Take stock and plan the weekend
- See what this weekend covers12 min
This guide is ordered by how much damage each risk can do, not by how easy each fix is. Day one closes the two biggest holes: reused passwords and no two-factor authentication. Day two locks down the recovery paths an attacker would use instead — email, phone number, old accounts — and gets backups and a lost-device plan in place.
Each step ends with something checked or recorded, never just read. Nothing here requires technical background; where a setting's exact name differs by device or provider, the step says where to look.
- Day 1, morningCheck emails for breaches, list critical accounts, choose and install a password manager
- Day 1, afternoonReplace weak/reused passwords, remove browser-saved passwords, turn on 2FA and save recovery codes
- Day 2, morningLock down primary email, clean recovery contacts, turn on alerts, set carrier PIN, close unused accounts
- Day 2, afternoonSecure devices (lock + encryption + updates), set up and test backups, enable remote wipe, write the recovery plan
A working two-day split — adjust to your own weekend. Which email address is your main one — the one other accounts use to recover access?
To do
See which phases fall on which day before starting.
The one every other account uses for password resets — it gets the heaviest protection this weekend.