If you’ve ever dropped you phone, or for that matter any electronic, then you know that the moment after the drop is horrendous. You’ve heard the crash, possibly even the shatter of glass, and now you have to brace yourself to pick it up and survey the damage done. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be this way. There are ways to protect your phone and help to prevent or at least minimize damage to your phone. Want to take a look at some of them? Yeah, so do we.

Use a case
You may not like it, but using a case on your phone is the simplest way to protect it. Varying the amount of protection that you want is easy as pie with the abundance of cases available. You could go whole hog and get something that’s waterproofed and will protect your phone from a two-story drop. You could just as easily get a case that simply covers the back of your phone. Whatever you want in a case, you can get.

Get a screen protector
Nothing pairs better with a case than a screen protector. And honestly, screen protectors get a bad rep. We can all remember the days when they were terrible, smudgy pieces of plastic. But things have changed since then. These days, you can buy screen protectors that you don’t even notice. You can even buy screen protectors that are made out of tempered glass. The payoff of having a screen protector far outweighs the slight discomfort or cost of it.

Don’t take your phone to the beach
A part of us weeps that we even have to say this. As fun as it may sound to take duck face selfies by the ocean, just don’t bring your phone to the beach. Unless you’ve splurged for a Lifeproof case or something, your phone is almost certainly going to get injured. If not from the water all around, then certainly from the sand. Don’t think that your Gorilla Glass display will protect from sand because sand laughs in the face of Gorilla Glass before ripping it to shreds. So yeah, don’t take your phone to the beach.

Don’t put your phone and your keys in the same pocket
Bad idea. Really bad idea. Just like sand, keys love to destroy your phone’s screen. In this case, you should just do yourself a favor and put your phone and your keys in different pockets. Otherwise, you might get a sad when your phone’s display gets all scratched-like.

Phones and bathrooms don’t mix
Ever had that time when your friend says, “I broke my phone yesterday.” and then you ask, “How?” and they reply, “I dropped it in the toilet.” and you laugh in their face? Well, it’s pretty funny and kind of sad. Moral of the story is: phones and bathrooms simply don’t go together.

Get insurance for your phone
If none of the above work out but you have insurance on your phone, then you’re good. Whether you’re clumsy or you just happened to have an accident, phone insurance can usually keep you covered for some sort of cost. Most of the carriers offer some sort of mobile insurance plan and if your carrier doesn’t, then there are third-party options such as SquareTrade. Whatever the case, phone insurance is usually the most comprehensive option.

We’re hoping that at least some of these suggestions will be of use to you. Maybe they’ll even keep your phone from getting destroyed. At any rate, remember that it’s always smart to protect your phone!

If you have any other suggestions, feel free to list them in the comments.