Category: Productivity

What is BetterSnapTool?

In short, it is a tool for resizing and positioning windows.

One of the most awkward things with MacOS is how it handles resizing and positioning of windows, especially on a multi-monitor setup. The solution to this frustration is BetterSnapTool.

How I use BetterSnapTool.

I actually only use BetterSnapTool to do these 5 things.

Adjust current window to take left half of screen.
Shortcut: Ctrl + option + cmd + left arrow to move a window

Adjust current window to take right half of screen.
Shortcut: Ctrl + option + cmd + right arrow

Maximize current window
Shortcut: Ctrl + option + cmd + up arrow

Move current window to next monitor, maximized:
Shortcut: option + `

Snap a window to Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Left, Bottom Right
Previously I had keyboard shortcuts for this, but it was a bit too much. Mouse/trackpad works just fine for these, as they are not used as often as the above mentioned. You simply drag a window to a corner and it will resize it and position it correctly.

That’s it! It might not seem much, but I use it a lot!

It’s $3.99. Probably best buy ever under $5.
Get it here. Enjoy. 🙂

 

What is F.lux?

Ever notice how people texting at night have that eerie blue glow?

Or wake up ready to write down the Next Great Idea, and get blinded by your computer screen?

During the day, computer screens look good—they’re designed to look like the sun. But, at 9PM, 10PM, or 3AM, you probably shouldn’t be looking at the sun.

Source https://justgetflux.com/

This is what F.lux is all about. F.lux adjusts the color temperature of your computer screen based on the current time. This is said to reduce eye strain and symptoms like Blue Light insomnia.

Why & How I use F.lux?

I use F.lux to reduce eye strain and risk of Blue Light insomnia when working late. It’s quick and easy to install. I find that the default settings works well for me.

The only time I disable F.lux is for graphical design, movies and games. This also is very easy and is done via the menu bar icon.

Hope you enjoy it.

Download it at https://justgetflux.com/.

What is Alfred?

Alfred is a lot like Spotlight for Mac OS on steroids. It’s a productivity tool that I use countless of times per day.

The main feature of Alfred is launching applications quickly by typing (parts of) the applications name instead of clicking on an application icon somewhere.

As an example to start the “Calculator” I would just do:
1. Press cmd + space
2. Type calc
3. Press enter.

Alfred also supports a lot of more features such as search Wikipedia. This could be done by
1. Press cmd + space
2. Type wiki John Doe
3. Press enter

A comprehensive list of features can be found here.

Alfred comes in a free version that should work for most people. But please support the team if you find yourself loving it at much as I do.

Why & How I use Alfred?

A lot of Alfred features are really helpful. I will highlight the three I use the most.

Snippets

Alfred allows you to create and access snippets easily.
“snip phone” will for example paste my phone number.
“snip address” will write out my address.

Clipboard History

Alfred provides the ability to keep your clipboard history. It’s searchable, easy to clean and use.
“clip” would show me my clipboard history and allow me to easily search and paste the results I want.

Application Launcher

Application launcher is the main feature of Alfred so why bring it up? Why even use Alfred when Spotlight is around?

The answer is that I find Alfred much cleaner and efficient. I’ve configured Alfred to only find Applications and Contacts instead of all files, folders and mail on my computer. This way it’s always fast and easy to find the applications I want to launch, I even use Alfred to switch to already open applications as I find that faster than “alt + tabbing”.

I still use Spotlight to search my computer for files and folders.

That’s it for Alfred. Hope you enjoy it.
Download it at http://www.alfredapp.com/.