Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Look for Automation Opportunities
Now it's time for you to start making a list. You can use a text file, the Notes app on your
iPad, or even (gasp!) a piece of paper, but do start making a list of tasks you might want to
automate
right now
.
As you use your Mac, pay attention to activities that are largely mechanical in nature, that
you perform more than a few times per day, and that require more than a single click,
keystroke, or menu command. Jot down what those activities are, and as you read this topic,
look for appropriate ways to automate each task. Even if you know for sure that you want to
automate something, it's not always convenient to drop everything and do so at the moment
yourealize it.Having alisthelpsyouremember whattocomebacktowhenyoudohavetime.
In particular, I suggest concentrating on situations in which you might be able to click less,
type faster, or use keyboard shortcuts.
Click Less
Although it's not a perfect measurement of complexity, it's a convenient way to think about
the effort needed to perform common tasks:
How many clicks does it take?
If you click the Finder icon in your Dock to switch to the Finder, click File > New to open a
new window, click the name of another Mac in the sidebar, and then click Share Screen to
share the screen, that's four clicks.
All things being equal, fewer clicks take less effort than more clicks, so if you can find ways of
reducing multiple clicks to a single click (or perhaps to a keyboard combination), you'll save
effort.
Write it down:
When you notice yourself performing a task two or more times a day, count
and write down how many clicks it takes to complete it, remembering that one click equals
a press and release. (Moving the pointer to a menu command and dragging add complexity
too, but for the sake of this little experiment, you can ignore those mouse movements.) If
an activity also requires keystrokes (such as entering a username, or searching for a word),
count those too—we'll come back to extra keystrokes in a moment. Any repetitive activity
that requires more than two clicks could potentially be shortened. The reason for counting
your clicks is so you can roughly prioritize which tasks may bring you the most gains once
automated.
What to do:
Pretty much any form of automation that I discuss in this topic has the
potential to eliminate clicks. A few areas that might especially apply, however, are these:
