By Adam Pash Get the Best of Lifehacker in Lifehacker: The Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, and Better Lifehacker: The Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, and Better is a compilation of the best 121 hacks, tricks, and downloads from Lifehacker's archives. This dead tree version of the web site transforms scores of one-off blog posts into comprehensive, edited tutorials, some of which will be familiar to longtime readers, others of which are completely new. Herein you'll find a preview of what's inside the cover, including links to past posts that informed each chapter. Lifehacker: The Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, and Better Availability: Lifehacker is available in paperback from Amazon, on Kindle, as an epub, and in bookstores everywhere. Price: Varies. Currently the best price is for the epub from my publisher, Wiley; buy the epub here and use the promo code LHB3E for 40% off through June 30th. The final price will be $11.99 + tax. What's It All About? For a better understanding of what Lifehacker is about, read the book's introduction. Read a little about what's new below, or jump down to the Table of Contents for the mega-roundup. Huge thanks to my co-author and Lifehacker founder Gina Trapani and to all of you for helping us hone the craft of life hacks. (My apologies: I had to break the post into a few separate pages because it exceeds the maximum size for our publishing system.) What's the Difference Between the Book and the Site? The most important difference between Lifehacker the book and Lifehacker the site is that the book culls together what Gina and I consider to be the most valuable, time-saving, and important things we've highlighted in Lifehacker's six years on the internet, and it does so in a more organized, more thorough way. Just by the nature of the book versus the web site, the former is extremely tightly curated, while the latter is moving and changing every day. The book contains plenty of new hacks you won't find on the site, but the two are very much a part of one another. What's New in the Third Edition? A lot. If you need a reminder of how quickly technology transforms the way we live, look back no further than the three years between this and the previous edition of this book, released in March of 2008. Microsoft launched Windows 7 in the fall of 2009, a considerable and welcome step forward not only for the Windows operating system, but for Windows users. (If you recall, three years ago many Windows users still used Windows XP, having decided that an operating system first released in 2001 was superior to the maligned Windows Vista.) In the summer of 2008, Apple launched their App Store and substantially evolved the iOS operating system, creating new expectations for all smart phones and mobile devices along the way. Google evolved beyond search and productivity webapps, releasing their own web browser, Google Chrome (late summer, 2008) and mobile operating system, Android (fall, 2008). Tablet computers have finally reached mass appeal, starting with the consumer-friendly iPad and expanding to devices powered by Android, BlackBerry, and other mobile operating systems. This edition reflects these considerable changes. Most significantly, Chapter 9 focuses exclusively on getting more from your smart phone — a now ubiquitous piece of personal technology that was in its nascence when the previous edition was released. You'll also find new and updated hacks in every chapter, employing tools and operating system features that weren't available three years ago. Every OS-specific hack in this book has been updated to work with the most recent versions of Windows and Mac OS X. Lifehacker Table of Contents Chapter 1: Control Your Email Hack 1 Empty Your Inbox (and Keep It Empty) Level: Easy Platform: All When you can empty your inbox on a regular basis, you've reached the ultimate level of email control. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Empty your inbox with the Trusted Trio A guide to email triage Empty Your Inbox with Gmail and the Trusted Trio Hack 2 Decrease Your Email Response Time Level: Easy Platform: All Responding to your email in a timely, professional manner is one of the best things you can do for your career. But no one emerges from the womb with a natural talent for parrying a constant stream of new messages popping up in front of your face all day long. Email responsiveness is an acquired skill-the one that just may differentiate you from everyone else in the world overwhelmed by an overloaded inbox. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Respond to your email, make it to the top Hack 3 Craft Effective Messages Level: Easy Platform: All The clearer your email messages are, the more likely you are to get the result you want in a more timely fashion-whether it's a response, a completed task, or an informed recipient. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Get Your Email Read with a Killer Subject Line Write Your First Email Line Like a Tweet to Grab Interest Hack 4 Highlight Messages Sent Directly to You Level: Easy Platform: All When faced with an inbox full of new, unread email, it's nearly impossible to determine which messages need to be dealt with right away, and which can be put off until later. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Outlook tip: Color code messages addressed only to you Highlight messages addressed to you in Thunderbird Ten Must-Have Gmail Filters Available for Download Hack 5 Use Disposable Email Addresses Level: Easy Platform: Web If you hate the idea of giving your email address to any web site that asks for it, and you want to protect your email address from junk mail and spam, use a disposable email address instead. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Mailinator - public, spam-free email inbox Generate unlimited email addresses with Gmail Get a Temporary Email Address Hack 6 Master Message Search Level: Easy Platform: All In the physical world, you can't throw years' worth of letters, cards, and memos into a drawer and then pick out the one Tom sent you about that fabulous rental he got in Key West back in 2007 in seconds. However, that is absolutely possible (and simple with a little know-how) in an email folder containing thousands of messages. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Gmail Tip: Search by built-in label Gmail search operators work in filters, too Email filers versus pilers Hack 7 Future-Proof Your Email Address Level: Easy Platform: All You've probably got as many email addresses as you do pairs of socks, but you don't want to change them as often. In fact, switching your primary email address can be a big inconvenience that leads to missed messages and lost relationships. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Future-proof your email address Hack 8 Consolidate Multiple Email Addresses with Gmail Level: Medium Platform: Web Gmail is not only an email host, it's an email client that can fetch mail from any number of external services and consolidate it all right there in your Gmail inbox. Hack 9 Script and Automate Repetitive Responses Level: Medium Platform: All with Mozilla Thunderbird To knock down repetitive email quickly, build up a set of scripted email responses that you can drop into emails quickly, personalize if necessary, and send off without spending the time composing the same information every time. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Knock down repetitive email with Thunderbird's QuickText Knock down repetitive email with AutoHotkey How to Use Text Expansion to Save Yourself Hours of Typing Every Week Hack 10 Filter Low-Priority Messages ('Bacn') Level: Easy Platform: All Millions of email messages course over the Internet per second, and a bunch of them land in your inbox. Your spam filter helps shuttle junk mail out of sight, but what about messages from cc-happy co-workers, Aunt Eunice's forwarded emails, Facebook friend notifications, Google Alerts, and mailing list messages that clutter your inbox with low-priority noise? Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Essential email filters Ten Must-Have Gmail Filters Available for Download Gmail Priority Inbox Finds and Sorts Important Messages Automatically Chapter 2: Organize Your Data Hack 11 Organize Your Documents Folder Level: Easy Platform: All If you've had a computer for any length of time you know that your documents folder gets disorganized really fast. If your current file organization system works for you, congratulations. But if you frequently find yourself letting files clutter your computer's desktop, or if you spend time arranging files in a deep, complicated hierarchy of folders, it's time for a revamp. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Organizing "My Documents" Separate Your Data from Windows on a Standalone Partition How to Move Your Home Folder to Another Drive Hack 12 Instantly Retrieve Files Stored on Your Hard Drive Level: Medium Platform: Windows, Mac OS X Every minute you spend on your computer, you're collecting more and more data, documents, and information to do your job and get on with your life. Instant retrieval of the bit or byte that you need right this very second is an essential requirement in the digital age. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Master Windows Searching with Google-Like Search Operators Laser-Focus Your Spotlight Queries Hack 13 Overhaul Your Filing Cabinet Level: Easy Platform: All One of the main clutter culprits in most offices is the To File pile. Often this heap spontaneously appears right on top of or next to the filing cabinet, which is pretty silly. Instead of adding stuff to the pile, why wouldn't you just file it? The reason is generally an unworkable, messy, overflowing file cabinet. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Extreme makeover, filing cabinet edition Beat Your Filing Cabinet into Shape with a Filing System Workflow Hack 14 Instantly Recall Any Number of Different Passwords Level: Easy Platform: All Remembering a unique password for the dozens of logins you have may sound impossible, but it's not. You don't need to remember 100 passwords if you have one rule set for generating them. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Choose (and remember) great passwords Hack 15 Securely Track Your Passwords Level: Advanced Platform: All Sometimes you just have to write down a password to remember it. Don't do it where others can read it, like on a Post-It note or in an easy-to-read text file or Word document. You can keep a secure and searchable database of those hard-to-remember passwords using free password management tool LastPass. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: LastPass Saves and Syncs Passwords Between All Your Browsers The Easy, Any-Browser, Any-OS Password Solution The Intermediate Guide to Mastering Passwords with LastPass Securely track your passwords Hack 16 Tag Your Bookmarks Level: Medium Platform: Web The web gets bigger every day, and so does your bookmark list. Stores your bookmarks online and associate keywords (called tags) to each for easy retrieval. Hack 17 Organize Your Digital Photos Level: Easy Platform: Windows, Mac OS X After even just a few months of taking photos, it's easy to wind up with a hard drive cluttered with a bunch of folders filled with images named things like IMG_8394.jpg. Pictures don't mean anything unless someone sees them, and no one will see the photos buried on your computer if you can't find the best ones. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Organize your digital photos with Picasa Edit your digital photos with Picasa Publish and map your photos with Picasa Perfect Your Picasa to Flickr Workflow Hack 18 Corral Media Across Folders and Drives (New in 3rd Edition!) Level: Easy Platform: Windows 7 It's not always practical to store all your files in your Documents folder, which is why Microsoft introduced a new Libraries feature in Windows 7 that enables you to corral folders in different locations (and on different hard drives). Here's how it works. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Windows 7's Best Underhyped Features Hack 19 Create Saved Search Folders Level: Easy Platform: Windows, Mac OS X As you begin to file your documents less and depend on searches more, it only makes sense to combine the folder paradigm and search capabilities with saved search folders. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Tag files and save searches in Windows Organize Your Email in Search Folders Saved email searches in Thunderbird Windows Tip: Save your searches in virtual folders Hack 20 Create a Password-Protected Disk on Your PC Level: Advanced Platform: Windows, Linux Everyone has some files the person would like to protect from intruders or others who have access to one's computer. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Encrypt your data Hack 21 Create a Password-Protected Disk on Your Mac Level: Medium Platform: Mac OS X If you have files and folders you'd like to keep private and secure on your Mac, you can use Mac OS X's built-in Disk Utility to encrypt a disk image. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: How to create a Mac encrypted disk image Hack 22 Encrypt Your Entire Windows Operating System (New in 3rd Edition!) Level: Advanced Platform: Windows Encrypting groups of sensitive files is a good start, but if you have a lot of sensitive material on your PC and don't want to hassle with picking and choosing which belong in your encrypted volume and which don't, you can use TrueCrypt to encrypt your entire system drive so that every file on your computer is encrypted by default. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: How to Encrypt and Hide Your Entire Operating System from Prying Eyes Hack 23 Set Up 2-Step Verification for Your Google Account (New in 3rd Edition!) Level: Medium Platform: All (Web) The only thing standing between a hacker and your Google account - and more important, your sensitive information - is your password. Even if you have the strongest password you can possibly randomly generate, if people were to discover that password, they'd have access to all the information in your account. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Set Up Google's Two-Step Verification Now for Seriously Enhanced Security for Your Google Account Hack 24 Design Your Own Planner Level: Easy Platform: All There are lots of good reasons to ditch your expensive, electronic PDA for a paper-based planner system: cost, portability, and maintenance, to name a few. Paper-based planners never run out of battery juice or memory; they never crash or refuse to work the way you expect. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Create and customize your own planner with D*I*Y Planner Top 10 free and cheap productivity tools Chapter 3: Trick Yourself into Getting Done Hack 25 Make Your To-Do List Doable Level: Easy Platform: All Your to-do list can be a tool that guides you through your work, or it can be a big fat pillar of undone time bombs taunting you and your unproductive inadequacy. It all depends on how you write it. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Make your todo's doable Separate your email from your to-do's Clean Out Your To-Do List for Guilt-Free Productivity Hack 26 Set Up a Morning Dash Level: Easy Platform: All There is one way to ensure that you'll knock at least one thing off your list: Dedicate the first hour of your day to your most important task-before you check your email, paper inbox, or go to any meetings. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Control your workday Hack 27 Map Your Time Level: All Platform: All (with a spreadsheet or calendaring program) The busy person's perennial question is, "Where did the day go?" It's easy to get tossed from one thing to the next like a piece of driftwood caught in the tide of your crazy life. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Map your time Hack 28 Quick-Log Your Work Day Level: Easy Platform: All When you start keeping a daily work log, you might be surprised to find out what your workday really consists of. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Quick-log your work day Keep track of your time with the Emergent Task Tracker, online edition TimeSheet Automatically Tracks Your Time Spent Working Hack 29 Dash Through Tasks with a Timer Level: Easy Platform: All Trick yourself into getting going by making a commitment to work on the task for just a handful of minutes-minutes that will end at the beep of a timer in a small, quantifiable amount of time. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Beat procrastination with a dash FocusBooster is a Simple Break Timer Hack 30 Form New Habits with Jerry Seinfeld's Chain Level: Easy Platform: Web Once upon a time, Jerry Seinfeld gave a young comic advice... Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Jerry Seinfeld's Productivity Secret Follow Seinfeld's Advice at Don't Break the Chain Hack 31 Control Your Workday Level: Easy Platform: All Getting out of the office on time is tough when there's always another task, project, or drive-by boss request to knock out before you leave. It's easy to lose a day checking email, going to meetings, and putting out fires only to find that at 5 or 6 or 7 p.m., you haven't gotten started on something critical. Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Control your workday Hack 32 Turn Tasks into Gameplay Level: Easy Platform: All Ever wish you could knock down the items on your to-do list with the same gusto you fit blocks together in Tetris or collect gold coins in Super Mario Bros? Related posts at Lifehacker.com: Turn To Do's into game play EpicWin Turns Your To-Do List into a Role-Playing Game Make chores fun with Chore Wars 0Boxer Turns Inbox Zero into a Game in Gmail Chapters 1-3 Chapters 4-6 Chapters 7-9 Chapters 10-12 Share this:

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