Type Less: Textexpander

One of the ways to reduce RSI is to type less. Aside from switching to dvorak to reduce the actual distance that your fingers travel, there is an excellent little tool I found via Merlin Mann called textexpander. Textexpander allows you to type small snippets of text that will explode into longer strings.

For example, when I type ‘wg.net’ textexpander automatically changes it to ‘http://www.WellingtonGrey.net/’. Rather than typing my email address in full, I just type ‘greyat’ and out pops ‘Grey1618@Googlemail.com’. The great thing about textexpander is that it works in every application and is completely invisible. You don’t have to manually start it up or press special command keys to explode the text, it doesn’t interrupt your train of thought so you can keep typing.

Aside from being a productivity tool that actually saves time, on the RSI side I’m using it a lot for reducing awkward commands to type. For example, I write my journals using LaTeX. While LaTeX is a system well-designed for typesetting books, the syntax is ugly and awkward to type. Now in LaTeX instead of reaching for uncomfortable commands like \emph{ } I have simpler snippets in textexpander to create them.

Textexpander costs $30 and is well worth it for the amount of time you’ll save. Download textexpander here.