Streamline your Mac

Reduce clutter and save time by rethinking key aspects of how you work on your Mac

>>>USE APPS IN CONTEXT

Start with what you want to achieve rather than an app you’re used to using. Want to create and share lists? Use Reminders. Quick thoughts you’ll want to refer to later? Notes. The same goes for third– party apps — you might find, for example, iA Writer’s minimalism better for writing than Word or Pages.

>>>BE FOCUSED

Most people aren’t great at multitasking, and evidence suggests when we’re distracted from a task, it can take many minutes to focus again. So minimize open apps. Be strict with browser usage to avoid straying to social networks and news. Prune notifications. And use Pomodoro timers to set time for work “sprints.”

>>>USE THE CLOUD

Ideally, you don’t want to be tied to any one machine — nor even any single device. Where possible, then, work with apps that utilize the Cloud, so you can get at your data anywhere, whether that means adding a reminder to a to–do list on your Mac or making a quick edit to a document on your phone.

>>>REPLACE TEXT

In the Text tab within the System Preferences Keyboard pane, define text replacements. These can be for misspellings, but also triggers for emoji and ASCII, or even for multiline text you can paste into a slot in the With column. Shortcuts sync across iCloud so will work on mobile devices.

>>>USE WIDGETS

Widgets aren’t as widespread on Mac as on mobile devices, but explore Notification Center and see what’s available. It’s less of a distraction to dip into that for a few seconds to glance at an appointment, weather conditions, or headlines than to fire up a separate app.