Top 10 Time Saving Tech Tips

Time is money, so the adage goes. With that in mind here are some useful tech, and not tech, related time saving tips.
Christopher McFadden
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If you are after some handy time-saving tips then you've come to the right place. Whether you spend hours online or on the phone, are a working mum, or are a student, there is something here for you.

While we've compiled some of the best, this is not meant to be an exhaustive guide in any shape or form. Trust us when we say there is an absolute ton of other tech, and non-tech, related time-saving tips out there.

RELATED: 9 ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE LIFE HACKS TO SAVE YOUR DAY

How do you save time in the day?

There various methods of saving time in your day but they depend on the purpose and motive behind it. Classic advice will tell you to simply plan your day properly the evening before. 

Many other time-saving gurus will advise that you take a brief moment in the morning to set out your objectives for the day and organize appropriately. Make use of to-do lists and other tools.

This will focus your mind and allow you to cut out a lot of dead time. Also, make sure you eat properly and get enough sleep.

Limiting, or even eliminating, your time on social media will save you an absolute ton of time too. 

How can I save my study time?

This one is a big one. Much like generally making your day as time-efficient as possible, there are some other tips that will help immensely when studying. 

There are many guides out there, but they generally include things like: -

- Organize your study area,

- Make good use of past papers to focus your study (this one is priceless),

- SLEEP!!!! 

- Plan, do and act,

- Fuel the plane - Eat properly for the love all that is good!

- Consider forming or joining a study group and ask for help when needed.

How do working moms save time?

Being a mother is, without doubt, the most important, difficult, and rewarding thing you will ever do. But balancing that with a job can seem, at times, a monumental task.

Thankfully many of the tips above (sleep might be problematic) also apply to working mums, but there are some other tips that can help you eke out some precious minutes in your day.

They include (credit to workingmother.com) : -

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  • Spend enough time sleeping. If you do nothing else, prioritize your sleep. Good luck!
  • Establish sane work hours.
  • Embrace the power of “No.” 
  • Set attainable daily goals. 
  • Don't even try to multitask. 
  • Let go of perfection.
  • Step away from the Internet.
  • Have some fun along the way.

Here are some other time-saving tech tips

David Pogue, of the New York Times, recently gave a TED talk in which he suggested 10 useful tech tips to save a lot of time during your day. Each and every one of them is incredibly simple but will definitely be worth remembering. 

Here are some of the best ones. Watch the full talk to get even more.

1. When on the web use your spacebar

If you are fed up with using your mouse to manually scroll down a webpage, you have a little friend to help you out. The spacebar is not just an essential key for writing, it can also be of infinite time-saving use whilst browsing the web.

Simply tap it to scroll down a page with ease. If you want to scroll back up, hold shift and employ "Mr. reliable" spacebar once again.

2. The tab key is your best friend when filling in forms

Filling in a lot of forms online? Make use of the tab key to jump between fields like a pro. 

For dropdown/pop-up form fields of common things like country or state, simply key in the first letter repeatedly to jump to the correct one. Simple, effective and time-saving.

3. Zoom in and out using your keyboard online

Instead of wasting your time using your mouse or software menu to zoom in or out, why not use a much quicker method? Your keyboard comes equipped with another handy, and much underrated, key - CTRL. 

Press and hold it and press "+" or "-" to zoom in or out to your heart's content.

You are more than welcome. 

4. The "spacebar" is also your friend on your smartphone

It turns out the spacebar is a massive time saver on your smartphone too. When you want to end a sentence, instead of hunting for a particular punctuation mark to start the next sentence simply tap the spacebar twice.

This will automatically add a period in preparation for the next sentence. It will also capitalize the first letter for you.

Thanks again spacebar you sweet, sweet time-saving miracle.

5. Call your mum or "bestie" again in no time

tech time saving tips call
Source: pao.photo/Flickr

If you need to call someone you last spoke to again, instead of searching for their number, or manually keying it in, simply press the call or dial button. This should (for the vast majority of smartphones) automatically dial the last number you rang. 

Simple, effective time-saving galore. 

6. "Hack" Google to use it as a dictionary

Instead of needlessly wasting time looking up a definition online using Google as normal, why not consider this great little tech tip. Type "define" followed by the word in question into the search engine. 

This will turn Google into your very own dictionary on demand. Handy and saves a ton of time.

7. Turn Google into your very own handy flight tracker

Do you want to track a flight with ease? Why not make Google do all the heavy work for you?

By typing in the flight number into Google's search engine you'll be rewarded with the most up to date info on the flight. Genius. 

8. Google can also be used as a quick unit converter

Instead of searching tirelessly for an appropriate unit converter, why not consider letting Google help you out. If you type in something like "convert 1 BTU to kWh", Google will automatically respond with the correct conversion.

You are most welcome.

9. Eliminate shutter lag like a pro

tech time saving tips camera
Source: vmax137/Flickr

If you want to eliminate shutter lag like an absolute boss, you might want to consider this handy tech time-saving tip. If you half press the shutter button your digital camera will automatically focus. 

Then fully press the button to capture that precise moment in crisp, clear focus. Amazingly simple yet effective. 

10. Here are some great tips when typing stuff

Finally, here is a party hamper of tips when typing or even surfing the web.

 - Double-click on a word to highlight it.

- After double-clicking a word to highlight it, you don’t have to delete it to replace it; just type over it (obviously not applicable online).

- Double-click and drag your mouse to highlight in one-word increments (as opposed to the regular one-character increment).

- Triple-click to highlight an entire paragraph.

Lovely jubbly.

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