Sleep deprivation and passwords don't mix

Bank passwords. I hate them.

My Internet banking requires two separate passwords to complete a transaction. One for a log in, another to make a transfer or payment. And the second password is changed each month. And it can’t be one of the previous ten you have used. Are you kidding me?! I have enough trouble remembering if I put sugar in my coffee before I take a sip, never mind remembering and creating strong passwords on a regular basis.

I can’t even remember if I’ve conditioned my hair when I’m in the shower. And it’s not as if I’m in there for half an hour. But almost every time, I’m thinking to myself, “do I get out the shower now and run the risk of not conditioning my hair and it be all gross and hard to brush out? Or do I possibly double condition?”

Before kids, I had a phenomenal memory. No need for scrawling information on the back of my hand. My mind was a vault with incredible recall.

Now, my kitchen bench permanently has post it notes stuck on it with reminders of things to do. I have alerts set in my phone to remind me to be somewhere at certain times. Even when my phone pings, I can’t remember what the reminder was set for without actually checking the phone.

Our calendar on the wall makes us look super organised. It’s actually because I can’t remember half the coffee catch ups, PT sessions, appointments, work trips and school activities that have been scheduled.

When our youngest was born, he didn’t like to sleep. Actually, he is still not a fan of sleep. One day I was so sleep deprived and looked out the window at the washing line and saw it was covered in clothes. I had absolutely no recollection of hanging out the washing, but it must have been me. My husband was at work and we certainly didn’t have a washing fairy come and visit us.

Sleep deprivation does not assist in remembering all the damn passwords.

I’d like to see banks give customers the option of selecting “I’m a parent” when setting up their accounts. This could perhaps give us a different option to secure our details.

Instead of remembering and changing our passwords on a regular basis, ensuring they have at least 10 characters, are a combination of alpha and numerical characters and blah blah blah, how about we have voice recognition? Sing the children’s song that has been stuck in your head for the past week. Or your regular parrot phrase such as, “please, just eat your dinner!” in an exasperated tone. Or a retinal scan of our zombie looking eyes?

Now that I’d like to see.

Do you have any tricks to making and remembering passwords? Please SHARE in the comments below.

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35 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 19 Apr 2022
    11:47 am
I found a great way of remembering passwords. I used the address of the house I grew up in so its a mix of numbers and letters and no one would know what it was but me and my brother.

- - mom81879 said
  - 30 Sep 2015
    4:41 pm
I cheat…..ssshhhh, don’t tell. I often use the same password :0 I know, it’s not good but it’s the only way I can remember them all. There’s a password for everything nowadays

- - MegMah88 said
  - 29 Jul 2015
    9:17 pm
I loathe creating passwords! But when one has to be changed I usually change them all. It is so much easier for me to keep them all the same otherwise you have 6,000,000 passwords on the go and have to run through all of them before you choose the right one.

- - mom71809 said
  - 27 Jul 2015
    10:35 am
Another hilarious article from Emma! Love it – I’ve had the same experience with washing on the line…which reminds me… with passwords we have amsimilar thing at work – just add one letter and it’s not the same password as the previous 10!

- - mom113055 said
  - 23 Jul 2015
    8:21 pm
just great

- - mom113055 said
  - 12 Jul 2015
    2:50 pm
very nice

- - grayza said
  - 07 Jul 2015
    10:45 pm
I write it down but in a sentence and then I can look and pick it out if I forget.

- - mom107723 said
  - 01 Jul 2015
    11:03 pm
Yes, its called ‘my dementia’ book and i write everything in it, lol.

- - christial said
  - 30 Jun 2015
    10:06 pm
This is probably very bad, but I have a bunch of passwords that I scroll through so I most likely would be able to guess it even if I forget.

- - merlin2012 said
  - 30 Jun 2015
    6:28 pm
I use the same password for almost anything (bad I know), but it consists of 2 words that are the same and a digit/s. so it could be born2015born or born2born, anyword can be used, another example could be bank2bank for your bank accounts, yahoo2yahoo, bigpond2bigpond

- - Lov'n'Life said
  - 30 Jun 2015
    5:08 pm
totally agree although now seem to just call it life

- - crystalangela said
  - 29 Jun 2015
    2:43 pm
I have several combinations that I use and I rotate through these. Find something that you like and that might help like 2chocmuffins! or something along those lines.

- - Deb Herdman said
  - 27 Jun 2015
    6:28 pm
Pass phrases are easier to remember. As for poor sleeping kids and parent sleep deprivation, there is one answer…Nigh’ Nigh’ Sleepy Head + kids actually sleep = parents sleep.

- - neddie said
  - 26 Jun 2015
    10:22 pm
Passwords are so hard to remember and they are starting to get really tricky with all their rules of what it must include

- - Meghannn said
  - 24 Jun 2015
    10:31 pm
This is me all over! I’m the worst!

- - deb_gs said
  - 24 Jun 2015
    8:16 pm
It is not only parenting that makes you forget your passwords, it is the sheer number required and to remember them.

- - serotonin said
  - 24 Jun 2015
    3:55 pm
I rely on the browser/phone remembering my password and when it asks for it again, I’m screwed. I’ve always struggled with that. It can be very annoying, lol. No tips here I’m afraid.

- - ella12 said
  - 24 Jun 2015
    2:20 pm
What a pain in the butt.

- - rovermum said
  - 24 Jun 2015
    1:52 pm
I have blanked out on one or two occasions when I’ve been required to remember a password. Total blank and couldn’t remember it. Perhaps put in your phone but as someone’s phone number. This works and I’ve had to use it a few times.

- - lepumpkinhead said
  - 23 Jun 2015
    4:42 pm
Lol, an option for “I’m a parent ” should not be limited to banks. Would be handy for work for me, I have to change my three passwords for different systems every month, same deal, a combination of lower case and upper case letters and numbers, the amount of times I’ve had to call office IT Helpdesk cause I am locked out….