Keyboard Productivity

I am trying to use the mouse less and the keyboard more. 

About six months ago, I began using a utility called SlickRun (after seeing it on Scott Hanselmen’s Tool List).  It is a free floating command line utility that is invoked by a simple key combination (in my case Win+Q).  You can set up what are called magic words.  For example, to start Lotus Notes I press Win+Q and type ln into the slick run command line.  I do it in my sleep now.

SlickRun Magic Words – they are awesome…

I also use a utility called Texter.  It is a great text substitution utility that I read about on Lifehacker.  I do a lot of second level support, so this is helpful for typing repetitive text.

The latest utility that I have started using is Launchy which is another great application launcher.  I heard about this one from Jean Paul Boodhoo.  This utility is invoked by pressing Alt+Space, but can be mapped to other keys.  Launchy basically indexes the programs in your start menu to make launching applications much faster.  There are quite a few plugins  out there too.  Ben Scheirman found a cool online To Do list called Todoist that offers a plugin that enables you to add items to your list via the Launchy command line.

Launchy command line

I personally find that the combination of Slick Run (because I love magic words) and Lauchy work the best for me.

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Related Links
Going Commando – Put Down The Mouse - Jeff Atwood
I forgot my mouse today…..big deal!! - Jean-Paul Boodhoo

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