Tailor your tool

Do you need to use a computer in your line of work? Do you consider yourself a power-user? Do you tailor it to your specific wants and needs? If not then you could be missing a trick and crippling your productivity.

I can’t tell you how to set things up the way you like them – that’s the point of diversity and personalisation. But this is what I’ve found helps me, and it may give you some ideas…

Screens are wider than they are tall, and the ratio has changed over the years (once 4:3 now 16:9 is common). But the taskbar is still a strip across the bottom, with barely enough room to list your numerous open windows. Why not move it to a column down the side, giving you a bit more height in the main screen area and also allowing more room for the window titles (go for small icons).

I prefer to use the keyboard over the mouse. To make the most of this I have pinned my favourite apps to the taskbar and assigned them a keyboard hotkey. I have also learned the built-in Windows shortcuts for controlling windows (switching, maximising, moving to another monitor, etc.). To start programs simply hit the Windows key and type the first few characters of its name.

Many modern apps eschew the myriad of menus, replacing them with a “command palette”. Bring it up with a keyboard shortcut and type the first few letters or initials of the command you’re after. This also saves learning numerous keyboard shortcuts that eventually tie your fingers in knots.

Whilst we’re talking about modern apps, stay on the lookout for nice shiny alternatives to apps that are showing their age. You will always have a use for a good text editor, so get the best and learn its power functions. Consider Sublime Text. The creator of that marvel has recently released Sublime Merge for working with git repositories in a similarly smooth way.

Ever heard of git? It’s a horribly messy thing at times and has quite a steep learning curve, but it’s an insanely useful version control system. Got a load of (predominantly) text files that you edit a lot and care deeply about? Git will help you take care of them. Need to keep a copy of those somewhere else? Want to collaborate and make sure their integrity is maintained? That’s what git is for. It’s a bit programmer-y, but that’s because developers create all the best tools for themselves : )

Whilst there are many visual tools for working with git it is essentially a command line tool. The CLI is a powerful place to get things done, especially with the right support tools. Chocolatey and Node (npm) are ideal ways to install and maintain my command line arsenal (including maintaining themselves/each-other). If you embrace the CLI (aka. terminal, shell, console) then you will have immense power at your fingertips.

The old DOS command window is definitely due for retirement, but it is now replaced by PowerShell (once a powertool for sys admins). If you want to be a power user then I think you should learn PowerShell. You can start with some basic commands. Then use a plugin for administering something like SQL or AD. And then progress to some more serious programming if you dare (it really IS a proper programming language). Now that you are getting things done from the shell you can save yourself the repetition of common tasks and start to automate.

What next when you’ve embraced: Sublime, Visual Studio Code, PowerShell Core, npm, git, etc.? Well there’s some good news that these are all cross-platform. I use the same tools at home on a Mac as I do at work on Windows. My personal workflows are compatible across divides and devices in ways that simply weren’t possible a few years ago.

Being a cross-platform keyboard jockey, I literally have the world at my fingertips. Plus when I work I look like a genius hacker from a Hollywood film. I think this makes me look cool. Although it has never got me laid.