Mac Productivity: Saving Keystrokes
Last fall, I began my new lab at the University of Pittsburgh. I've been using Macs almost exclusively since arriving.
I will share some shortcuts and productivity tips over the next few weeks that I picked up during my first year as a faculty member. The first is on saving keystrokes. The Mac has several extremely good programs which can expand text shortcuts and fix typos on-the-fly, including Typinator, TypeIt4Me, TextExpander, and SpellCatcherX.
I've used all of these programs at one time or another, but have settled on Typinator. It includes support for English, French, and German spelling corrections, plus a set of corrections used by Adam Engst of TidBITS.
Most importantly, I've added in my own set of abbreviations and boilerplace text. You can, for example, set up a common e-mail reply, paste in the clipboard contents, and move the cursor to a certain location. I've used this when replying to prospective grad students -- and then editing the result as appropriate.
My list of abbreviations also include common snippets of code and HTML. I've saved probably 2-3 minutes writing this article with the latter.
Saving a few keystrokes and fixing typos on the fly probably doesn't sound like much -- but Typinator keeps track. I've had 435 corrections and 1600 expansions (some of which were personal typos), saving me ~1.64 hours over the last 6 months.
What other time-saving tips do you use?
Comments
TextExspander
Quicksilver is my best time-saving tip. It makes my work so much easier and faster.
I have tried TextExpander for a couple of moths. I would recommend it if i could trust it. Unfortunately it does not work every time and because of that I have to make corrections where it has failed. Today it is more time consuming than time saving.
1Password
I have found all kinds of uses for 1Password that relate to science. It is obviously great for keeping all my logins to science blogs and websites. However, the program can store entire web forms, so I use it to fill in the electronic order forms our department uses. It is possible to save multiple web forms for each website, so I can store a version for each of my grants! I have even gotten creative and stored a few text snippets for when I use my online email client--not quite as powerful as the text programs listed above, but it works.
The program also has interesting features I would like to try--like sync to Palm and iPhone, and I believe there is some kind of online version in the works.
Try Another
Quicksilver is great -- I'll comment on that in another post.
My best suggestion is to try another program. I haven't used TextExpander in a long time (since it was Textpander). You may find better luck with another program (there are several I mentioned above). For what it's worth, I've had good luck with Typinator.
1Password vs. Safari and Keychain?
You seem like a good person to ask. I use Safari's AutoFill and the built-in Keychain to save forms and passwords.
So why use 1Password? What does it offer that's not already in Safari and Keychain?