I always love to explore how things can be done “better”, and being able to find a method, option or approach that increases efficiency, productivity or just making things easier is something that I’m always excited about. This is the main reason why sites such as Lifehacker remain as my favourite websites on the Internet. It is interesting to me to find and learn how to do things better, because I believe life can be lived so much better when things are simpler and more convenient, especially difficult or tedious tasks. This particular tendency is probably also the reason why I chose computing / IT, as I feel a great satisfaction in addressing difficult / complex tasks by simplifying it using technology.
When I first started exploring, most of these were computer related, because computers are logical, and there are usually quite a number of ways to automate instructions or increase the speed at which things are done. Something as simple as learning keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V) for example, have significantly improved the speed at which I work on the computer, and while I still sometimes use the right-click method, it is significantly easier to use keyboard shortcuts when I am handling big amounts of copies and pastes.
Considering the amount of time I spend in front of the computer (both at work and for leisure) I have saved a lot of time just using these “hacks”. It’s also allowed me to accomplish more, because if I had to manually do a lot of repetitive actions that are simply too tedious, I might actually give up and choose NOT to do it. A good example would be sorting out my music library. For the longest time, I had my library grow unchecked and I had duplicates, spelling errors, funny characters in the song title and files with wrong labels. Only when I found out about the available tools to help me automate this did I actually decide to start doing it. It’s a whole lot cleaner now and it’s a lot easier for me to find a song I want than ever before.
Of course, now that mobile devices and smartphones are here, there is an even bigger scope for such “hacks”. When I first got my smartphone (an iPhone 3GS), it was like my ultimate device, and I used it as my library for books, my MP3 player, news reader, instant Google device, email client, camera, gaming device, and of course my phone. Naturally, it has expanded somewhat and I am now using it also for banking, making payments, booking flights, storing boarding passes or check in information, as a work device, an exercise tracker and more. The scope of what a smartphone can do increases every single day, and it seems that we can consume humongous amounts of information each day. Having so much at our fingertips is great, but only when we focus it in the right direction will we get the reap the maximum benefits, especially if we want improved efficiency and productivity in our lives.
Looking for ways to make life easier, faster, better, or in other words, to “hack” a certain area so we get better results than the conventional method, whatever that may be, is something I do with a passion, and when I find a particularly interesting “hack”, I like to share it with others in the hopes that they might also reap and enjoy its benefits. I’ve probably touched on this before, but I’ve decided to open up a new section here to discuss and share some of the really cool stuff. It’s going to be exciting!