TechTipADay
Productivity cheat sheet
A printable productivity checklist. Most rows are a single shortcut or a single settings screen.
Bundle non-urgent notifications into a summary
Settings > Notifications > Scheduled Summary. Pick the times and the apps. Easy. About 2 min. iPhone on iOS 18 and iOS 26.
Why it matters. Apps that are not time-sensitive stop tapping you all afternoon and show up together instead.
- Open Settings > Notifications > Scheduled Summary.
- Turn it on and choose the delivery times.
- Choose which apps belong in the summary. Leave messages and anything urgent out of it.
- On an app's own notification screen, Time Sensitive can stay allowed so those alerts skip the summary.
Turn on a Focus and allow the people who can still interrupt
Settings > Focus. A Focus silences notifications except the people and apps you name. Easy. About 3 min. iPhone on iOS 18 and iOS 26.
Why it matters. Do Not Disturb is one blunt mode. A Focus lets work calls through and holds the rest.
- Open Settings > Focus.
- Choose Do Not Disturb, Work, or add your own.
- Under People, allow the contacts who should still reach you. Under Apps, allow the few that matter.
- Turn the Focus on in Control Center to test it, or add a schedule on the Focus screen.
Set a Downtime schedule in Screen Time
Only the apps you mark as Allowed stay available. Phone calls still work. Easy. About 3 min. iPhone on iOS 18 and iOS 26.
Why it matters. The block is on a clock, so it does not depend on you deciding in the moment.
- Open Settings > Screen Time. Turn Screen Time on if it is off.
- Tap Downtime, turn it on, and set the hours.
- Open Always Allowed and add the apps that should keep working, such as Maps or Phone. Phone is allowed by default.
- During Downtime you can ignore the block for a minute, or for the day, if you have not set a Screen Time passcode.
Scan a paper into Notes instead of photographing it crooked
In a note, use the camera or attachment button and choose Scan Documents. Easy. About 2 min. iPhone Notes on iOS 18 and iOS 26.
Why it matters. The scan straightens the page and saves a PDF-like image, which a casual photo does not.
- Open Notes and start a new note.
- Tap the camera icon if you see one. If you do not, tap the attachment button (the paperclip) and find Scan Documents.
- Hold the phone over the page until the shutter fires on its own, or tap the shutter.
- Drag the corners if the crop is wrong, then tap Save.
Put a meeting on its own desktop
Windows + Ctrl + D makes a new desktop. Windows + Ctrl + arrows moves between them. Easy. About 1 min. Windows 11.
Why it matters. The chat and the document stop covering each other.
- Press Windows + Ctrl + D to create a desktop.
- Open the apps that belong there.
- Press Windows + Ctrl + Left arrow or Right arrow to switch.
- Press Windows + Tab if you want to see the desktops and drag a window from one to another.
Tile a Mac window by dragging it to the edge
Drag to the left or right edge, or hover the green button and pick a layout. Easy. About 1 min. Mac on macOS Sequoia and later, including Tahoe.
Why it matters. You get the Windows snap behavior without a third-party window manager.
- Drag a window to the left or right edge until a highlighted area appears, then release.
- Or hover the green button at the top left of the window and choose a half or a quarter.
- Or choose Window > Move & Resize and pick a layout.
- To turn edge dragging off, go to System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Windows and disable dragging windows to the screen edge.
Snap a window to half the screen
Hover the maximize button, or press Windows + Z, and pick a layout. Easy. About 1 min. Windows 11.
Why it matters. Two documents side by side is a drag-and-hope job until you use the layout picker.
- Hover the maximize button on a window until the layout grid appears.
- Click the zone you want. Or press Windows + Z and then the number of that zone.
- Windows offers your other open windows for the remaining zones.
- Windows + Left arrow or Windows + Right arrow snaps to a half without the grid.
Open the emoji panel with Windows + period
The same panel has symbols and special characters, not just faces. Easy. About 1 min. Windows 11.
Why it matters. You can insert a character that is not on the keyboard without hunting through Character Map.
- Click in a text field.
- Press the Windows key + period.
- Pick the emoji tab, or the symbol tab for arrows, currency, and punctuation.
- Press Esc to close the panel.
Press Windows + V to paste something you copied earlier
Windows 11 keeps a list of recent copies. It is off until you turn it on. Easy. About 1 min. Windows 11.
Why it matters. You can copy two things and still paste the first one.
- Press the Windows key + V.
- If the panel says clipboard history is off, turn it on.
- Copy two different bits of text, press Windows + V again, and click the older one to paste it.
- The settings page, if you need it later, is Settings > System > Clipboard.
Open any app with Command + Space
Spotlight launches apps and finds files without the Dock. Easy. About 1 min. Mac.
Why it matters. You stop scanning the Dock and the Launchpad for a name you already know.
- Press Command + Space.
- Type the first few letters of the app or file.
- Press Return to open the top hit, or arrow down if the top hit is wrong.
Use the same text shortcuts on a Mac
The Mac has the same expansion list as the iPhone. You can edit it in System Settings. Easy. About 2 min. Mac on current macOS, including Tahoe.
Why it matters. Addresses and stock replies are slower on a keyboard than people admit.
- Open System Settings > Keyboard.
- Click Text Replacements.
- Click the + button. Put the long text in the Phrase column and the short code in Shortcut.
- Click Add, switch to an app, type the shortcut, and press Space.
Save a text shortcut for the words you type every day
Type a short code and the phone expands it. Email addresses are the usual win. Easy. About 2 min. iPhone on iOS 18 and iOS 26.
Why it matters. A long address or a paragraph you retype stops being a typing job.
- Open Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement.
- Tap the + button.
- Put the full text in Phrase. Put the code you want to type in Shortcut, for example @@ for your email address.
- Save, then try it in Notes. Type the shortcut and the space bar.