5 Tips to Increase Your Productivity on the Mac 

It doesn’t matter whether you are a new Mac owner or have been using Mac for years, the ultimate goal is the same – you want to get the most out of your Mac. Fortunately, Mac is an extremely user-friendly device and the macOS is dedicated to helping both advanced users and newbies. 

Here are a few hacks that you’ll handy when you want to boost productivity and save precious minutes/hours of the day while working on your Mac. 

Stack the desktop items so that you can find what you need easily

If you are in the habit of simply dumping folders, files, and shortcuts on your desktop, you’re definitely not alone. Yes, it is easier to keep everything with reach. But, when the desktop screen is too full, it can mean wastes minutes trying to hunt for the file that you need. 

Want to bring some sort of order to your desktop? Use Stacks. Right-click on the blank part of your desktop and open the “View” menu. Then, select “Use Stacks”. Folders and files will be grouped automatically and piled according to category. You can even decide how your files will get organized so that it is easier for you to find them when you need them. 

Text replacements can help you type faster

There’s no need to type out commonly used texts, such as the shrug emoji, your name, or your address. 

Wondering why? Because Mac can do all the heavy lifting for you. You can simply type the shortcut that you have agreed on, for example, my-ad. macOS is going to expand it automatically to the full string of text. 

To set up, open the Apple menu – choose System preferences – Keyboard – Text. You’ll already find a few examples and the rest you can add by clicking on the “+” button. These text replacements can be applied across all the applications on your Mac. 

Use planner apps

Mac users don’t need a paper and pen to make notes, plan events or manage/assign tasks. Whether you’re planning a vacation or creating a business plan, you can use planner apps. Using a digital planner for MacBook will make you much more productive and resourceful. You can easily keep track of and manage your tasks.

Also, you can share files, communicate and assign tasks in real-time. There are so many planner apps for Mac like Pagico, Monday.com, and SheetPlanner, among others. Select the one that works for you and stay ahead of your tasks. 

Utilize keyboard shortcuts

You’ll really be surprised to see the difference in your productivity once you start using keyword shortcuts on your Mac. Some of the most common and widely used shortcuts are Cmd + W for closing a tab on the browser or Finder Window, Cmd + Space to bring up the Spotlight search bar quickly, Control + C for copying and Control + V for pasting, Cmd + A for select all, Control + Cmd + F to show app full screen, Shift + Cmd + 5 for taking a screenshot and so on. 

Once you learn and master these shortcuts, you’ll be able to increase your productivity on your Mac. 

Why type when you can dictate?

There’s no problem with typing and if you prefer it that way, it’s your choice. However, whenever you feel that your fingers are tired and need rest, you can save them the strain and take advantage of Mac’s dictation function. This can even speed up your writing!

The dictation function is a basic feature that comes with every Mac. Open System Preferences to find this function. You have to go to Keyboard and the Dictation. The feature has to be turned on and if you need to enter a text, you can press the Fn key twice or select Edit then Start Dictation. 

A microphone symbol will appear on your screen when macOS is ready to listen to your spoken input. When you’ve finished dictating, you can simply click “Done”. 

So, why don’t you get started on these tricks to boost your productivity? You can use these as a starting point and the more you use your Mac, the more you’ll learn about integrated features that are in-built to help you have a fabulous user experience.