If you know me then you know that I am low-key obsessed with time management. You also probably know that I'm not stingy with my time, especially when it comes to helping others in need. These seemingly opposed attitudes can cause some serious friction for me. If you'd like a deeper exploration of how I'm managing that friction (hint: my therapist rocks), drop a comment below and if there’s enough interest I will prioritize writing a post about how I am learning to set better boundaries around my time without feeling like an a##hole. See what I did there? I brought my time management skills to bear on my emotional well-being and my desire to help others. Now, back to the topic of the day: time-saving keyboard shortcuts.

Let's start with some perspective

Using keyboard shortcuts isn't going to revolutionize your workflow to the point where you're going to be able to 10x your productivity overnight. We're talking about time savings in the neighborhood of fractions of a second per action. However, those fractions of seconds add up to minutes which add up to hours and those hours can be put back into play to do more productive things for your physical, mental, and financial well-being.

I could look at the time savings like this:

Average time saved per day = 1 minute
5 work days per week
52 weeks per year
4.3 hours saved per year

Conclusion: Meh. Hardly worth the effort to learn keyboard shortcuts

However, I’m less concerned about the total hours per year and more about what I can do with that daily minute. While I was drafting this post my task timer reminded me to take a break and in 1 minute I did a set of pushups and a set of body weight squats. Is my 1-minute workout going to get me shredded? Hell nah. But math is math.

1 min exercise > 0 min exercise

I actually do this mini-workout several times a day as part of my implementation of the Pomodoro Technique. Whatever little positive things you do with your reclaimed time, it’s better than doing nothing.

And now for the shortcuts

Alt+Tab (Windows) or Cmd+Tab (Mac):

Quickly switch between open applications. If you’re not already using this one on the regular I don’t know what to tell you. “Welcome to computers,” I guess. This one’s been around since forever. It’s a must-do when you're multitasking and need to jump between different programs.

Ctrl+Shift+T (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+T (Mac):

Reopen the last closed tab in your browser. This is a great way to recover accidentally closed tabs.

Bonus tip: This also works to restore a recently closed tab group in Google Chrome.

Ctrl+Shift+V (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+V (Mac):

Paste without formatting. This one is a huge Time Saver when copying and pasting stylized text from a document or web page into a WYSIWYG editor or slide deck.

Effortlessly match formatting, font, etc!

(Mac-exclusive Bonus Shortcut) Optn+Cmd+H:

Hide all but the active app. Desktop too cluttered with a gazillion open apps? Kapow! This shortcut tidies up everything but what you want to see.

Wrapping it up

Obviously, these shortcuts just scratch the surface of what’s available to you. I make it a point to discover and implement keyboard shortcuts for as many of my frequently-used actions as possible. The list keeps growing! I’m dying to know what your faves are and how you’re using the regained time. Drop a note in the comments.

3 time-saving keyboard shortcuts you need to start using right now