Working Smarter not Harder

Work Smarter Not Harder

I'm a big fan of efficiency. Allan F. Mogensen, the creator of Work Simplification, coined the phrase "work smarter not harder" in the 1930s. Without getting too deep into office efficiency management, let's look at our everyday tools and ways to work faster.

Atom Shortcuts

Multiple Cursors

Hold Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows/Linux) and click every place you want to type.

Auto Indent

Select the code and head to Edit > Lines > Auto Indent.

Duplicate Line

Cmd + Shift + D (Mac)
Ctrl + Shift + D (Windows/Linux)

Move the Current Line Up or Down

Cmd + Ctrl + Up/Down Arrow (Mac)
Ctrl + Up/Down Arrow (Windows/Linux)

Next Matching Characters (Cmd + D)

My favorite shortcut — selecting multiple lines of similar characters has never been easier.

Toggle Comments

Cmd + / (Mac)
Ctrl + / (Windows/Linux)

Bash Customization

To customize your terminal, edit your Bash profile: type cd ~ and use nano to edit. Create aliases for common commands:

alias shortcut="full_path_here"

Practice

shortcutfoo.com is a great site to practice and reinforce shortcutting skills with lessons and speed challenges.