Most macOS users interact with Activity Monitor only when an app freezes or the fans spin up. By default, this involves a tedious process: opening Spotlight, typing "Activity Monitor," and hitting enter. Assigning a global hotkey to open Activity Monitor instantly is one of the most effective productivity hacks for power users.
If your entire Mac is lagging and you can't even get Activity Monitor to open, use the global Force Quit shortcut: activity monitor hotkey
# Open Activity Monitor from terminal open -a "Activity Monitor" Most macOS users interact with Activity Monitor only