The 12 Days of Tech: Daily Upgrades to Simplify Your Life

The holiday season is a busy one. Between family, work, and everything in between, it can feel like there’s never enough time to stay organized and prepare for the new year.

So, we’ve put together a 12 Days of Tech guide with our top tips to make things a little easier! From practical tech tips and guides, each day offers new upgrades to make life simpler, more organized, and a little more enjoyable.

Refreshing your routine begins with organizing your workspace, with the help of our 360 Case.

Day 1. Organize Your Workspace

As the saying goes, “tidy desk, tidy mind”.

A clean workspace can increase your productivity. This starts with having a strong tech setup, and with the help of the ZUGU 360 Case, you can dual-screen like a pro. One of our best iPad accessories, it’s compatible with iPad Pro 11 and 13 M4 and M5 models. It features a fiberglass construction and strong aluminum buttons, 8+ stand angles, a detachable magnetic kickstand, and supports side-by-side use for the iPad and iPhone.

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Day 2: Declutter Your Apps 

Decluttering your homescreen is one of the easiest ways to give your brain a break.

Too many apps make it harder to focus. Spend some time deleting apps and documents you don’t need and organizing the ones you do into folders. You can use the Screen Time setting to see how much time you spend on certain apps. You can also automatically offload apps you don’t use, saving storage space and freeing up your homescreen.

Start by organizing your home screen for different purposes, such as grouping all your social media apps into one folder to minimize distractions, or separating notes and banking apps, allowing you to manage your personal admin without searching for apps across multiple screens.

Day 3: Refresh Your Wallpaper and Widgets

Refreshing your lock screen and home screen wallpaper can make your iPad feel brand new. Try a favorite holiday photo, a family memory, or a quote to personalize your device. 

Many apps let you customize the style and size of widgets for a tech setup that works best for you. Updating widgets keeps your most frequently used apps and information organized, so everything you need is easily accessible at a glance. 

Day 4: Sync and Back Up Your iPad

Data loss could turn into a holiday nightmare, but you can simplify your storage with automatic iCloud backups. This means that your photos, notes, and even your home screen setup are saved, even if you experience a mishap with your device. 

Prices start as little as $0.99 a month for 50GB of storage or $9.99 for 2TB of space, and every iCloud plan includes Apple Invites, iCloud Private Relay, Hide My Email, and a custom email domain, further helping you stay organized.

Day 5: Organize Your Digital Files and Folders

Sorting your files out will help save you time in the future by making your important documents easier to locate. Cloud storage like iCloud, Google Drive, or Dropbox makes it easy to sort photos, notes, and folders.

A clear folder structure improves focus, speed, and storage space. Start organizing documents into personal and work use, and then break them down either by year, alphabetically, or importance. Your future self will thank you.

Day 6: Get a Bluetooth Keyboard

Enhance your setup with a Bluetooth keyboard for your iPad. Typing on-screen works for short tasks, but a full keyboard, such as the Apple Magic Keyboard makes everything easier, from emails to essays. Combined with our iPad case stable stands, it’s ideal for students, professionals, or creatives who need to work on the go.

Day 7: Set Up Focus Mode for Deep Work

Need to get in the zone? Apple’s Focus mode helps reduce interruptions by pausing notifications during specific times. You can also block out busy periods in your calendar for meetings, study time, or family plans. These small adjustments help create more intentional screen time. 

You can also set up and automate custom Focus modes by going to Settings > Focus, then tapping the + button to add a preset or Custom mode. This allows you to further customize the notifications you receive, and set up alternative Home and Lock Screens to appear for that Focus mode. For example, you can add widgets to a new Home Screen or hide distracting apps to help you concentrate.

Day 8: Try a Digital Sketching or Note-Taking App

Apps like GoodNotes, Notability, or Noteshelf organize notes, sketches, and documents neatly and efficiently. These creative tools can inspire you to get creative. When you pair it with an Apple Pencil Pro, a keyboard, and a ZUGU stand you’ve got the perfect setup for drawing and getting creative.

Day 9: Upgrade Your Charging Station or Cable Setup

Upgrading your charging station or organizing your cable setup will save you time, keep your desk tidy, and prevent cable chaos. Two of our tech productivity tips are to buy a longer cable for your iPad and a cable organizer that can be used to tidy away and neatly rearrange your cables.

Day 10: Improve Lighting for Video Calls or Content Creation

Lighting makes a big difference in video calls and content creation, and it can make you look more professional by improving picture quality. Ring lights or cameras help brighten your surroundings and reduce eye strain on long, dark evenings. Paired with the ZUGU iPad case, your device stays steady so you’re perfectly framed and well-lit every time you jump on a video call or film content.

Day 11: Clean and Sanitize Your Tech

Devices collect dust, fingerprints, and germs. A simple wipe-down with ZUGU cleaning wipes or microfiber case cloths is both hygienic and will increase the longevity of your iPad. Clean screens and cases just feel so much better to use, so don’t neglect periodic maintenance of your iPad.

Day 12: Upgrade Your Case, Upgrade Your Experience

On the final day of our 12 holiday tech upgrades, finish strong by protecting everything you’ve set up, with the help of our ZUGU 360 Case.

In celebration of our 15th anniversary, we designed a case with multiple viewing angles, a detachable magnetic kickstand, and compatibility for both iPad and iPhone. You’ll never want a new case again. It’s also on our Christmas tech gift ideas blog. 

Upgrade Your Tech Setup with ZUGU Case

These 12 tech productivity tips will help you keep your iPad organized, ready for the new year. From decluttering apps and organizing files to refreshing your workspace and updating your tech setup, small upgrades make a big difference.