I had to reboot recently (software update), so I took the opportunity to note down the things I always do upon rebooting and logging back into my account on OS X.

These are all housekeeping-style tasks, mostly to ready the machine for regular use. I’m not including launching my usual apps and login items.

• Delete any recovered files in the trash (I reboot once in a blue moon, and always seem to have a few files in there);
• Run a Spotlight search; Spotlight seems to need to warm up with an initial query before it’s responsive enough (I use it as an app launcher mostly);
• Open the Applications folder and my Documents folder, so the Finder caches the listings/icons/etc;
• Launch Safari and enter my account password (it seems to always ask once per boot);
• Trigger the Dashboard so it instantiates my widgets, ready for when I want to actually look at them;

Nothing else springs to mind at the moment. Anything else that you tend to do to get OS X fully awake and ready to go? Anything else that I should be doing? Post a comment if you have any suggestions.