Wade Armstrong

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Boost Your Windows Productivity with Launchy and AutoHotKey

Posted Monday April 2, 2007 in Productivity, Reviews

A few weeks ago, John Gruber and Tantek Celik wrote about ease-of-use in software programs and how the mental activity required to carry out a task on a computer is some multiple of the number of steps involved in that task. Tasks with more steps are more difficult, they assert, and more disruptive. I’m inclined to agree, which is why I use two Windows programs, Launchy and AutoHotKey to make some of my everyday activities take fewer steps and take me away from my work less.

Getting Started With Launchy

Launchy is convenient — instead of rooting around in your Start folder, it lets you just type the name of the program you want to run to launch it. Hit Alt+Space, start typing the name of the program you want to launch, and hit enter when the program comes up in the list; it’s easy.

You can also use Launchy to open frequently-used documents. Hit Alt+Space, right-click on Launchy, choose Directories, and add folders of frequently-used files; then you just have to type the name of the file you want to open. Of course, that’s if you remember your filenames (I don’t). I use this feature more for templates: I’ve added the folder that Microsoft Office keeps its templates in, so I just start typing the name of a template and that template comes up. Makes it easy to make new fax cover sheets and memos!

To set up Launchy this way:

1. Create a new Word document (it doesn’t matter what the content is)
2. Type Ctrl+S to Save the document
3. From the bottom of the Save As window, choose “Save as type:” “Document Template (*.dot)”
4. Click the “Save In” menu to see where the file’s going to be saved. Remember that or write it down.
5. Cancel
6. Open Launchy, right-click on it, and select Directories
7. Add the directory your templates go into

Next time you type a template name, Launchy will open the template for you. As you add new templates, so long as you keep them in the default place (or add the directory that you put them in), Launchy will recognize it when you type their name.

Hotkeys for Common Actions With AutoHotKey

The appropriately-named AutoHotKey can actually do a ton of things, but one of the simplest and most useful is establishing system-wide hotkeys.

Let’s face it, sending an e-mail, making an appointment, or creating a to-do takes work:

1. You come up with the e-mail or to-do or hear about the appointment
2. You switch over to Outlook and let it load
3. You select the type of item you want to create from the File>New menu

Each one of those steps takes you away from your work and your thought. How many times have you created that new to-do or e-mail, only to see the blank screen in front of you and have no idea what you planned to write? I use AutoHotKey to create system-wide hotkeys to create Outlook items, whatever program I’m in, so an e-mail is only a Windows-Shift-M away at any time.

It’s easy to learn the commands you use to program AutoHotKey, but I’ve put my Outlook commands in a program you can download here, and run even without AutoHotKey installed. With this, no matter what program you’re in:

• Windows-Shift-M creates a new mail message
• Windows-Shift-A creates a new calendar appointment
• Windows-Shift-C creates a new contact
• Windows-Shift-K creates a new task
• Windows-Shift-J creates a new journal item
• Windows-Shift-N creates a new note

Just download it, double-click it to run it, and if you like it then put it in your Startup folder so that it runs every time you turn on your computer. (Your Startup folder is probably in C:\Documents and Settings\your username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup.) If you want to learn how to make your own hotkey scripts, get AutoHotKey and look at the super-simple commands behind my Outlook commands here.

Put AutoHotKey and Launchy together, and you’ll be more productive every day. Give it a try!