It’s not very festive, but there’s one simple tech / security tip that you can easily get into the habit of using that could save your ass one day.
You can use it at BetaCowork, but it’ll benefit you no matter where you are ( with your computer ).
Lock your computer screen whenever you leave your desk. That’s it. It keeps your data private, and just as importantly it keeps your clients’ information private too. I know we all work in a caring, sharing, trusting, coworking environment. So nobody would be so juvenile as to go over to your computer when you leave the room to take a call and send an embarrassing email or tweet from your account. But it could happen in a café, at a conference or even at a different coworking space.
Locking your screen makes your stuff less attractive to thieves and pranksters. It’s also just respectful to your clients.
And it only takes one keystroke whenever you stand up to leave your desk.

Eh, How Do I lock My Screen?

Just give it a try. Try the appropriate key combination below ( the + means you hold the keys down at the same time, like Ctrl + C to copy text )
Windows Users : Windows Key + L
Mac Users : CMD + Shift + Eject if you don’t have an Eject key ( the symbol not the word ) use CMD + Shift + Power Button
Linux Users … sigh. Ok, it depends on which flavour of Linux and about 10,000 other factors, but try Windows Key + L or CMD+ALT+L

Give It A Go!

Go on, try it, memorize it, turn it into muscle memory. This may just be the one New Year’s Resolution you do keep.
If you’re still reading and you’re fully on-board for this, set your screen saver for 1 minute and require the user to enter a password to unlock the screen.
If you’re on a Mac, you can set a hot corner so that whenever you stand up you just move your mouse to the corner of of the screen and it’ll lock for you.
Again, if you’re a Mac user there’s an app called Onyx which does a thousand things, but one of them is super useful and lets you set a massage on your login screen.

Use Onyx to set a "contact me" message on your login screen

Use Onyx to set a “contact me” message on your login screen


 
This is useful if you’re at a conference or if, let’s say you have a meeting in the ICAB café and forget your laptop ( we’ve all done it ) and the screensaver goes on. When someone finds your laptop, there’s hopefully enough battery left for it to present the log-in screen and the person that finds it immediately has an idea of to whom the computer belongs.
Have a safe and Happy Christmas and a Secure and Prosperous New Year.