Use Macros to Save Time (and Wrists)

Every day, I spend countless mind-numbing minutes mousing and typing my way around my computer in order to do the same things over and over again, like dragging something to the trash or opening up Word in a format that allow me to track changes I make to documents. Even though these particular tasks are not common enough for most people to merit their own shortcut buttons in Windows, they are certainly routine enough for me that I'm sure I have spent days of cumulative time on them.

Enter the macro program, which allows me to combine several steps and clicks into a one button keyboard shortcut. In the New York Times, tech guru David Pogue goes through several cheap and relatively uncomplicated macros programs for both Macs and PCs that allow you to do everything from the simple (open your favorite program) to the complex (use your voice to trigger the ~ key to turn into a left-handed delete key). None of it is simple to use, but I guarantee they will save you time over the long run.