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GuestUser4aMPs1
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Since everyone here uses a computer, I think it's most appropriate to address technology tools first. In no particular order, here's what's made me more efficient and effective.
Shortcuts.
Regardless of what software you use, get to learn some of the most common shortcuts you use for your daily tasks. Seriously. If you think about it, a mouse pointer is a very slow user input device, whereas shortcuts allow you to have many of the things you need literally at your fingertips. In the long run, it'll become muscle memory and you'll work much faster.
Computer/OS.
While not perfect, Macs are great for efficiency. Mainly because the operating system is built for the hardware (less risk of random failures / bugs), and because there are mousepad expressions that allow you to breeze through and rearrange pages very easily. There's less distractions and things run much smoother. For me, I'm still running a refurbished Mid-2012 MBP that I tune up every now and again. It still runs like a beast.
Browsers.
Every browser you use is not likely to be built for work. They are built for consumer browsing (hence the name). If you've never tried a productivity browser like Sidekick or SigmaOS then give it a go. It takes a bit of a learning curve with the shortcuts and UI, but after about a week you'll be zooming through your work. Personally, I use Sidekick because it's Chromium based (lots of extensions work - I'll come back to that later), and there's some built-in checklists I use in there as well.
Mail Client.
If you're using the default web apps for Outlook / Gmail, it's going to be a slog. Use Superhuman and learn the shortcuts. Pay the $30. It's hard to describe just how smooth working with it it is.
ChatGPT.
It goes without saying how useful ChatGPT is, it's the swiss army knife of productivity. There's too much ChatGPT material out there for me to add anything useful here, but I will go back to GPT-powered apps that are very useful for their applications.
Note-taking.
There's a million note apps, and the one I use the most is mymind for a few reasons. First, the idea is to have one place to throw any note you want to jot down without the need to organize it. You also have a browser extension where you can save a whole page or simply highlight text and "right click + save to your mind." Then, instead of "searching" for what you wrote, you can simply type a ChatGPT-style prompt into the search bar and mymind will interpret and serve up what you wrote in natural language. It's really powerful and intuitive.
Learning anything.
Need to get up to speed in any subject? You don't need to read a book or take a course. Use TutorAI. It will generate an entire course for you, and all the written course material within it. Combine with mymind note-taking and you're off to the races.
News.
I don't follow any news outlet. Instead, I use Clarity. This app compiles stories from many news outlets, distills the text, and re-interprets it using GPT to present the information to you in as non-biased as possible. This solves a HUGE problem, and I hope it becomes more popular.
More to come...
Shortcuts.
Regardless of what software you use, get to learn some of the most common shortcuts you use for your daily tasks. Seriously. If you think about it, a mouse pointer is a very slow user input device, whereas shortcuts allow you to have many of the things you need literally at your fingertips. In the long run, it'll become muscle memory and you'll work much faster.
Computer/OS.
While not perfect, Macs are great for efficiency. Mainly because the operating system is built for the hardware (less risk of random failures / bugs), and because there are mousepad expressions that allow you to breeze through and rearrange pages very easily. There's less distractions and things run much smoother. For me, I'm still running a refurbished Mid-2012 MBP that I tune up every now and again. It still runs like a beast.
Browsers.
Every browser you use is not likely to be built for work. They are built for consumer browsing (hence the name). If you've never tried a productivity browser like Sidekick or SigmaOS then give it a go. It takes a bit of a learning curve with the shortcuts and UI, but after about a week you'll be zooming through your work. Personally, I use Sidekick because it's Chromium based (lots of extensions work - I'll come back to that later), and there's some built-in checklists I use in there as well.
Mail Client.
If you're using the default web apps for Outlook / Gmail, it's going to be a slog. Use Superhuman and learn the shortcuts. Pay the $30. It's hard to describe just how smooth working with it it is.
ChatGPT.
It goes without saying how useful ChatGPT is, it's the swiss army knife of productivity. There's too much ChatGPT material out there for me to add anything useful here, but I will go back to GPT-powered apps that are very useful for their applications.
Note-taking.
There's a million note apps, and the one I use the most is mymind for a few reasons. First, the idea is to have one place to throw any note you want to jot down without the need to organize it. You also have a browser extension where you can save a whole page or simply highlight text and "right click + save to your mind." Then, instead of "searching" for what you wrote, you can simply type a ChatGPT-style prompt into the search bar and mymind will interpret and serve up what you wrote in natural language. It's really powerful and intuitive.
Learning anything.
Need to get up to speed in any subject? You don't need to read a book or take a course. Use TutorAI. It will generate an entire course for you, and all the written course material within it. Combine with mymind note-taking and you're off to the races.
News.
I don't follow any news outlet. Instead, I use Clarity. This app compiles stories from many news outlets, distills the text, and re-interprets it using GPT to present the information to you in as non-biased as possible. This solves a HUGE problem, and I hope it becomes more popular.
More to come...
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