Whether you have an iPhone or an Android smartphone, you’re probably pretty familiar with the struggle to keep your smartphone running like new a few months or even a couple of years after you bought it. After all, phones are expensive, and keeping your current device running as long as possible will help you defer the expensive process of buying a new phone just a bit longer. But sometimes, your smartphone’s battery is uncooperative, and won’t let you get through a day without worrying that your phone will die. Ahead are some common reasons why your phone battery dies so quickly.

The screen brightness is set too high

A major source of battery drain is setting the screen brightness too high. Either dial it back and keep it at a low setting all the time, or take advantage of the setting that enables the phone to automatically determine how bright the screen should be based on your surroundings. Your phone will adjust to make your text messages visible when it’s bright outside, but you won’t be wasting precious battery power looking at the same level of brightness when you’re indoors. Another way to reduce the amount of battery power consumed by your screen is to shorten the amount of time that it’ll take for the display to turn off after you stop using it.

 Your phone is constantly searching for WiFi networks

Consistently choosing WiFi over data can be great for your peace of mind and your monthly bill. But if your phone is constantly searching for a WiFi signal on your commute, as you run errands, or when you’re out with friends, it can easily burn through a lot of power. If you’re not expecting to connect to a WiFi network, turn off WiFi to prevent your phone from searching for a signal you won’t use.

 Notifications are going off all day

Think about what your phone is doing all day. If it’s constantly lighting up, vibrating, or playing notification sounds, you’ve probably figured out why the battery dies so quickly. A constant stream of notifications is hard on your phone’s battery life. (And it turns out that opting to have your phone vibrate each time you get a message, call, or notification uses more battery than turning the sound on or choosing silent mode.) Make sure that you’ve only enabled notifications on the apps you really care about, and if you need to, cut back on the number of news alerts and game requests that you enable your apps to send you.

 Your software isn’t up to date

There are many reasons to keep your operating system and your apps up to date. But if you’re having problems with your smartphone’s battery life, here’s another one: Updates to your operating system or your favorite apps can add fixes for bugs that may be contributing to your battery life problem in the first place. Make sure that you’re using the latest version of the OS available, and determine that you have the latest version of your apps installed so that you benefit from the latest improvements and bug fixes.

 Your phone has a hardware issue

If you’ve scrutinized your app usage and changed your habits but are still having trouble getting through the day on a single charge, then it’s possible that there’s a hardware issue that needs attending to. Depending on what kind of phone you have, where you bought it, and how old it is, you can probably go back to the store to get a professional opinion on whether something is wrong.

By Jess Bulloyt for Yahoo/Tech