Most people spend many hours tailoring their home office spaces to boost their efficiency and performance. While choosing the right desk, rugs, and indoor plants is important, we usually end up forgetting to take good care of our tech gadgets. Your computer is a critical part of your office. Without it, working and achieving your goals can be difficult. Therefore, you need to allocate ample time to configuring and optimizing it for efficiency. If you own a Mac, this article is for you. Even if you’ve been using your machine for years, you likely haven’t discovered what it is capable of and all its amazing features. I am here to help you accomplish more in less time.
Stack desktop icons
If you have been using your Mac as a dumping spot for shortcuts, files, and folders, there are millions like you across the world. It’s the perfect spot to keep everything due to accessibility and convenience. However, it also means wasting a lot of time and energy looking for a particular document. With the help of Stacks, you can easily organize your computer. Stacks will organize all your files and folders automatically in categories. As you organize, delete programs on your Mac that you don’t use to avoid wasting space. By using Stack, you’ll get to decide how your documents get organized.
Use text replacements to type faster
You don’t have to type bits of text that you use all the time, such as your address, since your computer can help you with this task. All you have to do is type in a shortcut that you want. And your Mac will expand it to a full-text string automatically. Open the Apple menu and head to System Preferences, Keyboard, and Text. A few examples will be provided. You can add more using the plus button that you’ll see there. These replacements will be applied to every app that you use.
Know and use shortcuts
You can easily boost your productivity and performance by simply knowing and using some keyboard shortcuts. You can find a full list of shortcuts on Apple’s website. You can also modify these shortcuts or come up with yours. Once you start using these shortcuts, you’ll never go back.
Dictate
While typing is a great activity, you can save a lot of time and strain by making the most of the dictation function. It is a standard feature in every Mac. You need to turn this feature on whenever you want to input text on your computer. When your machine is listening to you, you’ll see a microphone symbol on your screen. Once you have finished dictating, click Done.
Hot Corners
The purpose of Hot Corners is not to increase your Mac’s temperature but to give you a simple and convenient way to navigate different Mac sections by moving your mouse cursor to the corners of your screen. Head to System Preferences and Mission Control on your Apple Menu to turn on this feature. Select Hot Corners, and you’ll get to assign a specific action to each corner.
Sync your devices
There’s nothing worse than searching for a file on your iPhone only to discover that you saved it on your Mac which is miles away from where you are. Thanks to iCloud, you can sync data across different devices to ensure you have everything you need at any point.
Keep your operating system up to date
While this seems like a simple thing to do, most people usually ignore it. Yet updating your device regularly will greatly impact security, performance, and productivity. Ensure that you update your system every time you are notified about a new version. The same applies to apps. You can set your operating system and apps to update automatically to minimize time wastage.
Shut down your computer
Shutting down your Mac regularly is not only good for you but also for your machine. Sitting down all day and staring at your screen can have adverse effects on your health. Also, constantly leaving your machine running can negatively affect its performance. Most computers need to reboot frequently to reset scripts and software. Shutting down your computer after a long day can help promote your productivity.
Conclusion
If you’ve been looking for the best productivity hacks to help you save time and energy while using your Mac, this article is for you. If you need help applying the tips we’ve discussed, you should consult an expert. As the popular saying goes, no man is an island.
Published on Mar 12, 2023
