Ask HN: Programs that saved you 100 hours?

I spent roughly three months late last year working on my workflow. Figuring out what I was good at, not so good at, and what I'd forever found impossible to do without fear of punishment or shame. Slowly, I learned how I worked best and leveraged these lessons in design of the new work flow. Of course, the solution was far simpler than before. The lessons were often exactly what was exhaustively explained in books about habit and routine.

Anyway, my workflow is centered around directories and files accessed from Sublime. Every directory is major subject area or project. One directory is the Control Center - filled with documents that drive my work day and planning. Things like Work Journal, Weekly, Master, Research Depot, etc., are all referenced every day - sometimes dozens of times.

Table Editor package for Sublime to create logs, reference tables, checklists (option v = √). Also great for tracking my micro workouts - calisthenics every hour to keep the pump bumping.

Code folding works to hide "folders" of data within a text document so I can access things quickly from their header line. This is particularly handy in the Research Depot file. Exempli gratia, I have NPRs Music recommendations of 2020 folded up to one visible line with checkboxes of albums I've tried. Another folded area is on Stinging Nettle uses.

My zettlekasten system was moved to Sublime as well. It got its own directory. Added a time stamp package for naming the file from the first line with a CMD-T, and some simple markdown, each file is a zettle. I use Zettlr for exploring the notes - but Sublime for editing. Perfect mix for me.

It's not so much this all saved me 100 hours, but my productivity is up 1000%. No hyperbole. My writing, projects, chores, fitness and client labor are all up by extraordinary levels. My down time is more relaxing, work more pleasurable, and creativity is like a real psychic adventure. And, it should also be noted I've been on Sublime for maybe ten years, or so it seems.

  Sublime
    TableEditor
    Code Folder feature
    Tabbed directories - combined windows view
  Zettlr 
  Monodraw - but looking at the markdown diagramming tools...

For writing HTML & CSS, definitely the Emmet plugin: https://emmet.io/

I still find myself in situations where I need more than Markdown but less than React; as a result I just need to quickly get some HTML on a page. Emmet lets you expand a snippet similar to a CSS selector into full-fledged markup, complete with attributes.

Would you be open to sharing more about your workflow? 1000% increase in productivity is a bold statement!

I started writing custom yasnippet snippets (in GNU Emacs) to write kubernetes yaml files.

If you ever had to write a non trivial deployment by hand you know what I'm talking about.

Probably a given on Mac: iTerm2 Terminal Emulator https://www.iterm2.com/

Less of a given, still Mac: Rectangle Tiling Window Organiser https://rectangleapp.com/

For Linux I would use Xmonad to achieve the same as the two programs above.