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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchTo make routine Linux terminal work feel like a speedrun, measure commands that take noticeable time, spot repeated friction, and try one targeted shortcut at a time. Bobby Jack describes this as a personal measure-and-improve routine—not a validated benchmark or a guarantee that any tool will make every user faster.
Start with a delay you actually notice
Pick a recurring command or navigation task that costs enough time or attention to matter. The aim is not to install a collection of utilities and hope they help; it is to notice a specific repetition, measure it where useful, then test a change against your own routine.
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Jack’s September 11, 2026 account offers a personal workflow rather than a controlled productivity study. It reports no generalizable time-saved figure. The article includes one illustrative du run lasting 186 seconds, but that is a single example, not a typical result or a benchmark.
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Time one program or script
For an individual run, put the standard time command before the program or script you want to measure:
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time du /path/to/directoryThis gives you a reading for that run. It is useful when you have a particular operation in mind and want to compare your own future attempts under similar conditions.
Show longer runtimes during normal Zsh use
If you use Zsh, Jack describes using the preexec and precmd hooks to observe a command before it runs and before the next prompt appears. He also names REPORTTIME as a simpler setting for reporting command runtimes. These are ways to surface durations during regular shell use; the article does not provide a universal threshold or a comparative test of these approaches.
Match the shortcut to the repetition
Once you know what keeps costing effort, choose a shell feature that addresses that particular friction. History editing reuses a previous command; an alias gives a stable command a shorter name; a function packages a reusable operation, potentially with arguments or multiple steps.
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!!expands to the previous command.!$expands to the last argument of the previous command.- Caret substitution can correct a simple part of a prior command.
fcopens a previous command for editing before it is run again.
These can reduce retyping when a command or argument is genuinely reusable. Check the expanded command before execution, especially when a correction or recalled command could affect files or systems.
Use an alias for a stable command
An alias is suited to abbreviating a command you use repeatedly in a consistent form, such as a preferred long file listing. It is less appropriate when the operation needs flexible arguments or several steps; use a function for that shape of task.
Use a function for a repeatable operation
Jack’s example creates a directory path and then changes into it:
mkd() {
mkdir -p "$1" && cd "$1"
}The function accepts a path as its first argument, creates missing parent directories with mkdir -p, and changes directory only if creation succeeds. The quoted argument preserves spaces in a path. Adapt the function to your own shell configuration and desired behavior rather than copying a shortcut whose effects you have not checked.
Pick optional tools by the task
Jack names several command-line tools as possible responses to specific kinds of friction. They are options to try, not a ranked list or tools shown to outperform alternatives in a benchmark.
- tmux is a session-management option.
- fzf and fd are options for searching.
- zoxide is an option for directory navigation.
Other ideas mentioned include tab completion, background processes, and command chaining. Each changes a different part of interaction; use one only when it addresses a repeated task you have identified.
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Keep the score personal
Try one change and see whether it helps your actual workflow. A shorter command is not automatically safer or faster: an alias can obscure what will run, history expansion can recall an unsuitable command, and measurement can vary with the task and conditions. Favor shortcuts whose behavior you understand, and keep those that reduce friction without making the operation harder to inspect.
Jack summarizes his own experience this way: “Now that I’m measuring command times and identifying performance gains, my day-to-day Linux use is getting more and more efficient.” That is his account, not a promise of a specific gain for other users.
Terminal recording is optional
Recording is not required for this routine: the method centers on measuring command times, shell history, aliases, functions, and task-specific tools. If you want to capture, replay, or stream terminal output, asciinema is a separate free, open-source software option, according to its official project documentation.
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One configuration detail matters when recording: asciinema’s FAQ says a recording starts a new shell instance by default, which may not load configuration kept only in login-shell files. For Bash, the FAQ gives this invocation as one option:
asciinema rec -c "/bin/bash -l"See the asciinema CLI documentation and FAQ for the project’s descriptions and configuration guidance.
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