Day 01
Prep Day: Set Your Intentions and Take Note of Accounts and Devices
Day 01: Set your intentions and take note of accounts and devices
Today, we are beginning a quest! A journey through the digital world to create a holistic and practical way to build your online security and privacy. Welcome to my 30 Day Security Challenge. originally created by me for an older channel back in 2017, and now updated for today’s tech.
If you’ve ever felt totally overwhelmed trying to lock down your privacy online, this challenge is for you.
What’s up S’mores! I’m Shannon Morse - welcome to Day 1 of my 30-Day Security Challenge, the month-long series designed to help you take control of your privacy and security online. Every day for the next month (with a few breaks built in), we’re tackling one small, practical thing you can do to make your online life safer.
You can follow along with the checklist and blog version over at https://shannonrmorse.com/30-day-security-challenge - or just hit that playlist on my channel and go day by day.
I’ve been teaching people how to protect their data for over a decade, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that digital security takes time. You can’t just “fix everything” in one sitting without totally burning out.
That’s why this challenge breaks things down into tiny, doable steps - one day at a time - to help you take back control over your security and privacy without losing your mind.
Now, if you’re already the kind of person who runs your own home lab and encrypts your DNS traffic… awesome. You might find some of this a little basic. But this series is meant to be a primer - a foundation you can build on. My goal is to make sure that by the end of these 30 days, you’ll be way more secure than you were before - and honestly, your life online will be a lot easier too.
Convenience almost always wins over security for most people - but it doesn’t have to.
Over the next month, I’ll show you how to make your accounts safer, your passwords smarter, and your devices more private - all with less effort than you’d think.
Before we dive into deleting accounts, encrypting drives, or setting up 2FA keys, we need to start with one crucial foundation - understanding what you actually own.
So many security issues start because people don’t even know what’s connected to their accounts or networks anymore. Maybe it’s an old tablet in a drawer, an email address you haven’t logged into since high school, or a smart plug that’s still pinging your WiFi from your last apartment.
Knowing what you own - and where your data lives - is the foundation for everything else in this challenge.
Let’s get started:
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Grab a notebook, or open a notes app on your phone, whatever works best for you. We’re going to be taking some notes. You’re going to do three things:
1 Set your intentions
Why are you doing this challenge?
Have you been hacked before? Have you felt the stress or anxiety of potentially losing accounts or having someone pretend to be you?
Do you want to help protect your family or friends? Is someone in your life falling to scams? Has someone lost money because of a theft?
Or are you just tired of getting spammed with junk email? Maybe you just want to declutter your digital spaces?
Write down your why. It’s what’ll keep you motivated through the month.
2 List your accounts
Write down every website or service where you have a login. OR, if you already have a password manager (we’re going to go into more detail on these later this month), you can simplify this task by exporting a list of your accounts and just deleting any private information from the spreadsheet!
This includes email, social media, banks, streaming apps, even old gaming accounts you haven’t touched in years - list them all.
No passwords yet, just the names. This is going to be your “account inventory.”
3 List your devices
Now write down every device you own that connects to the internet. I found the easiest way to do this is to go in each room of my house, and do a clockwise circle, looking around the rooms for anything that connects.
Your laptop, phone, smartwatch, game consoles, smart home gadgets - even your router. If it connects, it counts. This also includes things like lights, smart plugs, TVs, speakers, appliances in your kitchen, your car… Basically, if it has a network setting or a bluetooth option, it counts.
Next to each of these items, if you wanna get nerdy, also write down the device name and model, the type of account it connects to (whether that’s Google, Apple, Amazon, etc), and an estimate date of last usage or last update if you know it. If you don’t, that’s fine, you can always log into the device or update it when powering it on or checking in it’s phone app.
Oh, and bonus points if you include serial numbers and purchase dates - these can help you track warranty coverage or file insurance claims if something gets stolen or damaged.
This list is going to help you later when we clean up old accounts, update firmware, and create better backup strategies.
Also, put a little star next to devices you actively use every week. Everything else - the ones collecting dust - will be our focus for deletion or secure recycling in tomorrow’s video.
And while you’re at it, you can grab any of that old tech you’ve got lying around. Old phones, laptops, hard drives - toss them in a box. We’ll deal with them in tomorrow’s challenge.
This helps you visualize all the ways your data travels online. And when you see all of this written down, it can be kinda mind blowing how connected our worlds are these days.
If you want to make this easier, apps like Home Inventory or even a simple note app like Notion or Google Keep can help you organize this list digitally. I type faster than I write with a pen, so I prefer making lists like this on an app like Notion via my phone.
I’ve made a handy spreadsheet that you can use as a template for your own notebook that includes each of these columns.
Not sure if you missed something? Well this is new for 2025 - before we move on, take a few minutes to check your major cloud accounts:
Google Dashboard: See which devices are connected.
Apple ID Device List: Check under Settings > Your Name > Devices.
Microsoft Account Devices: Visit account.microsoft.com/devices.
If you see devices you don’t recognize - notate them now. We’ll deal with those in upcoming days.
That’s it for Day 1! Super simple, right?
You just started the process of understanding where your data lives - which is one of the most important steps toward securing it. I know, this isn’t glamorous, but this is a security blueprint for your digital life.
Tomorrow, we’ll go through those old electronics and make sure they’re ready to safely say goodbye - no personal data left behind.
If you’re joining this challenge, make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss Day 2.
You can also grab the full checklist on my website - link’s in the description - if you want to skip ahead or keep track of your progress. And if you want to support this series directly, join my Patreon at patreon.com/ShannonMorse for early access and other treats.
I’m Shannon Morse, and I’ll see ya tomorrow for Day 2 of the 30-Day Security Challenge. Stay safe and secure! Bye yall!
Useful Resources: