The Best Lifehacks for Designers, Developers & Photographers

Keep you cables in place

Are you always losing your computer cables behind your desk when you unplug them? With this inventive and (really) cheap solution you will never have this problem again. Use these clips to secure your cables in place and never lose them again.

Built your own macro photo studio for $10

Create your own photo studio in a box for no more than $10! This is one of the most useful DIY gadgets you could make – especially when you consider the price tag. It’s easy to make and there’s even a video that explains every step of the built.

Get your USB stick back

A useful tip for people who regularly take their USB stick with them. Losing your USB stick can be frustrating, especially if it contains a lot of important data. Upload a document with your contact information so you can get it back if lost. Make sure you pick a clearn name for the file (e.g. owner’s contact data).

DIY tripod alternative

Don’t have to money to invest in a tripod for your camera? For $1 you can create your own small and portable image stabilizer. It’s small enough to fit in your pocket and you only need 3 tools to assemble it. A video will walk your through the process.

Better color balance

This lifehack will make color balancing your photos much easier. Place a 18% grey card where the subject will be, so the light hitting the gray card is the same as the light hitting the subject. Use the grey card for the levels adjustment in Photoshop for easy color correction.

Learn how to take a nap

This article explains the art of napping. A quick nap can boost your energy and creativity (fact). Research by NASA shows that a 26 minute nap enhances performance by 34 percent and overall alertness by 54 percent. But to understand how you can nap best, you should read this article.

Boost your productivity

A lot of people are easily distracted during work and find it hard to concentrate on their tasks. With the pomodore technique you can resolve this problem. It’s a time management method that enables you to view time as a valuable ally in accomplishing what you want to do. This technique breaks down your periods of work into 25-minute intervals.

Remove distractions

Are you hooked on Facebook? Can’t keep yourself from checking your Twitter timeline? This could be a problem for you productivity. There are some apps that can take these distractions away by blocking certain websites. Check out StayFocusd (Chrome), Anti-Social (Mac) or SelfControl (Mac).

Aim your camera more accurately

A quick tip by Epell for capturing difficult shots:

When shooting from the hip for candid shots, place your left index finger flat against the lens and parallel to the camera’s line of sight. Point at the subject you are interested in with your finger and press the shutter. You will be surprised how accurate your aim is.

With this hold, the camera lens becomes an extension of your body, so to speak. People point at objects all the time. They already have enough practice pointing at objects accurately. If the lens is lined up with the index finger, the aim of the lens is reasonably accurate without practice.

Create an instant ‘green screen’ with your computer display

This is a quick tip to create your own easily removable background. Fill your computer screen with a single color (green, blue or another color that will contrast nicely against the subject). You can do this in Photoshop by filling a new document with a color, entering full screen mode and zoom in until your entire screen is covered.

One thing you should be aware of is that your screen is backlit, so you want to make sure there’s adequate light on the subject of the photo or you’ll end up with an underexposed subject. Though imperfect, it works pretty well for a lot of things, so next time you need to knock out a background it’s a good option to keep in mind.

Improve you home office productivity

Some of you might be working from their home office. This could be a kitchen table but for most of you it’s probably a specific room. In this case it might be a good idea to put some thought into the design of your home office. This article gives you 10 tips to improve you productivity at home.

Get to the back of your iMac with a Lazy Susan

Get easy access to the ports on the back of your iMac with a Lazy Susan. A Lazy Susan is often found in chinese restaurants. It’s a rotating tray, usually circular, that is placed on top of a table. Put it under your iMac and rotate it if you need any of the ports on the back.

Use keyboard shortcuts

If you’re spending a lot of time on Photoshop, Illustrator or Indesign, keyboard shortcuts can be really useful. They are much faster than your mouse. The only problem is that it can be hard to memorize them all. Fortunately there are cheat sheets for Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Print them out and put them on your desk or hang them on your wall. Once you start to use them you’ll wonder how you’ve ever lived without them!

Clean your keyboard and screen

Your keyboard is bound to get clogged with dust and dirt (especially if you like to eat in front of your computer). Typing on a clean keyboard is much nicer and hygienic than a dirty one. HowToGeek has published an article that shows you how to easily clean your keyboard. There’s another step-by-step guide on PCWorld.

Your keyboard is not the only part of your computer that can get dirty. The screen of your laptop or computer isn’t immune for dust and greasy fingers. With a few household products you can create your own cleaning solution. Your screen will look brand new again!

Use apps

Smartphone apps can be really useful during work or in your spare time. There are thousands of apps for social media, gaming, shopping etc. Some of these apps were specifically designed for photographers, designers or developers. Here are some examples:

Apps for designers:

• WhatTheFont (: identify fonts on websites or with your camera.
• Palettes : create and maintain color palettes.
• Photoshop Mobile: Photoshop on your smartphone
• Adobe Ideas: a digital sketchbook

Apps for developers

• CSS Cheat Sheet : a quick reference for everything CSS-related.
• HTML Cheat Sheet : a useful help file for HTML with a built-in code tester.
• View Web Source : view the source of any website.

Apps for photographers

• DSLR Camera remote: remote fire and control from your iPhone or iPad.
• PhotoBuddy: helpful app for your camera settings.

Apps for everyone

• Dropbox: take your files everywhere
• Evernote: store notes, snapshot, recordings…
• Wunderlist: a free task manager

Healthy sitting position

Most of you will spent a lot of time behind a computer, whether you’re sitting at work or just browsing the internet at home. A good sitting position is essential for your health. It can prevent pain in your back, neck, shoulders, elbows etc. This image shows you the ideal sitting position.

DIY Index Card Pod

This Flickr collection shows you how to create your own index card pod (a 5×3 index card holder). All you need is the template and with the help of your Origami-folding skills, your card pod will be ready in no time.

Get free Dropbox space

I’m a big fan of Dropbox. It’s probably one of the easiest ways to collaborate with co-workers. A free account will give you 2 GB of space but you can earn up to 50 GB! This is a comprehensive list of all the ways you can get extra space into your Dropbox.

The cordless workspace

This lifehack doesn’t use wireless technology to remove your computer cables but it tries to hide them. It’s a pretty simple process and once you’ve finished your work area will look much cleaner. All you need is a under-the-desk basket (you can get one in Ikea), a handful of plastic zip ties and a surge protector.

Store your extra cables

Do you have extra computer cables lying around? With this simple hack you can easily store them. Save toiler paper rolls and put your extra cables inside them. You can easily store these toilet roles in an empty shoebox.

Bonus: Sleep only 2 hours per day!

This is a lifehack for the hardcore creatives who don’t have enough time to finish their work. There is a sleeping technique where you only need 2 hours of sleep per day. It’s a form of polyphasic sleep, which refers to the practice of sleeping multiple times in a 24 hour period. With the Uberman Cycle you take 20 to 30 minute naps every 4 hours (resulting in 6 naps per day).

The Uberman Cycle is highly efficient, and usually results in feeling healthy,  feeling refreshed upon waking and extremely vivid dreams. However, the rigid schedule makes it near impossible to miss naps without feeling horribly tired. Blogger Steve Pavlina tried the cycle for 5.5 months and had amazingly positive results.He only reverted to monophasic sleep so that he could be on the same cycle as his wife and children.