The first words I heard from the Boss’ mouth this morning would not have necessarily gone down well in the company of my Mother and certainly would not have been heard in a Sunday morning sermon. What was the reason for such a tirade – lack of sleep? No coffee? General winter blues? Perhaps all three contributed, but the main reason behind his x rated outburst was that he had been asked to reset a password.

We all know the reasons why we need to continually update our secure details however when posed with such a request first thing on a Monday morning, our minds feel like we’re sat in the Mastermind chair having just been asked to discuss the most complex mathematical equation.

You need to come up with something that you’ll easily remember, something that you haven’t used in the previous 12 months, something that contains a capital letter, at least 2 numbers, has to be at least 15 characters in length and you need to also provide a DNA sample and retina scan while you’re in the process. Despite the importance of online security, coming up with an appropriate password at that instant moment in time, that you’re not going to instantly forget, can be extremely frustrating.

Need any hints or tips?

Below is a list of a few hints and tips that might come in handy the next time you’re faced with the Monday Morning Misery:

Do:

Consider using a line of a song or a phrase you’ll remember – If it’s a song from an obscure album track even better

Consider using three random words

Ignore requests from sites to remember your password

Don’t:

Use family or pet names – they are easy to get hold of

Use your favourite football team or favourite player

Use the word “password”

Use numerical sequences such as a phone number

Use birthdays

Use the same password for all of your applications

Recycle your passwords – eg password1, password2 etc

Share your password with anyone

This might not be the answer to all of your early morning prayers, but might just help your ears avoid rugby club language in the office.