Today, I’m going to talk about how to improve your productivity in your laptop or computer. This is more like how not to kill your computer and allow you to do your work smoothly without much of a hitch. Don’t worry about me going all technical, I won’t because like you, I get frustrated and start pulling out my hair when my laptop goes blue screen of death. Yes, I have killed enough laptops in my career. Enough to warrant my IT team to remember my name and go “Oh, did you killed another one?” Okay, tech jokes aside, let’s start the ball rolling.
Clean up your desktop
Like your house, it’s never a good idea to have a cluttered desktop. I know for sure because my desktops are always cluttered with photos here, Word docs there, throw in a few excels here and maybe one or two keynotes. Try to do a monthly clean up if not, a weekly one. I always try to do a weekly one whenever I have the time.
Have a clean wallpaper
I know it’s nice to have your kids, furkids, your couple photos or your family photos on the wallpaper of your laptop. It actually can get distracting while you are urgently trying to find the file your boss needs. Keep the photos in photo frames on your desk and choose a simple wallpaper that is not distracting to the eye. It might also be intrusive / embarrassing when you show your desktop to another person when your wallpaper is of you smooching your significant other.
Label your files clearly
Have the major ones on your desktop, with mini files in the major folders I used to label them as per project names then under the folder name “Project”. Or label my major folder “Reports” with all the mini reporting excel sheets in there. It is easier to pull up search within the major folder without needing to search through my entire directory, which will cost you a lot of time if you like to store things like me.
Delete unnecessary files
I used to keep tons of emails. Like after working in the company for 5 years, I still have the very first email that was sent to me by HR on the confirmation time and location of my orientation. How crazy is that? What we don’t realise is that we never clean up our trash bins as well. The moment we deleted a file, it goes into the trash bin and out of sight, out of mind, it’s still on your computer. Do a quarterly clean up so that your laptop won’t be overloaded of useless files.
Do a yearly health check up
If we humans need a yearly health checkup, so does the machine that your fingers bang on. There are programs out there that help to determine the health of your laptop. Some computers even have built in health status. Not sure what to do? Call in your tech department to guide you. Once you get the hang of it, you can do it yourself in future. Prevention rather than cure. You don’t really want to start cursing when your laptop died due to a faulty battery, in the midst of management presentation.
Wipe that dust off
Do you know that the keyboard and your mouse are full of germs? We sweat we touch our keyboard, we ate over our keyboard, dropping crumbs, we drank over our keyboard, coffee stains. Do a daily if not, at least, a weekly wipe down with alcohol swipes. Clean the top of your computer monitor too, especially if people tend to talk over the screen to reach out to you.
Turn off the computer
We like to keep our computer running so that we don’t have to wait for it to reboot. I’m guilty of this but your computer is going to have a short lifespan if you continue to do this all the time. So switch off and save the energy, be green!
Backup Mantra
How many of you lost data when your computer committed suicide on you? I can see a couple of hands up. Always do a backup. If your company allows auto backup everyday into their servers, sign up for it. This way if your computer crashes, you’ll never have to worry ever about lost files and bookmarks.
Do the above tips make sense to you? Come and join me at Twitter, Facebook or WeChat!!
MiddleMe 
I would have to definitely follow these practices. Sounds like a good one.
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Sure is!
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This is all super great advice. I am diligent about some of it, but unfortunately have learned the hard way on other parts of it.
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Thanks a lot!! Time to ‘clean up’ some of your act. Lol.
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Yes it is, ha ha
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Great tips and great reminders. I actually did a clean up of my desk top yesterday. Definitely needed it as lots of stuff had accumulated on it. And now I’m off to give it a clean!
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Nice one! A nice new start to a nice new year.
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Oooh, I am also guilty of leaving my Macbook on FOREVER. . . such a good reminder 🙂 ! Thank you Kally, as always! I’ve been being really good abut organizing my folders better this year! Hooray!
Kristy ww
http://kissmyknee.com
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Haha! You’re most welcome, Kristy! Keep up the organization! It take effort.
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Congratulations, I’ve nominated you for a three day quote challenge: https://kahchoonblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/15/quote-challenge-1st-day/
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Thank you for the nomination!! And welcome to MiddleMe. 🙂
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You’re welcome, sure, your blog is so informative and useful for me. Thanks for updating and sharing, Kally.
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Thanks for your generous words! I read you’re from Malaysia too? Which part?
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You’re most welcome. I’m from Ipoh. 🙂
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I love Ipoh Hor Fan and Chicken Rice Balls!!! I’m a Singaporean but currently living in KL.
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Yaya! Welcome to Ipoh again, Kally. Nice to meet you. 🙂
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Great to meet you too!!
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🙂 Keep in touch ya.
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Of course!!
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I saw how I’ve been doing all the ‘No-No’s’. I’ll be careful now. Thank you for sharing this, dear Kally. 🙂
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You’re most welcome. I’m really happy that this article helped you. 🙂
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Me too. Happy Weekend!
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Reblogged this on Ancien Hippie.
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The point about labelling files is very true. It’s important to make them uniquely and systematically descriptive so they can be found quickly. Another problem with overly generic file names such as “Sales Report” is that as well as making them difficult to find, it can also make them extremely easy to accidentally save over.
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I like to add a date on the file that it is created so it’ll never gets override. Like Weekly Sales Report 26 dec.
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Yes, I think that’s a very sensible way to do it. 🙂
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Definitely need to delete some files. Very overwhelming sometimes.
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Yup, it’s true.
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Reblogged this on wwwpalfitness.
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Great tips 😉 As its weekend, I will have to do this 😀
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Thanks for reading!! 🙂
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Great post my friend. I do all these things plus a defrag. 😀 ❤
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Oh, another thing I forgot to mention. If your laptop is used in only one place ie. desk. Remove the battery and run the laptop directly off the charger. It saves the battery’s life as they can be expensive to replace. I have been doing this for 3 years and only used the battery when I went on vacation. 😀 ❤
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Great advice but I use MacBook Air so the batt can’t be removed. Sigh!
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Sigh indeed ! I have a Dell Studio laptop and the battery is HUGE and HEAVY !! 😀
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I am tempted to change my laptop. I have a brand new laptop sitting in my drawer but it’s not a Mac…. Hence, I’m a bit apprehensive..
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I would feel the same if I had to convert from Windows to Mac 😀
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Wow!! Defrag to me is like another whole new level!
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I have Windows 10 with a defragment app and is easy to use. All it does is put all the bits in one place on the hard drive. It works faster after defragmenting 😀
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Nice post it made me remember that I had to clean my computer!
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Thank you and welcome to MiddleMe!
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Thanks Kally and thank you for following my blog
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You’re most welcome! I love your blog!
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Hy kally,your blog is very useful. I’m happy to meet you…see you soon
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Great to have meet you in the blogosphere!!
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Thank you kally have a nice day
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Have a beautiful week!!
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Last Tokyo Motor Show, I’ll be gone well, with you as a guide, because there, there was our immediate future ….
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Excellent. Thanks for the great post.
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Thanks, Dave! Watch out for more new posts this week! 🙂
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Excellent tips thanks much!!
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Thanks, Stephanae!
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You’re welcome Kally!
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Great advice! I just emptied my thousands of emails from my trash bin. Do you have any advice on how to make your printer understand that there is not a paper jam?
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I’m still trying to communicate with my printer and asking it not to “jam” itself when I’m in a rush for printout. Your printer is probably seeking attention from you and telling you he needs a mechanic soon!
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That’s not what I wanted to hear. Thanks anyway!
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Excellent! Thank you so much!!
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Thanks for your comment!!
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🌟
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I’m impressed, I have to say. Truly rarely do I encounter a blog that’s both educative and entertaining, and let me let you know, you’ve got hit the nail on the head. Your thought is outstanding; the issue is one thing that not enough individuals are speaking intelligently about. I am really happy that I stumbled across this in my search for some thing relating to this.
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All the above practices make good sense as I am guilty of all the above. Apparently I’m a computer abuser. 😀
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Hahaha! You’re not the only one. Me too!
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😀
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Reblogged this on Still Another Writer's Blog.
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Thank for a great list of tips, Kally. It is always helpful to receive tips and reminders to keep us from slipping back to old habits. You are providing wonderful content! 🙂
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Thanks a lot, Michael!! Means a lot to me for you to drop me a comment to tell me that!!
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Oh my God! For the past week I’ve been telling myself to do exactly what you’ve described in this post. Thank you so much. Your blog is a gold mine
. Honestly! Have a great day!
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Awww.. Your comment is sweet!! Touched my heart. Thanks!!
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I love this. Well done.
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Thanks, David!! Kudos to your comment.
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i should start applying those advice soon 🙂
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Thanks for reading!
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no worries 🙂
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