Using your computer effectively takes some practice. These tips save me time and headaches each day and I’m sure they’ll do the same for you.

Read through and give these a try – you’ll be surprised at the great tools available and what you can do with them!

Get the Tools:

1. Desktop Search – Google or Microsoft, they’re both good. The second you don’t know where something is, search for it.
2. Application Launcher - Launchers allow you to get to the screen, folder, or application you want without taking your hands off of the keyboard.I use Slickrun. Another launcher that is used around the office is Launchy.There are lots of these applications available for free.  Find one that works for you and set up your browsers, email, business applications, common folders paths and anything you use on a weekly basis. Get comfortable with this app and read the manual or help file.  You should be using it all the time.
3. A New Text Editor – For me, Word is too slow to load and Notepad is too limited in options. I use Notepad2 and I am very happy with it.  I use Textpad as well, but mostly for searching text within a bunch of files.  If you need to search many files in a folder, Textpad is still the best I’ve found. Notepad++ is also a very good alternative to Notepad2.
4. Multiple  Monitors - Ultramon gives you a taskbar on all monitors and helps you manage your windows on multiple screens.

My new favorite browser is Google Chrome.  I like the way it uses space, the flexibility of the tabs, and plenty more.  I also have the latest releases of Firefox and IE7 on my machine.

The Firebug add-on for Firefox is a must-have for anyone involved with website design or implementation. It lets you see into the HTML of a webpage to find problems while they are rendered.  You can debug JavaScript, CSS, and HTML from this tool.

Use a RSS Feed reader.  Don’t browse or search for the information you know you want.  Find a feed that will deliver that content to you.  (Power Users should try Yahoo Pipes.)

Organize
Your File Structure
Manage your file structure by starting with broad-themed folders and moving to very specific folders.

• For example, when I organize my project folder structure I start with “C:/Clients/Client/Project/Files.” Yours would most likely be different.
• I always have a shortcut in my launcher to get to “C:/Clients” folder and I have shortcuts to get to most client and project folders too.
• Other folders I keep in the root of my drives are “Development,” “Sandbox,” and “General.”

I try to keep all my files out of the roots of my drives and in a folder that is descriptive to what it contains.

Your Desktop
Go through all the icons on your desktop and move the files and folders to the correct place in your file structure.  Move all program shortcuts into your launcher application or into the Quick Launch bar.

During my workday:

• I generally drop files and folders onto my desktop that are relevant to the projects I am working on.  I use my desktop as a reminder that I need to do something with these files.
• At the end of the day it’s a combination of Outlook, our task management program and my desktop where I look for any loose strings that I need to clean up before work is done for the day.

Your Start Menu
My launcher application has minimized my use of the start menu, but I still organize it so when I do need to use it the programs are where I can find them.  Keep the initial menu short and use the flyouts to refine your programs.

Get Help
These handy apps help you remove temp files from your machine and help detect and remove spyware.

• CCleaner: http://www.ccleaner.com/
• Spybot Search and Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

What programs do you use that save time and manage your computer?  Share your favorites below in the comments section.

Tags: application launcher, computer tips, desktop search, e-commerce, efficiency, text editors

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 at 6:37 pm and is filed under Improve Your Workday, Tools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.