Tips & tricks

Win + D: instant screen cleanup

Win+D

One press hides every window and shows the desktop. A second press brings it all back.

Delete word by word, not letter by letter

Ctrl+Backspace

Ctrl + Backspace deletes the whole word to the left, Ctrl + Delete the whole word to the right. Typos disappear in one go.

Alt + Tab: switch windows without touching the mouse

Alt+Tab

The most famous shortcut, and most people only use half of it. Hold Alt and cycle through.

Win + P: a second monitor without digging through settings

Win+P

Plugged in a projector and no picture shows up? Win + P switches multi-monitor modes instantly.

Win + L: lock your computer every time you step away

Win+L

The fastest security habit there is. One keypress and nobody can see what you're working on.

Dictate instead of typing: you talk 3x faster

Win+H

Win + H on Windows, or the microphone on your phone's keyboard. Dictate a first draft of an email in a third of the time.

Voice capture: write down an idea even when you can't type

In the car, on a walk, with your hands full of groceries: “Hey Siri, add…” and the thought is in the system.

The Notion formula that sorts your backlog for you

(Impact × Urgency) / Effort — three numbers per task, and the database sorts itself by actual value.

Todoist filters: your own “important today” view

The query (p1 | p2) & due:today shows only what actually matters today. You don't see the rest — and that's the point.

Todoist: add a task in a single sentence

“every Monday at 10 #meetings p1” — Todoist picks up the date, recurrence, project, and priority straight from the text.

A height-adjustable desk: alternate, don't just stand

The trick isn't standing all day — it's alternating positions, plus a bit of movement that fits into your work without interrupting it.

Top edge of your monitor at eye level

A neck that hurts from a monitor set too low. A stand or arm for a few dollars fixes years of discomfort.

A second charger lives in your bag

One charger stays at your desk, a second one lives permanently in your bag. A few bucks buys the end of endless repacking and forgetting.

A docking station: one cable and you're working

Monitor, keyboard, network, charging — all through a single USB-C cable. Connecting your laptop stops being a five-minute ritual.

A checklist for anything you do a second time

Client onboarding, publishing an article, the monthly close — a repeated process without a checklist means forgetting something, every time.

The weekly review: 30 minutes that run your whole week

On Friday or Sunday, go through your calendar, tasks, and notes — close out loose ends, plan three priorities. Monday starts with clarity.

Three tasks for the day: pick in the morning, check in the evening

Not a list of twenty items, but three things that absolutely must get done today. Everything else is a bonus.

Timeboxing: put your tasks straight into the calendar

A task with no time attached is just a wish. Drag your tasks into concrete calendar slots — and give your day a budget, like money.

The shutdown ritual: close the day so it doesn't follow you

Five minutes at the end of work: write down loose ends, glance at tomorrow, close the laptop. Work stays at work — even in your head.

Batch similar tasks: emails with emails, calls with calls

Switching between types of work costs energy. Grouping similar tasks into blocks saves dozens of minutes a day.

No agenda, no meeting

One simple rule that erases half your meetings: whoever calls the meeting sends an agenda and expected outcome in advance.

1:1s with a standing document

A shared document both sides keep adding to between meetings. The meeting has structure, and the history is easy to find.

Delegate the outcome, not the process

A good assignment has four parts: what needs to exist, why, by when, and how you'll know it's done. Leave the process to the person doing it.

A written status instead of a status meeting

Three questions in a form on Friday: what went well, what's in progress, what's stuck. Suddenly the 45-minute status meeting is unnecessary.

Widgets: information without opening apps

Calendar, tasks, and weather on your home screen mean you open your phone, glance, and close it — instead of a tour through your apps.

Office hours: availability with boundaries

Two hours a day when anyone can come to you with anything — and the rest of the day belongs to your own work. The team adjusts within a week.

Set up swipe gestures in mail: archive with one flick

In mobile Gmail and Outlook, set swipe right to archive, swipe left to snooze. Clear your inbox while waiting in line for coffee.

iPhone search: swipe down to find anything

Swiping down on the home screen opens search — apps, contacts, messages, and calculations. Faster than hunting for icons.

Dictate messages on the go

The microphone on your keyboard writes what you say — reliably. A reply on the move doesn't have to wait for the keyboard.

Android: two apps on screen at the same time

Notes next to your browser, or a calendar next to email — split screen is genuinely usable on bigger phones.