This tip will help to increase your productivity while working with text, something many of us do every day. Whether it be writing an important business proposal, or just an email to a friend, while you are typing your mind is focused on writing. You don’t want to interrupt your train of thought by having to take your hands of the keys to operate a mouse just to move the cursor to a different point in the text. Instead, the same result can be achieved with a few taps of the arrow key.
One letter at a time too slow? An alternative option
Tapping that cursor arrow can get tedious very quickly if you find yourself needing to move around the text a lot. You may find that this tip is limited to certain apps, but this is where the Option key can be your arrow keys’ trusty companion. Holding the left Option key down with your thumb while tapping the left or right arrow keys will soon become second nature.
⌥→ = move forward through the text word by word.
Too many words in a line? You are in command
An additional tip that works well with this one is the Command key. Holding down the Command key instead of the Option key while tapping the left of right arrow will jump you straight to the end of the line.
⌘→ = jump to the end of the line
Horizontal and Vertical
Both of these tips work moving back and forward through text horizontally but you can also move through lines and paragraphs by applying the same techniques.
⌥↑ = move up through the text paragraph by paragraph
⌘↑ = jump to the top of the page
– Chapter 40, Tao Te Ching.
