3IT: Password Managers, Water Bottles, and LinkedIn Email Addresses

July 7, 2025 / in 3IT, Business Recommendations, Gadgets, Information Technology, LinkedIn / by Jason Terry

Hello friends! Over the last few weeks, I have done these “3 Interesting Things” (3IT) types of blog posts. So far, four people bought the Nothing Ear earbuds I recommended, one person bought an EGO Lawn Mower as a result of the EGO String Trimmer with Line IQ I mentioned, and someone is going to try Monarch Money to manage their financial data. So these seem to be helping people.

Here is another round!

1) Password Managers – This one is SO important.

So many people have heard about password managers… and so many people still don’t use them. I am not sure if they are intimidating to people for some reason or what. Here is what I can tell you with 100% certainty. It will change your life in a positive way to use a Password Manager if you are not using one currently.

Here is why: When you sit down to work, you log into a password manager with a single, complicated password. This opens up all the passwords you have stored to be used. You go to a website you need to log into, you click a little icon or button and your username and password get entered for you automatically. It’s like magic. And you can do that with multiple websites during the same session. You could log into LinkedIn, your bank, Amazon.com and 15 other websites automatically after unlocking your password manager with one password. So now, you only have to remember a single password for the rest of your life. (Oh, and they support automatic generation of 2 Factor Codes so you no longer have to use Google Authenticator… it will enter the 6 digit rotating code for you as long as you supply the password manager with the manual 2FA key!)

There are quite a few excellent choices when it comes to password managers. I have been using Roboform for more than a decade. But LastPass and Keeper are a couple of others that are also popular and basically operate the same way. All that matters is you pick one and start using it! You will thank me… I have had multiple people tell me years later that they couldn’t function without Roboform or LastPass managing their passwords for them.

2) Water Bottle for your Desk

A few months ago, I bought a water bottle to be used next to my desk. (Here is the one I bought on Temu.com and a similar one on Amazon.com.) I am trying to drink more water, and I found that there are longer stretches of time when I am working at my desk and not drinking anything. I found a water bottle on Amazon that has hour marks on it so you can keep track of where you are throughout the day. I love this thing!

The first time I go into my office for the day, I grab the water bottle and fill it to the top. I make sure that I drink at least a full bottle every day. I am pretty sure I need to be drinking two of them a day! Crazy thing is, I feel less hungry because I am drinking water more consistently. (This is in addition to drinking lots of water at all my meals… no soda and rarely alcohol.)

I know this bottle is big… but the convenience of filling it up once… basically a water trough for your desk… is worth it!

3) LinkedIn Email Addresses

I was working with a client recently and there were some challenges getting into their LinkedIn account. They had recently changed jobs and had registered their LinkedIn account using the email address for their previous company. When they tried to log in, they were asked to verify their account with a security code that was emailed to them… at their old email address.

You can avoid this problem by associating as many email addresses as you want to with your LinkedIn account. I recommend that people associate any email addresses they use often. Why? Because it is easy to accidentally set up a new LinkedIn account by putting in your name and email address. You don’t want duplicate accounts. And, you want to be able to get into your LinkedIn account if you ever change jobs!

All you have to do is log into LinkedIn, and then on the menu banner across the top, click on Me | Settings and Privacy. Then look to the left sidebar menu. You will see “Account Preferences” and then “Sign in & security”. Click on the “Sign in & security” link. Then under Account Access you will see Email addresses. Click on the word Email addresses. On the following screen you can add as many additional emails as you want. Be sure to verify each one that you add. (LinkedIn will email the new email address with a link that you click to verify you own that email address.)

Once you have added multiple email addresses to your LinkedIn profile settings, you can log in with any of them along with your LinkedIn password!

That’s a Wrap!

Well, there you go. Three more things on my mind this week. Please let me know if you find any of these helpful! That encourages me to keep doing these for you. Thanks!