Plover is a project to implement stenography on ordinary keyboards that I've been following sporadically for a few years now. The easiest way to get what it's all about is to just try it out .
I suppose this is more in the "interesting HCI alternatives" category than a tip as such (although with a bit of imagination I'm sure you could turn this into a full-blown "tip" for your own productivity).
I might have posted the link before, but I think I've never gotten round to it, so here you go.