Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better

Introduction

"The highest-performing people I know are those who have installed the best tricks in their lives."

—David Allen, productivity expert^[1]

Every day, you have dozens of opportunities to get work done faster, smarter, and more efficiently — with the right shortcuts. Contrary to what some "gurus" will tell you, there's no single, life-changing secret to working less and living more. The reality is that small changes practiced over time yield big results.

There are hundreds of simple techniques and small adjustments you can make to the way you work that will help you get done and get out the door with a clear mind and a clean slate. Armed with the right know-how, you can put tech tools to work for you and be more effective, efficient, and on top of your game than ever before.

Thousands of web sites, software apps, and gadgets promise to make your life easier. I've spent the last three years hunting down, testing, and writing up each and every one of them on Lifehacker.com, a weblog that my editorial team and I update almost twenty times a day with the latest and greatest in software and productivity technology. This book highlights the cream of that crop. These tricks will fast-track you through tedious work, solve common computer problems we all face, and give you access to information anywhere you need it. Whether you're a middle manager at a huge corporation or a freelancer who works at home, a PC or Mac user, or someone just comfortable enough to get around or a power user, ...