David Pogue’s productivity secrets
Venerable New York Times technology columnist David Pogue recently posted a list of his productivity tips and tricks that allow him to be uber productive. The list is good in that he tries to generalize and talk about ways of doing things instead of specific software or hardware. For example, Pogue talks about using macro utilities instead of specifically naming utilities like Quicksilver for the Mac or Launchy for Windows.
While some of his tools seem somewhat outdated, it’s not a surprise given the time investment he has in them. And really, although we all to a greater or lesser extent have a case of “shiny object syndrome” and need to try the latest and greatest of everything, the truth is that if a tool is working, the most productive thing to do is to just leave it alone.
Of particular note (at least for me) is Pogue’s first tip that he uses text expansion software. It’s not so much that he uses it, but how he uses it that intrigues me; Pogue has expansion words configured for even the smallest word. For example, to type the word “the” he needs only type the letter “t”. That’s some serious configuration, but I can definitely see how it could be very useful once in the mindset of always using abbreviations.
What do you think of Pogue’s tips, and what is your best productivity tip?
