However, if you’re having an issue that you can’t figure out, Console is invaluable in knowing what’s causing the hold-up. The events that most of these messages are about won’t have any effect on you at all, so they can be safely ignored. Your Mac is constantly logging things-what time your backup started, say, or whether a program you’re using has outdated components.

If you’re not aware of the Console program (which lives in your Applications > Utilities folder), you’re missing out on a hugely useful way to troubleshoot your machine.