it.
So what do we do when we get locked out?
Previously, we’ve talked about what to do if you are no longer walking the planet. As I explained in these posts from the Paper Doll vault, there are preparations you can make in case you aren’t around to access your Apple, Google, or social media accounts:
- Paper Doll Explains Digital Social Legacy Account Management — This post walked through the main concepts of managing your social media legacy, how to inventory your social media digital assets, and the steps to take to secure legacy access to social media accounts, like Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
- How to Create Your Apple & Google Legacy Contacts — This post delved into the specific steps necessary for setting up legacy contacts for Apple and Google to ensure that your loved ones can secure your digital assets (photos, email, etc.) once you’ve shuffled off this mortal coil.
But what do you do if you’re alive but your access to your digital stuff is not?
Maybe Grandpa forgot his password (or all of his passwords).
Maybe you have been hacked. After all, the first thing the bad guys do is change your password so you can’t see all the other nefarious things they’re doing (and often fill your your Outlook or Gmail inbox with junk to obscure the clues that would point to the hack). When things go awry, you can use all your passwords, passkeys, and 2-factor authentication skills, but sometimes, you need a human solution.
You need someone to vouch for you. This is where the concept of a recovery contact comes in.
Today’s post will review how to set up and use a recovery contact to regain access to your digital resources. But first, let’s get clear on what a recovery contact really is.
WHAT IS A RECOVERY CONTACT?
It may seem that a recovery contact would be the same as a legacy contact.
You might think that you could set up just one or the other and use them for the same purpose. After all, the purpose of a legacy contact is to designate an individual to give official access to your accounts after your death. Why not just pretend that you’re “only mostly dead” to get back into your account?
As explained in earlier posts, a legacy contact doesn’t just randomly give someone your login credentials, like leaving a key under the digital mat. Rather, it sets up a secure process for giving a trusted contact access to the data stored in your accounts after you die to that everyone can achieve financial and structural closure.
A recovery contact, however, works differently. Rather than giving someone the ability to get into your accounts and control them, a recovery contact is the individual whom, when you get locked out of your account, gets to stand up for you that you are really who you say you are and deserve access to your own account. (There’s not a lot of literal standing up. Usually, they receive a code and give it to you. So it’s more like they’re meeting you on your front step to hand you your spare key.)
What’s the Difference Between a Legacy Contact and a Recovery Contact?
Again, they can seem similar, but are used for different purposes.
Key Traits of a Legacy Contact
An Apple Legacy Contact, or what Google calls an Inactive Account Manager, is designed to be used after your demise, upon your appointed contact providing proper documentation (like a death certificate).
The key traits of a legacy contact are that it:
- provides (limited) access to your data after you’re gone — an Apple Legacy Contact can access anything in your iCloud account, while a Google Inactive Account Manager has more curtailed access
- does not allow logins or account control
- may be time-limited
- involves a separate set-up process (for a separate Apple ID, for example) for access by the legacy contact
Key Traits of a Recovery Contact
An Apple or Google Recovery Contact is designed for short-term account access assistance. You get the access; they don’t!
The key traits of a recovery contact are that it:
- helps you regain access while you’re alive and kicking (and probably kicking yourself for forgetting or losing your password or somehow bringing this problem on yourself)
- does not give ongoing access to your account
- does not grant access to actually seeing your data
- only works when you initiate the account recovery process
The bottom line is that your recovery contact helps you get back into your (digital) life, while a legacy contact helps your loved ones wind it down.
Situations Where You Might Need a Recovery Contact
It might seem like it’s obvious — you need a recovery contact when you’ve been locked out, but why might that happen?
- You’re locked out of your account because of suspicious activity (by someone else) or your own failed login attempts attempts (like too many misremembered or mistyped passwords).
- You forgot your password and you’ve lost your device.
- You forgot your password and you can’t access your email.
- You forgot your Apple ID.
- Two-factor authentication is sending codes to a device you no longer have.
- Your phone has been stolen and you no longer have the device with Google’s associated passkey.
- You got really angry at the person to whom you were talking while walking across a bridge and in a fit of pique, you threw your phone into the lake, river, or ocean. (Does anyone really do this? It keeps happening in movies!)
- You upgraded devices and now your new device doesn’t know the things your old device kept sacred.
- You’re ill or injured, and it’s making it hard for you to manage your own tech or you’re having trouble communicating with caregivers helping you.
- Your device access is limited during travel emergencies.
- Your phone got “factory reset” while you were trying to make things work again.
I had a client who had to wipe his phone (that is, restore it to factory settings) such that the phone no longer recognized who he was. He had two-factor authentication set up, so Apple looked for a second device to which to send the code.
Normally, if you’ve got an iPad or a Mac connected to the same Apple ID, your two-factor authentication should work. My client, however, had mostly Windows products, and was getting more and more stressed out. However, because we’d set up his child’s iPad (mostly for toddler videos) with my client’s Apple ID, he was able to get up and running again.
However, we used the opportunity to set his wife (who has her own Apple ID) as his Apple Recovery Contact so that he never had to worry about this again.
From a tech organizing perspective, recovery contacts are especially helpful for people managing multiple devices, juggling shared/family tech, or dealing with caregiver situations.
HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR RECOVERY CONTACT
Choosing a recovery contact is much like choosing a legacy contact, but you’re looking for different characteristics and skill sets.
When I talked about setting up a legacy contact, I focused on the attributes of a good digital executor:
- Whom do you trust to carry out your wishes, or anticipate your preferences if you leave no instructions?
- With whom will you still be in close contact by the time a digital social legacy has to be managed?
- To whom are you comfortable giving access to private conversations?
- Which of your friends is likely to stay current enough with technology to be able to handle your digital legacy?
However, for your recovery contact, you want to look for different features in your peeps.
A good recovery contact is reliable, responsive, calm, and appropriately nosy (but only when invited to be).
A Good Recovery Contact Won’t Ghost You
You recovery contact needs to be reachable in real time.
- Do they check email and/or text messages frequently?
- Are they unlikely to miss time-sensitive notifications?
- Will they dependably check (and not ignore) a message because it looks like it might be automated?
If someone has 37,000 unread emails or the number bubble above their text app icon looks more like a phone number, this isn’t a good recovery contact for you.
A Smart Recovery Contact Will Verify It’s Really You
You recovery contact shouldn’t have a knee-jerk reaction to share your information.
- They’ll pause to consider and confirm that it’s really you who triggered the recovery process and not a Russian baddie in a hacker farm.
- They’re comfortable calling or video-chatting with you to confirm it’s really you who’s stuck before taking any required steps.
- They won’t blindly follow instructions just because Apple (or Google) said so.
Your ideal recovery contact will have at least mild skepticism rather than unquestioning compliance. (Good characteristics for a fellow citizen, as well as a recovery contact, eh?!)
An Ideal Recovery Contact Will Stay Calm Under Mild Stress
We all know folks who freak out when a football game runs long and their show doesn’t start on time. That’s not who you want. Pick someone who:
- Won’t start spiraling when they see the words “account recovery” or “security alert.”
- Can follow step-by-step instructions without melting down.
- Knows when to ask for help instead of guessing and clicking, willy-nilly.
The Best Recovery Contact Has Mental Bandwidth and Time to Deal to Help
Speed matters during account recovery, especially if someone has hacked you. Select a recovery contact who:
- Is routinely available during work hours (or during the hours you’re likely to need help). — If your bestie works 12-hour shifts, she may not be the best option.
- Is in a profession where interruptions won’t be dangerous or impossible. — Brain surgeons can’t just step out to handle your iPhone kerfuffle.
- Can likely respond within hours (or even minutes) and not days.
While we should respect everyone’s work style, your work-from-home friend is probably a better option than your pal who is an airline pilot. Your retired sibling makes a better recovery contact than your friend with a three-week-old baby.
Other Considerations for a Recovery Contact
- Pick a person who respects your boundaries — They should understand that they aren’t being given access to your account, and you can trust that they won’t waste time snooping around or attempting a recovery when you haven’t actually asked for one. So, nobody named Gladys Kravitz.
- Identify someone who is comfortable with basic technology — Your contact doesn’t need to be a web developer, but they need to know how to handle links, codes, and authentication steps. In other words, not someone who needs daily assistance to check their texts, avoid clicking on spam links, or keep themselves from getting locked out of their phones.
- Pick someone who is stable and likely to be in your life for five or ten years — So, not your hinge date from last weekend. Not your friend who flakes on half the meet-ups you plan. Not the boyfriend you’re considering breaking up with. (And not just because you’re afraid he’ll log into your account. But because you have no idea when the two of you might go “no contact” and you’ll have to decide whether to break that status or just give up on the last 20 years of your digital real estate.)
Finally, ask if they’re OK with being your recovery contact so they won’t be startled by a sudden, “Apple [or Google] is contacting you” message. Surprises are for gifts and birthdays, not account security. Capisce?
A legacy contact needs discretion and emotional steadiness. A recovery contact needs availability, clarity, and a cool head when you’re locked out, pacing the floor, and cursing Steve Jobs.
A legacy contact needs discretion and emotional steadiness. A recovery contact needs availability, clarity, and a cool head when you're locked out, pacing the floor, and cursing Steve Jobs. Share on XYour recovery contact may be, but need not be, your spouse, adult child, or next of kin. Pick the person who dependably answers your calls and texts. In the words of Grey’s Anatomy, select the one to whom you could honestly say, “You’re my person.”
If you found your way here because someone asked you to be a recovery contact
Maybe you’re wondering if it’s safe to be someone’s account recovery contact. Yes, because you’re not granting access to anything of your own.
If you agree to the position, they’re no pay, no reward (except undying gratitude), and you won’t be gaining access to their goodies. Rather, the only superpower you’ll get is the ability to furnish them with a recovery code upon their request.
Obviously, you should only give that code directly to the person who trusted you to do so (like by phone or video call); if someone claiming to be the police, a hotel concierge, or a hospital worker requests the code, that’s a scam. Duh. (But you knew that, right?)
HOW TO SET UP YOUR APPLE RECOVERY CONTACT
To set up your Apple Recovery Contact, you’re going to need the following:
- All of your devices set to at least iOS 15, iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, or macOS Monterey or later. Apple may prompt you to update any devices, or remove devices you aren’t using. (I have an iPad from 2013; Apple let me know I had to update the iOS, which I can’t, or remove it from the recoverable device options.)
- Two-factor authentication to already be enabled
- A trusted person (aged 13 or older) who already has an Apple ID
Follow these steps:
1) Go to Settings.
2) Tap your name (Apple ID) at the top.
3) Select Sign-In & Security. (Depending on your iOS version, it might say Password & Security.)
4) Tap Account Recovery. (Depending on your iOS version, it might say Recovery Contacts, as mine does, below).
5) Tap Add Recovery Contact. — At this point, you’ll likely be asked to and authenticate, so be prepared to use Face ID or Touch ID, as applicable.
6) Choose a trusted person from among your contacts.
7) Apple will then send them an invitation to accept.
How to Delete Your Apple Recovery Contact
If you ever need or want to change your Apple Recovery Account, follow the same steps as above, but after once you get to Account Recovery, tap the person’s name and then tap Remove. Your contact will see a message that you’re no longer their account recovery contact.
For more on the Apple Recovery Contact process, check out these Apple pages:
Set up an account recovery contact — This page explains much of what I’ve written above but with additional details.
How to use account recovery when you can’t reset your Apple Account password — This page explains how to request an account recovery when everything has gone kaflooie. (Yes, that is the technical term. Thanks for asking.) You can either do this from your device or on the web at https://iforgot.apple.com in your browser.
Help a friend or family member as their account recovery contact — This explains how to be a good Apple Recovery Contact, including what such an individual does, how they can assist with recovery, and how to remove themselves as a recovery contact.
HOW TO ADD A GOOGLE RECOVERY CONTACT
You may have found Google account recovery to be problematic in the past. Happily, in October 2025, Google upgraded their systems to allow for improved Google Recovery Contact.
Functionally, a Google Account Recover Contact works much the same as an Apple Recovery Contact. (Note if you have Android devices (e.g., phones, tablets), be sure to set up a Google Account Recovery Phone for Android access protection.)
To set up your Google Trusted Account, you’re going to need:
- Access to your Google account (duh!)
- A trusted person with a reachable phone or email. (Google doesn’t specify that the trusted person must be a specific age, but Google’s minimum account-holder age is 13 in the United States; it varies by country. If your contact is old enough to have a Google account, you’re good.)
Follow these steps:
1) Go to your Google Account — If you’re on the web, that’s myaccount.google.com)
2) Click Security.
3) Find the “How you sign in to Google” section.
4) Click Recovery contacts. You may have to scroll down below the listed options (like 2-step verification, password, recovery phone, recovery email, etc.) to find this option in a “more sign-in options” bubble.
5) Click Add recovery contact.
Note: If you’re prompted to sign in, do so. If you’re setting this up in a browser, Google will likely show you a number code, direct you to open the Google app on your phone, and ask you to confirm the right number from multiple choices. If it doesn’t work the first time, hit “resend” to get the code again. (You have my permission to sigh.)
6) Enter the email address of your trusted contact. Assuming you already have that person among your contacts, their name, face, and email address will pop up, assuring you that you’ve selected the right person. Tap their name/face/email to accept your selection.
7) Click Continue.
8) Click Send Request when Google asks, “Send a recovery contact request? Your request will be sent via email, and [trusted contact’s name] will be able to see your name, email address, and profile photo.”
You’ll now see a list of your open request(s) for Google Recovery Account(s), with the person’s name, email, and photo (if they’ve created a photo for the account), so you’ll know you did it right.
Your contact will receive an email to accept the request, and they’ll have seven days in which to confirm their willingness. After 7 days, the request expires. Once they accept the request, you have to wait seven more days before you can actually use them as a Google Recovery Contact, so don’t go spelunking around your settings and accidentally blitz your access. Step away from the keyboard for a week and stop experimenting!
How to Delete your Google Recovery Account
Maybe you’ve broken up with your Google Recovery Account trusted contact, or perhaps you just know their lives have gotten too busy with babies or work. Just use the same steps as above to navigate to your Google Account’s Security & Sign-in page, then tap Recovery contacts, and find the trash can icon next to the account you want to delete. Tap the trash can and hit Confirm.
To Use your Google Account Recovery
If you encounter difficulties logging into your Google account, go to g.co/recover and enter your Gmail address. Try to answer the identifying questions the best you can and follow the suggestions for regaining access.
If you do need to recover your account, you’ll either 1) select your Google Recovery Contact from the list of recovery options, or 2) follow a pop-up prompt to reach out to them and select Get Number to get a short code.
Google will then send your Google Recovery Contact an email with three different numbers from which to choose, and you’ll have 15 minutes to tell them the number you got so they can select it, too. (This is why you may need to call or text to be clear on what’s going on.)
For more information, read Google’s Add, Manage & Use Recovery Contacts page.
Of course, protecting against from losing access to your essential accounts is always better than having to try to recover access after the fact. This is your reminder that the best ways to organize access to your tech life are to:
- use strong passwords
- don’t repeat passwords across accounts
- change/revise your passwords with frequency
- make use of passkeys, which are device specific and don’t require you to remember anything
- record your passwords somewhere safe, preferably a digital password manager
- use two-factor authentication
- don’t share your passwords with anyone (but if you must grant access, check your digital password manager for ways to share and/or rescind access with greater control)
- keep your devices updated to the latest operating systems and software versions
- set up your account recovery options before you need them
Have you set up recovery contacts? (Did you ever get around to setting up legacy contacts?) What else do you do to keep from getting locked out of your essential accounts? Please share in the comments.
How to Track, Lower, or Cancel Your Recurring Subscription-Based Bills
Subscriptions aren’t just for magazines anymore. Financially speaking, a subscription is anything for which you have an ongoing expense for a non-essential service. And I bet you have a bunch of them.
According to a recent study by CNET, American adults spend an average of $90 per month on subscriptions. Additionally, another study found almost one-half (48%) of those surveyed registered for at least one free trial and then forgot or neglected to cancel.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
WHAT IS A SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER?
A subscription manager is an app or platform that centralizes information to help users gain better control over their finances and make more informed spending decisions. Most track, organize, and manage recurring payments for subscriptions by:
- scanning bank and credit card information to identify subscriptions
- listing all subscriptions in one place
- tracking expense increases over time to help analyze spending patterns and identify opportunities to reduce costs
- organizing and sorting by subscription name, cost, billing cycle, or due date
- identifying redundancies (like a standalone subscription for a streaming service as well as one acquired through an Amazon Prime 7-day trial)
- setting up payment reminders before renewals or payment due dates (to help avoid late fees or unintended renewals of free trials or forgotten subscriptions)
Additionally, some subscription management tools and apps can negotiate costs or assist in canceling subscriptions, making it easier to terminate services you no longer need.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR CHOOSING A SUBSCRIPTION TRACKER
Price
Look for free options, or free tiers (or trials) on platforms that offer multiple levels. You can always upgrade if a premium tier offers a feature you find beneficial once you’ve mastered the free plan. Too often, we sign up for paid software-as-a-service plans and don’t them; a tracker will reverse that habit, so don’t go to all the effort to get rid of your other recurring payments only to end up with one for a tracker you don’t need!
Remember: platforms with services to negotiate a discount or rebate for a forgotten/unused subscription will take a portion — like a finder’s fee — of what they’ve saved you for the coming year. There’s no such thing as a free lunch; in return for picking up your lunch tab (that is, negotiating the refund after cancelation or price reduction) the app gets your pickle or a handful of your fries!
Security
In order to track your expenses to find recurring costs, these platforms must access your bank accounts and credit cards. Thus, protect your online safety by verifying that whatever platform you choose uses:
- bank-level security
- end-to-end encryption
- two-factor authentication
Once you find a service that passes those tests, dig into their boilerplate security and privacy language to make sure the app doesn’t sell or share any of your personal information.
Features and Functions
A subscription tracker will analyze the data in your bank and credit card statements to identify recurring charges and create reminders about them.
More advanced trackers should be able to cancel subscriptions with minimal input from you, negotiate lower bills on your behalf, and if part of a larger financial dashboard suite, help you quickly and easily create a budget.
Ease of Use
The point of a subscription expense tracker is to make your life easier. You want an app that’s intuitive so you’ll be able to add, delete, or change information or navigate your way around without much study. If an app is has so many bells and whistles that you have to consult Google or Chat GPT for instructions so managing the software becomes a second job, you won’t use it.
Read reviews to make sure it will be relatively easy to:
- set up and sync the app with the information in bank and credit card accounts
- identify recurring payments and set reminders to pay them
- navigate the app
- negotiate billing with relatively little input on your part
- cancel accounts with minimal effort
DO I REALLY NEED AN APP TO TRACK, LOWER OR CANCEL SUBSCRIPTION COSTS?
Short answer? No, you don’t.
I call SiriusXM every year to lower my costs, and help clients do the same. I can’t fathom why anyone would actually spend the exorbitant full price, but the “negotiated” lower cost feels reasonable.
How to DIY Your Subscription Management
Canceling a subscription-based service (unless it’s a gym membership) is also fairly straightforward, but not fun.
If you’re organized, patient, and diligent, especially if you don’t have a lot of subscriptions, you can handle the process yourself:
1) Create a spreadsheet with columns for the subscribed service or license, how you pay for it, when it renews (monthly, quarterly, annually), and the cost.
2) Pull up the past year of bank and credit card statements.
Why a year? Although many subscription-based transactions are monthly, some are paid quarterly or annually. Streaming services generally charge monthly, but I have a marketing-based service for my business that, until last year, charged me quarterly. And once a year, I pay Apple for ongoing Applecare and an online service to protect this blog from the thousands of attempted comment spams. These subscriptions are easy to forget!
3) List your recurring expenses, starting with your most recent statement.
Run your fingers down the transactions, and each time you spot a new one, log the key elements.
4) Work your way through a statement until you’ve captured every recurring expense until you’ve reviewed a year’s worth of statements and aren’t finding previously un-logged subscriptions. You will find more than you realized.
5) Repeat the process with every bank account and credit card statement.
6) Group the recurring expenses in an appropriate category. For example:
- Entertainment — streaming video and audio, paid podcasts, Patreon memberships
- Utilities — telephone, cable, internet, security systems
- Fitness — gym, online workout classes, premium apps for devices like Fitbit or Peleton
- Health — supplement subscriptions, concierge medical services
- Food — meal prep services, food delivery services
- Professional expenses at the paid tier — Zoom Pro, Evernote, AI tools, Microsoft 365
7) Evaluate each item by category.
- Are there duplicates, like an ad-supported Hulu subscription offered through your cable company as well as a paid bundle for Disney+ and Hulu?
- Do you have unnecessary subscriptions, like a membership to a gym where you no longer live?
- Do you have subscriptions that you never use? Are the apps are no longer appealing? Does something make them difficult to use? Do you just need someone to guide you until you master it and take advantage of what it has to offer?
8) Contact each vendor to negotiate costs or cancel services you don’t want to accept as-is.
Whew. There are several disadvantages to this process.
- It takes time. If you call, you may have to navigate a complex phone tree, repeatedly hearing how important your call is, and sit on hold for eons.
- They may give you a hard sell or push you to upgrade, convincing you that your cable and internet costs will decrease if you add cell service through them, but then you’d have to port your number from your original cell company, which you may like, lose your legacy status, and have to deal with those annoyances, and may find your rates going up a year hence. Be strong!
Recently, I worked with a client with cognitive decline; they sign up for services the don’t need; we call, they authorize me to speak on their behalf, and usually, we accomplish our goals fairly easily.
However, one company that keeps calling and tricking her has a habit of asking invasive and unnecessary questions, over and over, about why we wants to cancel and attempts to scare us into what will happen without this expensive auto part protection on the 11-year-old car that’s almost never used.
Having more moxy than Chandler Bing, I just keep insisting that we does not want the service anymore, and by law we have the right to cancel. (Occasionally, I have to invoke the possibility of calling the Attorney General of the state in which they’re headquartered.)
- It involves talking to other people. If you’re an introvert (or a young millennial or GenZ), the idea of having to talk to someone on the phone may nauseate you.
- It’s frustrating to talk to a bot (or an online agent typing from a bot-like script).
- You’ll still have to monitor your bill to make sure that your charges are reduced or stopped.
- You’ll have to schedule reminders to prompt you to cancel free trials before you get charged.
Can you pause subscriptions instead of canceling them?
Maybe you’d rather temporarily stop paying for a subscription while you can’t use the service. For example, when my car was stolen [Organize to Prevent (or Recover From) a Car Theft], I didn’t want to pay for Sirius XM for the two months my Kia was being repaired. I paused my subscription, but they sent me a notice after four weeks that they were going to start charging again, and I had to call to re-pause it.
There are a few reasons you might want to pause instead of cancel:
Maintain your viewing or listening history — Got a busy few months at work and won’t be able to watch your favorite shows? Maybe you’ll be traveling in the Australian Outback and won’t have cell signal to listen to streaming music and podcasts? When you’re ready again, you want your apps to show you what episodes you left off at and what’s on your to-be-watched lists.
Avoid the re-subscription process — If you can pause your subscription, returning to the service will be much easier and you won’t lose any of your preferences settings.
Eliminate guilt over paying for services you don’t use — Whether it’s a gym membership you can’t use while healing from a knee replacement or a streaming service you won’t watch while traveling or working, this can be a pause that refreshes.
Use a pause to “churn” streaming television services. When you’ve watched everything you want to see on Netflix, pause your subscription for six months and binge all the streaming Star Trek Paramount+ has to offer. (Strange New Worlds is fabulous!)
- Hulu lets you pause for up to 12 weeks.
- Amazon Prime Video lets you pause indefinitely during the cancellation process. Note: you must pause all of your Prime benefits.
- Netflix has no official pause feature, but canceling your subscription provides a 10-month grace period for your account and viewing history.
- Disney+ is rolling out the ability to pause subscriptions
- Sling TV, Fubo, and YouTube TV all have pause features.
Be creative! Call any service you’re paying for but underusing, and ask whether you can pause instead of cancel. You never know which companies will be eager to keep you on with hopes and expectations you’ll return.
Call any service you're paying for but underusing, and ask whether you can pause instead of cancel. You never know which companies will be eager to keep you on with hopes and expectations you'll return. Share on X
Pause Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Does this DIY approach give you a headache?
Reduce pain points by dealign with the subscriptions on one credit card at a time, or make one call a week. Or change all recurring expenses so that they go to just one credit card on which you otherwise never charge anything, making it easier to manually track expenses going forward.
But you’ll still have to call and negotiate on your own.
YOUR SUBSCRIPTION MANAGEMENT OPTIONS
If you just want someone to cancel your subscriptions but your mom isn’t willing to do it for you, try:
Billshark
Billshark — will cancel or negotiate internet, wireless, streaming TV and satellite radio, and audiobook subscriptions. They even handle Dollar Shave Club and StitchFix! It costs $9 per canceled subscription, and 40% of your total negotiated savings, capped at two years (so check the value of what you’re canceling against the costs of using the service as a personal expense hitman).
Billshark doesn’t track expenses; rather, you upload a bill and they negotiate on your behalf; for cancellations, they try to negotiate credits or refunds. They claim a 90% success rate and take no fee if they don’t succeed in saving you money. They also track your savings’ expirations and automatically restart negotiations to keep you at the best rate.
Billshark may uncover better rates if you change plans, but seeks your authorization to make changes, and will never lower your service level, though sometimes, they can “expand services (higher speed, more channels, etc…).”
If you want it all — an entire financial suite for tracking your recurring expenses (and more) but also want help negotiating or cancelling services, try:
Rocket Money
Rocket Money (iOS, Android, web browser) — Previously called TrueBill, RocketMoney is one of the biggest names in this realm. Rocket Money’s basic plan is free; the Premium tiers are $6-$12/month with a 7-day free trial.
The basic level links bank and credit cards to the app, identifies recurring payments, and sends alerts if your checking balance goes below, or your credit card spending exceeds, a pre-arranged amount.
Rocket Money Premium include negotiating bills, canceling unwanted subscriptions, and tracking net worth and credit scores (VantageScore 3.0 credit score and Experian credit report), as well providing auto savings, customizable savings categories, and unlimited budgets.
Rocket Money retains 35% to 60% of the savings earned on bills it negotiates.
In terms of security, Rocket Money uses an encrypted token to access transaction data and uses Plaid API (so login credentials aren’t stored in the Rocket Money system). It hosts its servers at Amazon Web Services and provides bank-level 256-bit encryption.
(This video, from when Rocket Money was still called TrueBill, illustrates the cancelation process.)
Hiatus
Hiatus (iOS, Android, web browsers) — The basic Hiatus plan is free, while Hiatus Premium costs $9.99/month or $35.99/year. Unlike many of the other apps, Hiatus does not take a percentage of the saving you get from its bill negotiation services.
Hiatus is designed primarily as an app for budgeting, letting you set limits on spending for streaming services and displaying spending over the prior week/month/year. However, its free tier includes a subscription tool for tracking streaming services; you can manually input anything not pre-set in the app.
To use the subscription cancelation and/or bill negotiation service, upgrade to the Premium.
Hiatus protects user financial data with 256-bit SSL encryption.
Trim
Trim (web browser) — is free, but it isn’t a traditional app. Instead, you access your account via the web and communicate with Trim agents via SMS text messages or Facebook Messenger.
Trim links to all of your credit and bank accounts and then locates and cancels unwanted subscriptions (including phone, internet, cable, streaming services, and gym memberships) and will negotiate bills with a service fee equivalent to 33% of any savings recouped.
For a separate fee, Trim will identify less expensive auto insurance rates and negotiate bills. There’s also a Trim Simple Savings high-yield savings account with a 4% annualized bonus on the first $2,000 you save.
Trim employs 256-bit SSL encryption and two-factor authentication.
Trim has an intriguing approach, but I advise against using Facebook Messenger to communicate about your finances!
This the least informative but most adorable of all the subscription tracker videos.
Albert
Albert (iOS, Android, web browser) — In addition to budgeting and investing services, Albert has bill negotiation and cancelation services. It automatically scan bills found in checking or credit card accounts for extra savings, or you can submit a bill for the expert negotiators to process. Albert costs $14.99/month after a 30-day free trial for a Basic plan, $19.99 for a Standard plan including data protection, credit score monitoring and more; a $39.99/month Albert Genius plan is required for subscription negotiation and canceling.
If you really want a subscription tracker to keep you focused on how much you’re being charged, for what, and when, but don’t need help with canceling or negotiating, subscriptions there are a variety of options:
Pocketguard
Pocketguard (iOS and Android) — PocketGuard has a free 7-day trial and a free version that’s kind of hard to find (see video below); for unlimited categories and bank connections, rollover budgeting, subscription tracking, and customized financial goals, upgrade to PocketGuard Plus for $12.99/month or $74.99/year.
Pocketguard is primarily a budgeting app, picking up where the late, lamented Mint left off. It links to your various accounts to track income, ongoing expenses, and savings goals and provide guidance on suggested daily spending limits in the “Leftover” section. It tracks expenses and categorizes them (though you can customize the categories). Pocketguard also alerts you to approaching billing due dates and potential fraud situations.
Pocketguard partners with Billshark to negotiate lower bills and takes an undefined cut of the savings.
PocketGuard uses bank-level encryption, and limits access through both PINs and biometric methods like FaceID and TouchID. Users can automatically connect and import data from their accounts to Pocketguard using Plaid or Finicity. At the Plus tier, add cash accounts manually and track them, and get a debt payoff plan.
The guidance page for how you log and mark Pocketguard’s bills makes it seem possibly more laborious than my DIY model. Your mileage may vary. For more, financial coach Brittany Flammer has a great updated review.
Track My Subs
Track My Subs (web browsers) — This Australian app lets you track up to ten subscriptions on the free plan; paid plans range from $10/month for unlimited subscriptions to $30/month for enterprise-level plans for multiple users.
Track My Subs is marketed for small business use, but the website can can be used by individual consumers, making it an interesting option for solopreneurs. There’s no mobile app; instead, it’s browser-based, and you do the labor: enter your subscriptions, periodic costs, and due dates. It supports multiple foreign currencies, and your own bills can be converted to a “home” currency.
Categorize subscriptions however you like, and use the color-code calendar view to track payment dates and the generated graphs of subscription expenses to analyze your costs. You’ll have to do your own negotiations and canceling. One of my favorite tech guys, Steve Dotto of Dottotech, explains why he likes Track My Subs:
Pocketsmith
Pocketsmith (web browsers; mobile apps are not fully-functional) — Not to be confused with Pocketguard, Pocketsmith has a free level with six months of projections for two accounts and twelve budgets, and you must manually import expenses. For $9.99/month, on the Foundation level, you can automatically import transactions, and have unlimited accounts and budgets. There’s also Flourish ($16.99) and Fortune ($26.66) levels for finding and organizing transactions, as well as budgeting, projecting, cash-flow forecasting, and reporting. If you miss Mint, this finance-management option is robust and has bank-level security with 2-factor authentication.
Quicken Simplifi
Quicken Simplifi (iOS and Android) — There’s no free tier or trial, but you can request a refund within first 30 days of your $5.99/month for a month-to-month subscription or $2.99/month for an annual subscription (billed annually at $35.88).
Simplifi is a budgeting app that can track subscription spending; it also offers automatic budgeting, shares spending insights, and tracks goals. Customizable reports track income, savings, and spending, income and your personalized spending plan adjusts in real-time. There’s also an investments dashboard, refund tracker, and credit monitoring function.
Simplifi syncs with bank, credit card, and investment accounts, loans, and financial data from bank servers transmitted using 256-bit encryption.
Monarch Money
Monarch Money (iOS, Android, web browsers — Identifies and tracks recurring bills and subscriptions, and alerts users to upcoming payments. Monarch Money is designed as a comprehensive financial planning tool, with a focus on budgeting, investment and net worth tracking, and long-term financial goals. There’s a 7-day free trial, after which it costs $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year. (There’s a 50% discount for the first year with code MONARCHVIP.)
Other apps and financial dashboards for tracking subscriptions include:
Subtrack (iOS and Mac only) — This privacy-focused app lets you quickly add subscriptions from a pre-existing list of 300+ options or create your own and manage them by tag. Customize themes and icons, get detailed spending insights, drag-and-drop information, and sync with iCloud.
Origin (iOS, Android, MacOS, and web browsers) — This is a full financial dashboard with elements for investing, net worth tracking, forecasting, and estate planning. After a free trial, the monthly plan is $12.99; an annual plan is $99.
Subscriptions (iOS, MacOS) — Focused solely on subscriptions, this app organizes subscriptions using categories, due dates, tags, and payment accounts, and offers comprehensive analytics with summarizing charts. It supports more than160 currencies with daily updated exchange rates, and has a widget for reminders of upcoming payments. It’s $1.99/year, $7.99 for a lifetime license, or $14.99 for a lifetime Family license.
Subby (Android-only; don’t confuse with similarly-named Apple App Store app) —The basic level (with ads) is free; an ad-free tier is $2.99. A customizable interface makes it easy to manually enter an unlimited number of subscriptions, record which account they’re associated with, and get notifications about upcoming payment dates.
Credit Card Subscription Management
Finally, you may find that your credit cards have subscription managers embedded in their mobile apps. For example, Capital One’s app has a full suite of subscription management tools through which you can track or block expenses, and even cancel subscriptions.
How do you manage your subscriptions?
How to Stay Organized When Travel Goes Off the Rails (or Runway)
Summertime is a high travel season. If you’re ceaselessly online, when you hear “travel,” you’re probably stuck on the non-stop loop of “Nothing Beats a Jet 2 Holiday.” (If you just got the jingle out of your head, I’m sorry.)
Otherwise, you’re either traveling, yourself, or comparing travel horror stories. But as you’ll see, a little organization can make these experiences a little easier to stand.
ORGANIZED TRAVEL IN A DISORGANIZED ERA
Trapped on the Tarmac
A few weeks ago, I did my own little version of Planes (No Trains) and Automobiles. The plan was to fly to Buffalo (by way of Atlanta) for my 40th high school reunion, and after a week with Paper Mommy, rent a car to drive to a friend’s combination vow renewal/housewarming/birthday party in Massachusetts, followed by a short drive to an airport in Connecticut and a flight home (again, by way of Atlanta).
Any trip with that many moving parts leaves a traveler open to a few kerfuffles. There was a one-hour delay on the New York State Thruway near the village of Canajoharie when one 18-wheeler sheared off the back of another 18 wheeler that was carrying giant bags of cat food, littering the highway with both bags and actual loose cat food.
On the return trip from Connecticut to Atlanta, the gate agent seemed particularly surly as she informed us that the airline had oversold the flight, and nobody would be boarding unless three people agreed to give up their seats and fly the next afternoon or evening, and agree to be without their luggage until they did fly! (This came after I circled the airport twice, passing the “Rental Car Returns” sign each time, because my GPS insisted that I should continue further along and return my car to an empty field.)
However, the anecdote that prompted this post was my connecting flight from Atlanta to Buffalo. We boarded on time, but passengers immediately noted how warm the plane was. After everyone had fastened their seat belts, and had their tray tables locked and seat backs in an upright position, we heard the various bing-bongs, but went nowhere. Eventually, a weary voice intoned, “This is your captain speaking…” and we learned that there was a “minor mechanical problem” and we would be delayed fifteen to twenty minutes.
(This wasn’t my flight. But in a way, don’t we all feel like this was our flight?)
The temperature continued to rise. Passengers were polite and resigned, except that after about half an hour, an announcement was made that there would be another delay of about twenty to twenty-five minutes. This continued for about an hour and a half, when we were assured the problem had been fixed and that pending ten minutes of “paperwork,” our flight would take off. But it didn’t.
We were then told that there was a lightning strike on the field and that all ground crew were ordered inside, so we needed to wait until the weather cleared. At this point, our phones’ weather apps told us it was in the 90s outside the plane; you can imagine how high above 100° it reached inside.
After two hours, a small rumble of rebellion fomented. We were hot, thirsty, late, and cranky.
Over the course of time, passengers started air-dropping and sharing Department of Transportation regulations (of which, more later) about traveler rights regarding delays. After more than 2-1/2 hours boiling inside this elongated metal hot box, we were told that we would de-plane and it would be decided whether we would re-board or be assigned a new plane. (This made us wonder whether the weather issue had been valid at all; had our plane truly been fixed as reported, why would we have needed a new one?)
Long-story-short, we deplaned, had our re-boarding scheduled and canceled multiple times in a short period, and then we were assigned a new plane — which would take off a little more than four hours after our originally scheduled flight.
Welcome to airline travel in 2025.
The Chaos of Air Travel
Of course, my experience is one of many, and a relatively insignificant one. A few days after this, Alaska Airlines grounded its entire complement of planes — 200 flights in all — over a Sunday night and Monday computer glitch.
Because travel has become more chaotic (and more controlled by digital systems), it’s increasingly necessary for consumers to organize their resources to prepare and respond to this chaos. In this post, I will highlight some of the essential information you need and actions you can take to guard against travel frustrations.
Pre-Trip Prep: The New Administrative Burden of Travel
Do you recall the days where you’d call a travel agent, explain where you wanted to go and when, and be presented with a nifty little itinerary and all the information you might need until you arrived at the airport (with your non-wheeled suitcase and traveler’s checks in hand)?
Online check-in and e-tickets began in the 1990s, and though it’s shocking to think how recently it actually was, we didn’t have mobile check-in until 2007, and it wasn’t widely adopted for several years after that. (For those interested, CNN’s Final Call for Paper Boarding Passes: A Visual History of the Beloved Memento offers an interesting look back.)
Book Your Travel Arrangements — With Padding
This is not a travel blog, but one focused on organizing and productivity. If you want good advice on booking travel, I direct you to:
- The Points Guy (especially for using credit card, airline, and hotel reward points for booking)
- The Blonde Abroad (focused on solo traveling for women)
- Nomadic Matt (great for coverage of wide-ranging travel tips and news)
- Budget Traveller (particularly for adventurous but cost-cutting travelers)
Travel is messier than ever. It’s not uncommon to hear tales of canceled flights and travelers sleeping in airports, even when weather is not a factor. My advice is to always book your travel with at least one day of padding in case things go awry.
I discourage you from ever scheduling a flight the same day that you need to be anywhere or do anything; that will guarantee more stress than is necessary.
Log all of your travel information
Those 1970s-era travel agents? They provided tickets, itineraries, and nicely organized lists with every date, time, and confirmation number. You are your own travel agent now.
Whether you create a digital, analog, or hybrid record of all of this information is up to you. However, whatever you do to log your essential travel information, provide a copy to loved one or trusted assistant. If technology fails and/or you and your documents are divided, having someone able to see your travel arrangements (and possibly help you alter them from afar) can be the real golden ticket.
Confirm everything a week in advance
During our junior year in college, my boyfriend was seeking a placement for a summer and semester in engineering co-op (basically, a fancy science-y internship). He painstakingly wrote down the details arranged by the company’s office, and arrived on-time at the airport — a day late.
It’s easy to mis-remember details, or to misread what you’ve logged or see in an app. Check your dates and times, even if you’re 100% absolutely, positively sure.
Check in when prompted
Nowadays, check-in has become a part-time job for travelers. I traveled extensively up through 2019, but must admit that I hadn’t traveled (by air or stayed in a hotel) since the start of the pandemic, and was by turns surprised, annoyed, and flummoxed by all the different types of checking in to be done. You will be asked to check in a day prior for:
- Flights — You’ll generally get a prompt to check in 24 hours in advance of the first flight in whatever sequence of flights you have. If you haven’t booked via an airline co-branded credit card, you will likely have to pay a fee for your baggage; do it at this time and it will be one fewer thing to worry about when you get to the airport.
- Hotels — I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting to have to do this and was surprised when my hotel sent me a text and email to prompt my check-in.
This is where another travel kerfuffle took place. I clicked on the link in the text, which took me to the hotel website, but the page was insistent that my booking did not exist and suggested I call. (I was just delighted that I wasn’t routed to an AI bot.) The phone system immediately recognized my cell phone number and the automated attendant asked if I was calling about my hotel reservation for the next day — at least the robot lady knew that I had a reservation, even if the web site did not.
It took twenty minutes with a lovely gentleman to accomplish the digital check-in; eventually, I had to download the app, log in (twice) and (I think) spin around three times and bow toward the ocean, but eventually it worked.
For this reason, having your confirmation number and reservation information logged and handy will help ease whatever pain the process requires of you.
- Rental cars — Yup, I wasn’t expecting this, either. Admittedly, every time I’ve had to rent a car in the past 5 years it has been (sigh) because someone has hit (or stolen) my car, so the reservations have been handled by insurance companies, and the car rental companies have called me to confirm, so I have never had to check in.
- Tours, transfers, etc. — Basically, any arrangements you have related to travel, whether it’s a car service, a tour, a transfer (like from plane to bus for a group booking), etc., will likely have a booking. Anticipate your check-ins so that your busy day-before-travel workload is not interrupted unnecessarily.
What happens if you don’t check in?
Wondering what happens if you just don’t bother to do a digital check-in as prompted? Consequences vary.
On a flight, your seat may be given to someone on the stand-by list, particularly if you arrive late to the airport. You might miss important information or changes to your reservation, causing you to be late or miss the trip altogether. Your hotel room could be given away, or your priority level could be reduced.
ORGANIZING YOUR TRAVEL INFORMATION
The New Tech Landscape of Travel: Apps You Can’t Escape
I’m not going to tell you that you have to have all of these apps, but I can tell you from recent experience that downloading travel apps and having the passwords accessible in a digital password manager will save you headaches on a rough travel day. So, at least consider downloading the following apps and saving them all in one travel folder, moved to your phone’s first page on travel days:
- Airline apps – Although you can check in to a flight in your computer, phone, or tablet browser, airline apps are pretty much de rigueur for managing check-ins, downloading boarding passes (or sharing them to your digital wallet), keeping abreast of gate changes, arranging re-bookings, etc. The app makes everything smoother.
Across the four flights on my trip, but particularly that hot-box delayed-flight experience, the app alerted me to each change (and even to the location of my suitcase each time it was relocated) long before the pilot or gate agent informed us of anything. Because the new plane was larger and had a different layout, my boarding pass and seat assignment changed, seamlessly. I just had to consult the app.
- Hotel apps – You may be wondering why you need an app to basically rent a tiny piece of real estate for a day. (You may also be wondering why you book a hotel “by the day” but can only check in at 3 p.m. and must check out at 11 a.m., getting only 20 hours of any “day.” Sorry, no clue.)
Hotel apps now not only have digital check-in and check-out, but keyless entry and the ability to control the TV, thermostat, and lights, order room service, request amenities (like more towels or toilet paper) or to chat with front desk. If you are an introvert, hotel apps must be a saving grace!
Note, however, that like most of modern travel, boo-boos occur. My Hampton by Hilton digital key on the app should have allowed me to hold my phone against a plastic square above my doorknob to unlock the door. However, after several attempts on my own and multiple re-settings by the front desk dude, my digital key never worked to enter my room. (Strangely, it operated as expected if I wanted to use the fitness center, pool, business center, and laundry room. Apparently, the app felt strongly that I should be a fit, productive, and clean traveler; it just didn’t want me to sleep or be well-dressed.)
I was given a plastic key card, like the kind we’ve been using at hotels for thirty years; however, instead of inserting it anywhere, it required waving it in front of the aforementioned doorknob plastic square thingy at just the right angle or speed.
(For germaphobes like me, being able to control the TV from my phone instead of having to touch the hotel’s remote was a nice feature.)
- Car rental apps — Whether you opt for the old standbys like Hertz or Enterprise, or have embraced peer-to-peer car rentals like Turo (basically an AirB&B model for car rentals) – an app may be necessary for everything from rental check-ins and returns to unlocking the vehicle.
- Ride share apps — If you spend more time in Ubers or Lyfts than in your own car, you’ve probably got the apps already, but if you only use them to get to/from airports once every few years, you might want to re-install and make sure your saved credit card info is right.
- Master itinerary managers — If you prefer a formal platform to DIY-ing your trip, an app like TripIt allows you to gather all your hard-won trip-planning successes in one place. You forward all of your travel confirmations to the app, and it automagically arranges everything into a comprehensive itinerary. TripIt also includes seat trackers (in case a better place for your tush becomes available, fare trackers, point trackers, and document storage. Wanderlog is similar, but includes functions for creating checklists, tracking and splitting expenses, collaborating with fellow travelers, and adding travel guides.
- Note-taking and cloud apps — You don’t have to use fancy apps to track your itineraries if you prefer DIY. Just print your travel itinerary info to PDF and save in a trip-specific note in Evernote, Notion, AppleNotes, or OneNote, or upload your confirmation documents to iCloud or GoogleDrive.
- Your photo and camera app — These other apps are convenient, but if you really want a failsafe digital backup, screen-shot or make a PDF of mission-critical travel details, like confirmation numbers, boarding passes, airport maps and hotel/resort directions, and important contact info that’s too lengthy to type into your contacts app.
- Flight tracking sites/apps — Some people are comfortable trusting the airlines to keep them informed. The rest of us obsess and need to know if our connecting flight is leaving late or if there’s weather that’s going to make our plans go kablooie or if our travel companions coming from other locations meet us on time! Two great site app options for knowing about flight and airport disruptions are FlightAware and FlightRadar24.
Organize in Case Your Tech Fails
Apps and the internet are modern and cool and essential for many things. Except, and I’ll hold your hand when I say this, tech can suck. For example:
- Some apps only work when you’re online. This is bad news if you’re in a cell tower dead zone or, as happened on my hot-hot-hot delayed flight, the promised Wi-Fi melted down.
- You phone may poop out, because the more travel kerfuffles you experience, the more time you’ll be spending on the phone.
- Yes, you should probably travel with a hand-held charger, but if you’ve had to re-charge your digital devices many times, your charger may be weary, too.
- Yes, there are chargers on planes, but if your charging cable is the modern USB-C format and you’re not traveling with an adapter, you may be out of luck, as the weird little charging ports down below the seats and the ones (on larger planes) in the seat-back “entertainment system” are all USB-A.
- Digital keys often fail — that front desk clerk is still your best chance at getting into your room. (When you get to the hotel, request key cards. You don’t want to schlep up to your room with all your luggage, only to find the digital key doesn’t work.)
- Notifications overload is real — Sometimes, it’s worse if all your technology works than if it fails. There’s too high a chance of important messages getting lost in a sea of “Rate Your Experience!” notifications pinging your phone.
So, as Old School as it sounds, and with apologies to the trees, print your master itinerary with all of the dates, times, and confirmation numbers.
I printed every confirmation email and arranged them in the order in which I would need to use them over the course of ten days. I popped them, along with a pen and one of my beloved purple legal pads, in a zippered Container Store document pouch. It kept my notes dry when I needed to dash a few places in the rain, and the cardboard backing of my legal pad kept the papers from getting wrinkled or squished.
A printed boarding pass works when your phone is freaking out. If the airline or car rental place is having a computer meltdown, your printout will verify your booking and the rates and service levels you were promised.
And Don’t Forget the Telephone
Save yourself the headache of having to Google or look on the back of your frequent flier card — program important numbers for your airlines, hotels, rental car agencies, etc., into your phone.
WHEN TRAVEL GOES SIDEWAYS: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
The United States Department of Transportation has developed a variety of passenger rights, but many people misunderstand or get them wrong. Some highlights:
- There’s a maximum 3-hour domestic tarmac delay at which point airlines are required to “de-plane” you (unless the pilot feels that passenger safety would be compromised).
- Airlines must provide food, water, working lavatories, and climate control after 2 hours. During our first two hours on the tarmac, we had only working bathrooms. Just before the 2-hour mark, we were each offered a tiny puddle of lukewarm water, and it took almost half an hour to disseminate those.
- Passengers must be notified about the situation every 30 minutes.
- The airlines must provide flight refunds if the airline cancels or significantly delays your flight, but only if you decline whatever alternative they offer!
So, if they delay you by four hours but put you on a plane (or get you onto a competing airline’s flight), you aren’t due a refund; but if you had a “non-refundable ticket” and the airline’s delays ruin your trip such that you reject their offer to get you where you’re going a day late and many (airport snack) dollars short, you can be refunded for your non-refundable ticket.
Airplane Photo by Gerrie van der Walt on Unsplash
However, if you have a bad experience, I encourage you to contact your airlines rewards center; they have a chart for depositing extra miles for delays and bad experiences.
You have other rights, too. For example, airlines must refund baggage fees if your bags are lost or extensively delayed. There are also rights regarding compensation for voluntary and involuntary “bumping” due to overbooking. For further reading and resources:
Department of Transportation Dashboard for Airline Commitments
DOT Fly Rights: A Consumer Guide to Air Travel
Keep a PDF copy of these rules on your phone.
During a bad experience, log problems as they happen so you can request compensation later. As we never took off during that hot-as-h-e-double-hockey-sticks flight, my phone wasn’t yet in Airplane Mode, so I was live-texting Paper Mommy, yielding contemporaneous time-stamps for every frustrating occurrence. This made it easier to have my upgrade fee refunded and to secure rewards points.
Experts and seasoned travelers with whom I’ve spoken advise being polite but firm in quoting regulations if you believe your rights regarding tarmac delays (or, y’know, anything else) have been denied.
If the airlines fail to satisfy your complaints, read section 13 of the DOT Fly Rights document (above) to know how file a complaint with the DOT if needed.
Finally, always have a backup plan. Know what other options you have for flights, rental agencies, or hotels are nearby.
For more on organized travel:
- Paper Doll’s 5 Essential Lists For Planning an International Vacation
- Paper Doll on the Smead Podcast: Essential Lists For Organized Travel
- Paper Doll Organizes Your Space, Money, and Well-Being While Traveling
- Ultimate Guide to Organizing the Passport Process: In Person, By Mail, & Now: Online!
We can’t control the skies, but we can control our systems. Organized travel isn’t about being perfect, but about considering what we will need and having appropriate plans and backups. Feel free to share your trips (and travel horror stories) in the comments.
Digital Disaster Prep: How to Organize Your Tech Info Before You Need It
Do your digital devices ever frustrate you?
You probably use your computer much of the day. Even if you don’t, you likely grab your phone or your tablet with some frequency. You’re on the internet, and you want to connect to Wi-Fi. Perhaps someone in the house plays online multi-player video games or likes to stream movies or TV shows.
And when something goes wrong with any of it and you can’t figure out why, you may find that you want to exhibit less than delicate language and less than genteel behavior.
I feel your pain.
MONGO AND A TALE OF TWO PRINTERS
Decades ago, I needed to install more memory in my Ruby iMac G3 (may it rest in peace) and had been assured that it was a simple process. I just had to turn the computer upside down, remove some teeny screws holding a panel in place, and insert the memory card thingy. Except, it didn’t work. I mean, it would go in, but it didn’t seem to be going in properly. I gingerly pressed it as far as it would go, but it did not give that satisfying “click” you expect, like with a seatbelt. (Oh, how I wish I’d thought of “seatbelt” as a metaphor at the time!)
After more than a few frustrating minutes, I called my grad school friend Phil, one of my BFFs and the person who knew my level of tech capabilities. After multiple go-rounds, Phil could not understand what I meant by “The memory thingy is going in, but it’s not clicking like a compact.” Frustrated, he passed the phone to Mongo.
iMac G3 series courtesy of Stephen Hackett, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mongo listened to my woes, figured out what I meant by “clicking like a compact” (which, at the time, seemed perfectly comprehensible to me) and eventually the problem was solved. I realized that day that if we were going to survive the internet revolution and live in a digital world, we would all need a Mongo (and a Phil), as well as a better sense of how to detail and explain our tech situations.
I was recently reminded of this by two experiences. First, I had a problem with printer/scanner. It would not scan. Or print. Although it had worked perfectly two days prior, my computer couldn’t see it, and vice versa. I suspected the printer/scanner had lost connection to my Wi-Fi network.
I set about manually inputting the network passcode into the printer, which is like old-timey texting, because you only have an Up and a Down arrow and a Select button. To get to a capital M, you have to scroll through 1-9, then lowercase a-z, then A-M uppercase before saying “select” and then move on to the next letter.
Still, nada.
I eventually asked ChatGPT, which walked me step-by-step through each possible activity, brimming with (sometimes misplaced) confidence. Over the course of an hour, I deleted my printer, re-installed it, then installed the printer and scanner drivers. I’d done everything right and it was STILL not working. The scanner driver troubleshooting mechanism alerted me that it couldn’t see the Wi-Fi and encouraged me to make sure the computer and scanner were on the same network. Doh!
Would you believe that although my printer/scanner was on the right network, my desktop computer (which I use everyday, and which I never manually change to any other network) had somehow been reset to the Xfinity public hotspot network rather than my own, private network?
Weird. However, had I not had all of the various network information written down and handy, from the beginning, the process would have taken much longer.
In a second case, I was working with a beloved elderly client whose family had just bought her a new printer to replace her formerly reliable but lately exhausted one. We’d even used it to make copies at the prior session. However, on deadline to print some documents and to take to a notary, the new printer wouldn’t print.
My client abandoned ship to make a cup of coffee and play Sudoku.
With a series of questions to Google and many false starts, I was able to install the correct drivers (because contrary to what the client’s family had told her, printers are not plug-and-play) and get the printer on the correct network. However, had I not previously secured the client’s home internet and computer information all in one place, I’d probably still be struggling.
Whether you have a Mongo and Phil, or a well-intentioned if bewildered Paper Doll, the key to a happy and well-connected digital life is organizing your tech information. You definitely don’t want to act out the printer-beating scene from Office Space.
Please don’t wait until the next time you need your tech information to start amassing it. Instead, develop a cheat sheet/folder and keep it someplace safe and accessible, whether on paper or digitally.
NETWORK AND DEVICE INFORMATION
Your home (or office) network is the lynchpin to getting anything done. Without a network, you wouldn’t be able to surf the internet (sigh, maybe sometimes access to the internet is keeping you from getting things done, but let’s circle back to that), scan documents to your computer, print from your various devices, or do much of anything.
There are four basic “chunks” of information you’ll need to have and/or know to keep your network running smoothly: your IP address, your router and modem information, your Wi-Fi network essentials, and your ISP details.
IP Address
IP stands for Internet Protocol. Think of your IP address as a unique identifier or label assigned to every single device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. You’re probably thinking about computers, tablets, and cell phones, but lots of other things have IP addresses that you might not expect, such as:
- Boring tech, like printers, scanners, and peripherals
- Internet of Things devices, like smart fridges, smart thermostats, or smart lighting use IP addresses to allow you to monitor or remotely control them
- Security devices like doorbell cameras similarly use IP addresses for remote control and remote access monitoring.
- Gaming consoles like PlayStations and Xboxes need IP addresses to connect to online gaming services and other players
Think about how you might use your label maker or a chalk outline on a pegboard to show where a coffee mug or your favorite wrench lives. The IP address is a digital version of that, a digital address, making it possible for your devices to send (and receive) information — data, instructions, etc. — over the internet as a whole or, across a local network in your workspace. The IP address is how your devices are able to identify and locate each other online.
Why and when do I need my IP address?
All the devices on your Wi-Fi network get assigned an IP address, ensuring the system will avoid conflicts and be able to smoothly communication. Your network administrator at work may need your IP address to optimize system performance or manage bandwidth. Security firewalls use IP addresses to filter unauthorized devices for incoming and outgoing traffic.
But what about you? You might need to access or provide your IP address in the following circumstances:
- Setting up a new modem or router when your internet provider sends you email saying “Hey, dude, your hardware is out-of-date! Trade it in for something that’s faster and shinier and won’t freeze during Zoom or your favorite MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game).”
- Troubleshooting connection problems. Maybe you want to access a streaming service but are being blocked because they’re not supposed to let people in your country (or wherever you are) access their good stuff. (In which case, you might want to look into a VPN.)
- Tech support, whether you’re getting assistance from your internet service provider or your grad school BFF.
- Beef up your network security so you don’t get hacked.
- Increase or modify your privacy so that advertisers (and their delicious cookies), your ISP, or your government can’t peek at what you’re doing (or, in the case of your smart fridge.
Where can I find my IP address?
You can find your IP address in two general ways.
- Use a website that shows your IP address. If you click on the link for https://whatismyipaddress.com or https://www.whatismyip.com/, it will automagically detect and your IP address and show you two different flavors of your IP address assigned by your internet provider.
- IPv4 addresses are a string or set of four numbers separated by dots. It’ll look something like 172.16.0.1. (Sometimes, when you’re trying to set up a router or deal with a tech kerfuffle, you’ll be advised to use the IP address 10.0.0.1 to access the admin panel.)
- IPv6 addresses use eight hexadecimal groups separated by colons. They’re freakier looking, like 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334.
- Let your fingers do the walking to find your IP address.
If using the internet feels like cheating and you want to pretend you’re a programmer, you can:
-
- Use the Windows Command prompt — click the Start button, type “cmd”, and press Enter. Type ipconfig /all and press Enter: This will display detailed network configuration information. Find your IP: Look for the “IPv4 Address” under the appropriate adapter (Ethernet or Wireless LAN).
- On a MacOS or Linux machine, run “ipconfig” or “ip a” in Terminal.
- On mobile devices, like iPhones and Androids or tablets, go to your Wi-Fi settings.
- iPhone/iPad — Navigate to the Settings app and tap on “Wi-Fi”. Then tap the “i” icon next to the network to which you’re currently connected and you’ll see your IP address.
- Android — Go to the Settings app and pick “Wi-Fi.” Then tap on the to which you’re network you’re connected and you’ll see your IP address displayed under “network details.”
You can find a tutorial on the ins-and-outs of IP addresses at Computer Networking Notes.
Router and Modem Information
Router by Compare Fibre on Unsplash
Maybe you’re thinking, what’s the difference between a modem and a router?
In the simplest terms, a modem connects your house to your internet service provider (ISP). Your router then creates a network — a local area network (LAN) within your home, enabling all sorts of devices to connect to your internet simultaneously, generally via Wi-Fi. These days, your modem and your router are usually housed in one “box” that your ISP gives you.
Why and when do I need my router and modem information?
- To troubleshoot your network
- To update the firmware for your equipment
- To set parental controls
Document the following router and modem information
- The manufacturer, model number, and serial number of your router or modem. It’s generally written right on the housing. If the typeface is too small for you to read, use the magnifying tool on your cell phone.
- The default administrator login and password (plus any changes you’ve made) — Save the information in your digital password manager, or write it on a piece of paper and put it in an easily-grabbed folder called “Home Tech Stuff.” If you haven’t made any changes, the default might be as simple as “admin”/”admin” or “admin”/”password,” so check the sticker on your router’s manual or a sticker on the device.
- The Configuration URL for your router. It’s usually something like 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. You just copy it into the URL bar in any browser, the same way you’d type https://www.juliebestry.com to get to Paper Doll HQ.
- Current firmware version and instructions for updating it. It’s shocking how much we own requires “firmware” updates.
To find your current firmware version, go to your Configuration URL, log in, and yo’ll find a section with a label that says something like “System,” “Device Info,” “Firmware,” or “About” and it will show you something that looks like Firmware Version: v3.1.0.4.384_45678.
Alternatively, if your router has an app, check the app’s dashboard.
Wi-Fi Network Information
Why and when do I need my Wi-Fi network information?
You’re going to need to know (or access) this information when you:
- Set up a new router or connect devices to your existing router.
- Reconnect devices — I needed this when I had to get my scanner and computer to talk to one another again.
- Help guests or service workers access your WI-FI — If you don’t want them to know your Wi-Fi password, you have a few alternatives:
- Set up a guest network — If you log into your network’s administrator page as described above, there will be an option for setting up a new network name (SSID) for guests. For example, my home network is Pride & Prejudice; I could make a guest network and call it Longbourne or Pemberley.
- Some routers let you generate a QR code your guests can scan to connect to the network without knowing the password.
- Mobile devices have specific sharing options. On iOS or MacOS, you’ll see a pop-up prompt for sharing; on Android, look for the Quick Share option.
Document the following network information
- Your network’s name (SSID)
- The WI-FI password
- The encryption type (WPA2/WPA3)
- Guest network information, if you’ve created a guest network
Again, collect this information and keep it in an easily accessible digital or analog document. If you maintain it in the cloud, you can access it while traveling if you need to help someone at home, like your teens or a pet sitter.
Internet Service Provider (ISP) Information
Internet service providers are often frustrating, but the more information we have, the better prepared we can be.
Why and when do I need my ISP information?
This section is probably going to be the easiest for you, and you may be tempted not to document this information because you already know it. But what if your spouse or adult child or someone with your Power of Attorney had to help solve a problem?
You’ll may need this information if you want to upgrade (or downgrade) your service, report outages, solve billing questions or problems, or return equipment.
Document the following ISP information
- Your internet service provider’s name — Unless you live in Mayberry, the name isn’t going to be Floyd or MarySue. It might be Comcast/Xfinity, Spectrum, AT&T, Verizon Fios, T-Mobile, Google Fiber, or even a municipal or regional utilities provider.
- The customer support phone number — Note, you may need two different numbers, one for tech support and one for customer support, though they’re usually part of the same phone tree selection of options.
- Your account number — This is printed on your billing statement; if you don’t get printed bills (whether you are on auto-pay or just log in to pay each month), find your account number in your online account portal.
- Your login credentials for your account portal
COMPUTERS, PHONES, TABLETS, AND PERIPHERALS
While network information may be the most confusing — and thus most essential to write down, there are other essentials to capture on a technological cheat sheet.
Device Identifiers
For each device or peripheral, document the following:
- Serial number — You may find this imprinted on a peripheral, but on computers, phones, tablets and other digital devices, log into your Settings app. For example, on an iPhone, navigate Settings>General>About and you will find your serial number.
- MAC address — A MAC address has nothing to do with Apple Mac; it stands for Media Access Control, and it’s a unique hardware identifier that’s assigned to any network-enabled device. It’s a permanent characteristic, like a fingerprint, as opposed to an IP address, which can change. A MAC address looks like 00:1A:2B:3C:4D:5E
You may find a MAC address imprinted on the bottom or back of a physical device, labeled as MAC Address, MAC, LAN MAC, WAN MAC, or Wi-Fi MAC, in the router’s admin dashboard, or in the router’s app.
Alternatively, use a MAC address lookup site like MacAddress.io or MacLookup.app.
- Model name/number — Like the serial number, it may be imprinted in the bottom/back of the device but can also be found in the settings section.
- Operating System — e.g., Windows 11 or macOS 15 Sequoia. Don’t worry about noting the periodic version numbers (like 15.5.1) as that will update too often to make it worth logging.
- Device Name — This is whatever you call your devices so you’ll recognize them when you look at the network. For example, “Julie’s Purple iPhone.”
- On a Windows device, look at Settings>System>About
- On a Mac, it’s in System Settings>General>Sharing
- On iOS, navigate to Settings>General>About>Name
- On Android, it varies by manufacturer, but try Settings>About Phone>Device Name
Why might I need device identifiers?
Try to log your device identifiers as soon as possible after acquiring them in case you need to:
- locate a device on your network
- get warranty support
- get help with tech support or repair
- file insurance claims
- submit a filing for a class action lawsuit — Recent, I filed a claim in the Lopez Voice Assistant Settlement. Although I only had proofs of purchase for three of the four devices, I was able to complete the claim for the fourth by submitting the serial number for my 2015 iPhone6!
Operating System License Keys or Activation Codes
If you ever have to re-install your operating system because something implodes or if you need to transfer the operating system to a new device, you’ll need the license keys or activation codes, which are generally long alphanumeric strings.
In the olden days, we had stickers on the envelopes for installation disks and on older computers, stickers with the packaging. These days, look in your digital accounts, like Microsoft or Apple, to find your keys and codes, and save them locally, just in case.
Installed Software and Product Keys
Whenever you buy, download, and install software or other digital “products,” you may get keys to prove you haven’t “borrowed” someone else’s software. This includes anti-virus software, productivity suites like Microsoft 365 apps, or Adobe products.
Log everything you already own and then make a point of cataloguing new software purchases with:
- a list of all of essential apps and software licenses with the:
- product name
- license number
- date you installed or acquired it
- installation files (or locations) and download links from which you got the software
- activation codes
If you ever have to re-install software after a crash, or if your computer is lost or stolen and you have to move to a new device, you’ll need this data.
Peripheral Setup Information
When you fight the Devil — I mean, reconnect or troubleshoot your printer, scanners, Wi-Fi label makers — you need this information.
For the same technological, financial, insurance, or legal reasons you may need to track your digital devices, you need to record essential information about your peripherals. For each printer, scanner, copier or other peripheral, write down the:
- make
- model
- driver download page URL
- IP address (if it’s networked)
- current driver version
Smart Home Device Information
Do you have a futuristic home? Document the following for each of your smart home devices in case you have to reset your network and everything “smart” gets stupid.
- smart device app logins
- setup instructions
- device warranties and supporting info, including:
- purchase date
- warranty terms
- tech support contact numbers and websites
WHAT OTHER TECH INFORMATION DO YOU NEED TO TRACK?
If you manage to collect and safeguard all of the above information, you’ll be ahead of the game. Still, there are myriad other things to track.
Passwords
You already know that having a strong password is essential. Still, to stay on the cutting edge, read The 2025 Hive Systems comprehensive Are Your Passwords in the Green.
Infographic courtesy of Hive Systems at www.hivesystems.com/password
If you ever need to recover files, sync devices, or re-set your accounts after something goes awry, make doubly sure you’ve captured:
- logins for all of your cloud accounts, like iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Evernote
- recovery email and backup options
- password manager login — If one password or passphrase is the key to your digital kingdom, keep it safe! You may think you’ll remember it forever, but if you get bonked on the head by an Acme anvil or a piano dropped from a high window, you (or your family) will be glad that you recorded it.
2-Factor Identification Backup Codes and Recovery options
Text-based 2-factor identification is quickly being replaced by 2FA backup codes. Take note of your:
- backup codes for services with two-factor authentication
- authenticator app information like which app you’re using, and which phone or tablet it’s installed on
in case you ever lose your phone or switch devices and can no longer have ad hoc codes automatically sent to your phone.
Backup Configurations
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked a client, “Do you back your phone up to the cloud?” or “How do you back up your computer?” and received a blank, panicked stare. First, be sure you are backing things up and then document:
- which devices are being backed up?
- how often?
- to where — the cloud? an external hard drive? network-attached storage (NAS)?
- instructions for restoring from backup
If you’ve never had a crash or data loss, you’re lucky. Preserve your luck and back up!
Digital Legacy Information
Think about who should have access to your accounts if you’re incapacitated or unavailable. Then make a plan to provide instructions and logins for your personal accounts. You can put much of this information in your digital password manager and arrange for an emergency or legacy contact. Beyond that, review:
How to Create Your Apple & Google Legacy Contacts
Paper Doll Explains Digital Social Legacy Account Management
Is your tech information captured and organized?
How to Use Timers for Improved Productivity — Part 5: Hybrid Timers and Bonus Material
Depending on how you feel about timers, you’re either relieved or disappointed that we’ve come to the end the series, where thus far we’ve had:
- How to Use Timers for Improved Productivity and Focus — Part 1
- How to Use Timers for Improved Productivity and Focus — Part 2: Picking a Good Timer
- How to Use Timers for Improved Productivity and Focus — Part 3: Tangible Timers
- How to Use Timers for Improved Productivity and Focus — Part 4: Digital Timers
In the past four posts, I’ve offered up the why and how of using and selecting timers to meet your needs, aesthetically and psychologically, and to ensure your greater productivity. Today’s post wraps up with a combo platter.
First, literally, we’ll look at combination timers, those hybrid devices that offer both an analog and digital approach to letting you concentrate on your work without fear that you’ll forget to rest your eyes, roll your shoulders, or pick the kids up from school.
Second, because there are still so many more timers than we had a chance to explore, I’m piling up bonus resources of the tangible and digital sort.
Third, thanks to the generosity of the creator of one of the timers I already referenced, I can offer a little real-world review.
HYBRID TIMERS
We looked at tangible, physical timers which usually (but not always, in the case of the Focus Timer®) express time in an analog-only format. We also examined digital timers timers that were, themselves, digital (in a browser, website, software platform, or app) and which also displayed time digitally in numerals rather than in clock-like, analog time.
However, there are hybrid timers which combine features — they are tangible but with digital (or both digital and analog) display, and digital timers with some measure of an analog display.
Time Timer Watch
The Time Timer Watch takes everything appealing in traditional Time Timers (the Originals, Plus, Mods, Retro ECO, and more) we discussed in the third post in this series and incorporate it all into a wristwatch.
The Time Timer Watch displays time visually with a digital (that is, electronic) version of the red time disk, but also includes a digital (numerical) readout for the clock and countdown settings.
Whether for you or your child, the Time Timer Watch is a discreet and portable timer that helps keep daily routines on track. It supports efforts to maintain and increase focus, and improve independence and self-regulation. As Time Timer notes,
“Whether you depend on Time Timer products to overcome ADHD, Autism, or other cognitive variances, or you just want the look of a fun sporty watch that increases productivity, the Time Timer Watch is your solution. The sporty design makes this wrist-watch a great accessory for students, adults, athletes, teachers, and professionals, of any age or ability.”
The watch band is made of soft silicone in two circumference sizes matched to their color: white (5″ to 7.5″ for small) and dark green (5.5″ to 8.25″ for large), while the watch face is 1.5 inches. Mix and match different silicone band colors (Caribbean Blue, Sedona Orange, and Baltic Blue) to reflect your style.
Alternatively, you can carry the watch face in a silicon watch fob accessory; wear it like an 1890s robber baron on a watch chain, on a cord around your neck like an ID badge, or attach it to your backpack.
The Timer Timer watch uses a CR2032 (coin-style) battery and works in three different modes:
- Time Timer — Set an original 60-minute timer or a custom timer for up to 99 hours. (Think you’d never need a timer that long? Imagine counting down how many hours are left having to be nice to a visiting relative who sets your teeth on edge!) You can set an optional repeating alert for circumstances requiring a regular reminders, like to take medication, use the restroom, bring likely-to-wander attention back to the task, or soothe your way into a transition between tasks or modes.
- Clock — The watch has both analog and digital displays in 12- or 24-hour format. (Paper Doll readers know I always prefer an analog clock to a) help children reinforce an understanding of analog time and b) makes time visible and proportional in ways that digital time does not.
- Alarm — While timers give us backup for paying attention to the ebb and flow of our day, an alarm allows us to stop paying attention altogether. Leave it to Jeeves! So, rather than setting a duration of five minutes or 3 hours from now, you can set a time-of-day alarm. The optional alarm has multiple settings such that the alarm can be off, beep, vibrate silently, or beep and vibrate. Pick what works based on sound or tactile sensitivities or variances in hearing abilities.
The Timer Timer Watch is particularly ideal for school and testing situations because it’s not a smart device, isn’t connected to the internet, and can be used in silent mode. Set the visual timer to the duration of a testing session and don’t worry about knowing how much time is left or calculating the time difference.
Time Timer Twist
For years, I used to visit the Time Timer booth at NAPO conferences, praising the different devices but wishing for a small magnetic version. I recall being a little giddy when the Time Timer Twist finally made it’s debut, and it ties with the MOD for being my favorite (and the most stylish) Time Timer.
To set the timer on the Twist, turn the outer ring until you reach your desired time, all the way up to 90 minutes, and then push the play button. (Push again to pause.) The digital display shows as a black, self-diminishing, digital version of the traditional red analog disk, while the digital version of the time remaining counts down in the center.
Then just attach it any metal surface, like the kitchen fridge, a filing cabinet in your office, or a magnetic classroom whiteboard, per Time Timer:
At home, use the TWIST® for everything from helping kids’ morning and bedtime routines, timing homework and study sessions, or baking the perfect batch of cookies.
In the classroom, it’s great for timing tests and turn-taking exercises, timing group activities, and helping kids with special needs transition between activities.
In the office, use it to keep track of presentations, team-building activities, and more.
There’s a volume control switch so depending on your environment, you can opt for a silent, low, or high volume alert when your time is up.
Timer Timer Twist runs on one AAA battery and comes in four color schemes: Dreamsicle Orange, Lake Day Blue, Pale Shale Gray, and Original Red. If you love this version and don’t mind sticking with the Original Red, there’s even a Time Timer Twist with Kickstand that’s not only magnetic, but can stand at attention, giving the MOD some competition!
Four-Channel Professional Kitchen Timers
We’ve talked about the convenience of using your cell phone timer when making a complex meal. While it’s pretty far afield from the kinds of timers we’ve been looking at, four-channel commercial kitchen timers are ideal for restaurant kitchens — wanna film your own version of FX’s The Bear? — or in Brady Bunch-style households with big families or lots of housemates.
Digital 4-Channel Kitchen Timers are tangible but digital, and made of sturdy stainless steel with LED lights. Set each of four timers independently. The time mode lets you set in hours and minutes or minutes and seconds, ranging from zero (0000) to 99.59 hours or 0-99.59 minutes. Designed for a busy commercial (or home) kitchen, there’s a loud, high-decibel buzzer.
It’s electric and requires no programming, so it’s plug and play. Find a variety of four-channel digital timers on Amazon or at restaurant supply stores.
BONUS TIMER RESOURCES
I could write another 5-post series and still never hit all of the variety of tangible timers and apps available. Still, there are many that deserve consideration for one or more unique attributes.
Bonus Analog Timers
In the second post of this series, I wrote two potentially conflicting pieces of advice. You want a timer both does something different and is aesthetically appealing. Well, I’ve recently discovered two products that intrigue me by putting more weight on the latter than the former.
Singles Timer
First, I discovered Zone Denmark, a sort of Danish-designer version of IKEA. Reader, I covet them. Their Singles Timer, made of powder coated steel, doesn’t do anything different, but its compact design caught my eye.
The Singles Timer is a squat cylinder measuring 3.5″ (8.9 cm) high and 2.13″ (5.4 cm) in diameter, and weighs 5.64 ounces. It comes in five colors: Black, Warm (light) Grey, Cool (darker) Grey, Lupine (a sort of violet) and Mud (beige). Turn the basket-like handle on top to set the timer, do your cooking (or whatever), and then carry your timer with you wherever you go.
The Singles Timer costs 25 Euros (about $28.47 US), plus shipping, and while it lacks the attributes necessary for someone needing a visual gauge of time, it’s just darned pretty, making it suitable as a simple household timer.
the dot
the dot wooden timer cube is a mix of ancient and modern, wood and metal and microchips, analog and digital. The base is a rounded block of wood measuring 3.54″D x 3.54″W x 0.98″H with a hole in the center (much like a toad-in-the-hole, egg-and-toast breakfast); affixed to the interior bottom is a metal bowl and suspended from the interior top is the string-and-ball mechanism that strikes the bowl to make it chime. However, the timer is set digitally on the outer top of the dot.
Thus, you have a digital LCD display for easy setting of the timer for meditation or deep work, but a mechanical chiming when the set time is up.
the dot uses one lithium polymer battery, which can be recharged with a USB-C charging cable. It’s a pricey at $80, but it’s an intriguing stylistic mix: yoga retreat-meets-corporate focus.
Bonus Digital Timers
Browser Timers
- Google Timer (browser-based) — Did you know that there’s a digital timer built into Google? The default is set for five minutes but you can customize for whatever time you need. Type your exact hour, minute, and second preference or use the pre-set buttons to bump up the time by :30, 1:00, or 5:00 increments. Opt to make the soothing blue background full-screen, mute or unmute the dingle-dingle alert chime, and start the timer. Pause and restart as you like. It’s right on Google, so it’s free.
- Focus Hours (browser-based) — This similar browser-based solution is a step up from Google. Click the timer to slide out a settings panel to name your activity, identity daily start times for habits you want to promote, set (one of only two possible) alerts to ring when your focus time is up. Opt for night mode if you prefer, and when you’re ready, click start. Do ad hoc tasks or set up a roster of personal and business high-focus tasks. This free browser app has extensive statistics to let you track your focus by day, week, month, or year.
- Juicy Timer (browser-based) — Scroll down to set the time, hit start, and watch as a traditional kitchen tomato timer turns slowly, ticking down to zero, with a digital countdown below. The mid-range (not high or piercing) alert brings you out of focus and prompts a 5-minute break.
- Zorro Timer (browser-based web app) — This timer is both simple and pretty. Select an ambiance (forest ocean, rain, or café sounds, or “peace” with classical music), select your focus and break times, and just start working.
- Tomodoro (browser-based web app) — This customizable, open-source web app has beautiful background colors from which to choose. Set the times for focus and breaks, pick how many rounds/cycles you want to work; choose themes, accent colors, whether you want white noise and whether notifications should be silent or enabled. It supports Always-on-Top, or Picture-In-Picture (PIP) mode without having to install any other app, so you can focus on the work in your browser window without losing sight of the timer.
- Amazing Timer (web browser) — If you’re running an online workshop, interspersing chat with co-working, this is an alternative to a built-in timer in Zoom. Share your screen as Amazing Timer offers a simple countdown with a variety of beautiful, calming, customized backgrounds.
You may also want to take a peek at a few more appealing browser-based timers:
- Big Timer — This full-screen timer is in-your-face with large, white block-face numbers on a solid black screen. Adjust whether you want a sound when time’s up or at each of the final ten seconds (or no sound at all). The timer can also count up after the end (in case you want to know how much more time you took to finish your task). Make the timer full-screen, and have it auto-repeat (in case you want to violate the precepts of Pomodoro and not take breaks).
- Pomotastic — This customizable Pomodoro timer lets you choose literally any RBG colors, with themed colors for focus, short breaks, and long breaks
- Timer.OneClock.Net — Try scary red numbers on a black background, in case you want to feel like you’re deactivating a bomb. (Hey, some people prefer the stick to the carrot!)
- Timesets — Customizable Pomodoro timer has 5 color schemes and drag-and-drop focus and break options.
General Timer Apps
- Time Timer App — This free app is available for iOS through the App Store and for Android on the Google Play Store. It’s fully customizable: select colors, notifications, and multi-timer lists exactly as you like.
- Minidoro (iOS) — This super-customizable timer app is no-nonsense. Set sessions, breaks, goals, and cycles, color schemes and dark or light themes, sounds and notifications. It cycles through analog time rather than providing a full “slice” of time as with Time Timer. Unlike Time Timer’s app, Minidoro isn’t free; it’s $2.99.
Digital Timer Apps for Wellness Experiences
- Tide (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Android, Chrome) — Unrelated to the detergent of the same name (though it cleans the stress out of your brain), Tide is a mobile and browser app with an immersive timer and features to help you sleep, rest/relax, or meditate. Select a soundscape (like a Hawaiian beach, restaurant, rainforest, a mahjong parlor (!), dishwasher, typewriter, and hundreds more), meditations, or sleep stories. Whether you want to focus and do deep work or empty your mind, relax, and bliss out, Tide has a mode for what you need.
- Marshmallows (iOS) — This is more of a gamified timer, rewarding you with breaks of random lengths after each 25-minute Pomodoro focus session. The breaks range from 5-30 minutes, adding na element of excitement, anticipation, and pleasant uncertainty. (However, it’s not the best option if you’re on a tight turn-around schedule.) This intermittent reinforcement to keep you engaged and motivated is supposed to excite a level of curiosity and encourages focus so you’ll finish your session. The varied break times should reduce stress and burnout. (There’s also a social option to connect with and compete with friends.)
Work Productivity Timers Built Into Productivity Suites
- Focus To Do (Windows, Mac, Chrome extension, iOS, Android, Apple Watch) — This app blends Pomodoro timers with task management features. Create to-do lists, break down tasks into ever-smaller sub-tasks, and set progress reminders and due dates. Generate detailed statistics regarding your time use and the number of tasks completed so you can analyze and improve your productivity patterns. Focus To Do syncs across devices so you can access your timers, tasks, and stats from anywhere. It’s free; the Lifetime Premium level is $11.99.
- TogglTrack (Chrome extension, iOS, Android, Apple Watch) — The Pomodoro timer is just one part of a powerful time tracking and productivity suite for knowledge workers ranging from solopreneurs to small teams to enterprise-levels. It’s designed to track time spent on various projects and tasks, and it generates reports on how individuals and teams use their time, prompting deeper analysis.
- Traqq Pomodoro Timer (Mac, Windows, and Linux, and browser-based) — Traqq is a comprehensive time-tracking suite for solopreneurs, small businesses, teams, and large companies, monitoring how employees spend time on tasks, projects, and breaks. The Pomodoro Timer can be used independently in the browser; it defaults to 25 minutes with 5 minute breaks.
Combination Timers and Task Apps
There’s a proliferation of apps that combine a task function with timers to encourage focus, including:
- Blitzit (iOS, Android ) — There’s a free browser-based Pomodoro timer where you can customize the audio and ambiance, but the full app combines task lists and timers to help you track your focus through your pre-planned work schedule.
- FocusList (iPhone, AppleWatch, Mac) — This app combines a daily planner & Pomodoro focus timer app.
- Podor (Android) — This task app includes a timer, but is also designed to help you organize tasks with tags, access detailed statistical reports of your time use, and customize your experience to fit how you work.
- Pomotodo (iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Chrome extension) — Designed as a time management app for creatives types, combining tasks and timers and making it easy to generate time sheets for billing after the work is completed.
Whew!
FOCUS TIMER® MINI REVIEW
You may recall that I wrote about the hourglass-shaped Focus Timer® in the third week of this series. Soon after I published, I heard from Dave Zuverink, the creator of the Focus Timer® (and before that, the creator of the SlimFold Wallet).
I’m always happy to hear from anyone mentioned in Paper Doll posts, but I was delighted when Dave asked if I would like to try the Focus Timer® in person and chat with him about it. I would, I did, and we did!
For details about the Focus Timer®, it’s worth going back to that prior post, but I wanted to tell you about my experience and what I learned from Dave.
First, it’s weird to say, but the Focus Timer®’s feels as soft and smooth as a chubby baby’s arm.
Second, it makes no rattling noises, unlike most tangible timers. Dave detailed the various iterations of this super-smooth hourglass timer. It turns out that it’s got a microchip inside; it’s like a little computer processor, always identifying in what direction you turn the timer.
I’d commented to Dave about the chime sound being so satisfying, and it turns out that’s because there’s an actual speaker/amplifier thingie inside, playing a recording of a real chime! (I nodded along as he explained how other timers — and devices like smoke detectors — have a “fisio” that makes a mechanical sound, which is certainly less calming at the end of a Pomodoro!)
Third, between using the Focus Timer® and talking to Dave, I realized that what I’d originally considered somewhat of a drawback was advantageous. It’s tangible, it’s visual, but it’s not analog. There’s no clock face, and there are no numbers. I’d seen that as missing something, but Dave noted that it was intentional so as not to take the user out of focus and to instead shut down the analytical part of the brain — in other words, enjoy the color rings and trust the eventual notification to do their thing.
Dave and I talked about his professional background in interaction design and the psychology of product design, and I shared my perspective as a professional organizer and productivity specialist. Now that I understand how much technology goes into the Focus Timer® and have used it several times (and can’t stop fiddling with it because it feels so nice), I see even better how this novel product brings something new and different to the time management realm.
In the original post, I shared the video for the recent launch of the Focus Timer® V2, but it’s worth watching the original Kickstarter video.
I’m still experimenting with the Focus Timer®, but have already fallen a little in love. It took me a little while (with the well-written and well-drawn directions) but now I can easily rotate the timer (as if it’s doing a fashion show): each turn yield a new time ring. I finally got a feel for how the individual rings (blue for minutes, yellow for ten minutes) work, so the timer counts up by 5 after 20 minutes and up by 10 after 60 minutes. Neato.
Over the past weeks, I’ve read comments and had conversations with readers who have a favorite timer and those who never use them, some who hyper-focus and others who are still seeking to overcome time blindness to focus.
Only you can know whether you need a visual timer or one that merely alerts you to end of a work session; only you can decide whether you need “feel” time by manipulating something tangible or whether a simple (or customized) browser or app timer is right for your needs.
Context matters. My iPhone suffices when I’m cooking, but I want a tangible timer when working with clients, particularly if “seeing” time is difficult for them. When I’m doing deep work, I want a visual timer, but my stress level determines how much I want to bother customizing an app or browser solution.
What doesn’t change is that no matter how precise our internal clock may (or may not) be, there are times when we want to outsource that ticking so that we can focus.
Follow Me