In the computer world, Apple laptops are regarded as being workhorses (if you go for something like a MacBook Pro). But even the best workhorses slow down sometimes due to an overload of information and some other factors. If your Mac isn’t running quite as fast as it used to, here are some things that you can do to speed it up.

1. Take a look at your hard drive. How much stuff do you have on it, and how much space do you have left? If you’ve packed your drive full of things that you no longer need, it’s time for a cleanup. You can move some stuff to an external drive, or you can simply delete the things that you don’t need anymore. Once you do this, you should see a huge difference in speed if your drive was cluttered.

2'. Take a look at your Activity Monitor. Once you tap into your Activity Monitor, you can see whether or not some program is taking up a ton of memory. By shutting that program down, your computer will gain speed.

3. Cut back on those startup apps. Does your computer automatically launch a ton of applications when you start your system? Take a look at these applications by going to your System Preferences, Accounts, and then Login Items. You should see the applications that start when your computer starts up, and you can deselect some of these items for a faster system.

4. Are you using the latest software? It’s simple enough to ignore that software update notification when you log into your computer, but doing so will also make your computer slower. Update your software whenever you can to make sure that your computer runs as fast as possible.

5. Even though your MacBook Pro was built to work, it’s not good practice to keep the computer running for a very long time. When was the last time you shut your computer down? Get into the habit of shutting it off daily to help with speed.

6. Go through your Applications folder, and get rid of some of the apps that you don’t need. Most of us have a few apps that we really don’t use, and you can just get rid of those. It’s kind of like putting things out for a garage sale - if you don’t use it, get rid of it. This simple move will make a world of difference.

7. Take a look at your dashboard and get rid of the widgets that you do not use. Like those useless applications, most of us have plenty of dashboard items that go unused and forgotten. Why keep them? Rid your computer of those things taking up too much energy, and you’ll see an improvement in speed.

How Often Should You Clean?'

Get into the habit of updating your software regularly, and cleaning up your system at least once per month. Even if you just take a few minutes to go through these steps, your computer will run better as a result, and you will even be more productive.