Mac users are typically quite tech-savvy, but there’s always room for improvement. If you have been seeking ways to be more productive, these tips for mac users and tricks will help maximize the efficiency of your Mac.
1. Don’t type, dictate
Typing is good, but you can save your fingers the trouble and speed up your writing by leveraging the power of the dictation function. The function comes as a standard with every Mac, and you can find it by going to System Preferences from the Apple menu > selecting Keyboard and Dictation > turn on the feature. Whenever you need to enter a text, press the Fn key twice or select Edit, then Start Dictation. When your device is listening for the spoken unit, it will show a microphone symbol on the screen. To stop dictating, you can click Done underneath the microphone symbol.
2. Use an external monitor
Dramatically boost the productivity of your Mac by getting an additional monitor. You will get more screen real estate and easily work on multiple projects at once. In addition, if you opt to use more than one external display, you can use one display for your social media apps, email and Skype and the other for completing tasks.
Moreover, a desktop monitor comes in myriad sizes and supports far more features than a MacBook screen can. Even though with every new MacBook, Apple is improving the display in terms of brightness, density, pixel or support for color, the Mac display seems underwhelming next to a large desktop display. So, if you’re wondering how to connect Mac to Monitor, the first step is to get external monitors that your MacBook supports. Then, you have to plug the external display to a power source and into your Mac. After that, ensure your external display or displays are active and go to the Menu bar on your Mac > select the Apple logo > choose System Preferences > click Displays, and your Mac screen will open multiple windows.
3. Get rid of desktop clutter
If your desktop is cluttered, you’ll take a long time finding the files and folders you need. So, you need to get rid of the stray files that you don’t need anymore and clean your desktop. Also, every folder and file on your desktop clamors for your mental processing powers and may distract you from completing the task at hand.
4. Learn keyboard shortcuts
It may take some time to know the keyboard shortcuts, but they will save you valuable time once you do. So here, take a look at a few keyboard shortcuts that are specifically designed to boost productivity:
- Command + Space for searching anything on the Internet and your computer by pulling up the Spotlight feature.
- Command + C (X and V) for copying, cutting and pasting text, files or folders effectively and quickly.
- Command + tab for switching back and forth between various apps or windows. You can transition between active apps with minimal effort.
Do you want more shortcuts? You can create your own on Mac and optimize the system according to your workflow preference. Go to System Preferences > click Keyboard > select Shortcuts > click App Shortcuts.
5. Activate hot corners
Hot corners do not increase the temperature of your Mac. Instead, they offer you a convenient and simple way of navigating around various parts of the Mac. All you have to do is move the mouse’s cursor to the far corners of the display.
Turn on hot corners by opening the Apple menu > selecting System Preferences > clicking Mission Control > clicking Hot Corners. Then, you will get four drop-down menus for the screen’s four corners. You can assign different actions to each corner. The available actions are opening Launchpad or the Notification Center, locking Mac and putting the display at sleep.
6. Save common searches
There’s no need to waste time by running common searches over and over again. Mac allows you to save your searches in Smart Folders. These folders are virtual folders that are updated constantly with search results in them. You can run a search in Finder as normal by using the search box to the top-right and enter whatever filtering criteria you want. Then, when you have got what you are looking for, you can click Save: Give your search a name. Then, you can access it from the sidebar with a click whenever you need it.
7. Use cloud storage service
Using cloud storage services like Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, or OneDrive can benefit your productivity in a few ways. First, it’ll make sharing files so much easier as you can share folders and files with your friends, family and colleagues by sending them a link or listing their email addresses for quick access. Second, you can edit the files no matter where you are as long as you are connected to the Internet.
So, use these productivity tips to make the most use of your Mac and enhance your efficiency.
