organization

Resolution #2 – I will manage my email better.

Yes, week 2 of resolutions.  Many may have already given up on their resolutions, but ours are still intact and we hope yours are too.  We covered resolutions to help you use your technology more productively in your business last week and this week, we are taking on a topic that seems to plague everyone in one way or another – email.

My email is overwhelming.

I don’t think I know anyone who hasn’t made this statement at least once, or sometimes even once per hour!  The original intent of email when it launched in its earliest version the mid 1960’s was a way for multiple users of a single mainframe computer to communicate with each other within one organization.  Today’s email has certainly evolved into much more than that and if we let it, it can easily overtake our entire day every day!  We’ve talked about time-saving Outlook productivity tips in earlier posts, but now it’s time to talk about your email strategy. 

Yes, now even email needs a defined strategy to keep it manageable. Read more »

How to Find 30 Minutes per Week with PowerPoint Shortcuts

Once content is complete in a PowerPoint presentation, the focus shifts to presentation, formatting, and design.  Think back to the last PowerPoint presentation you created and how many times you moved the mouse and clicked to get it to look exactly as you had imagined.  Consider the elements you click on most often, and check out this list of keyboard shortcuts to see if you can find a few time-savers. Once content is complete in a PowerPoint presentation, the focus shifts to presentation, formatting, and design.  Think back to the last PowerPoint presentation you created and how many times you moved the mouse and clicked to get it to look exactly as you had imagined.  Consider the elements you click on most often, and check out this list of keyboard shortcuts to see if you can find a few time-savers. Read more »

How to Find 30 Minutes per Week with Outlook Shortcuts

Fortunately or unfortunately, many of us spend hours per week using Microsoft Outlook.  It is an extremely powerful tool and is essential for more than just sending and responding to email.  There are hundreds (maybe thousands!) of keyboard shortcuts for Outlook and many work in different ways, depending on what section you are using.  As an example, on mail screens in Outlook CTRL F will forward a message.  However, if you have a contact card open, CTRL F will create a new message addressed to that contact. We have scoured many lists of Outlook shortcuts to compile the most commonly used here.  This is not a comprehensive list, but if you are interested in learning more advanced keyboard shortcuts for Outlook, just let us know! Read more »

How to Find 30 Minutes per Week with Excel Shortcuts

Last week, we showed you many keyboard shortcuts to save time in Microsoft Word.  Did you find a few new favorites?  I am now using CTRL-G, CTRL-K, F7, F10, and F12 on a regular basis, in addition to all of my old favorite shortcuts. I especially love Excel keyboard shortcuts because I don’t find myself using the mouse as much in Excel and keyboard shortcuts save me several minutes each day.   Here is a list of common shortcuts for Excel (many of the Word shortcuts will also work the same way in Excel):  Read more »

How to Find 30 Minutes per Week

In the current issue of Inc. magazine, a CEO describes how he will save 180 days over the course of his career (he defines his career as 40 years) simply by using keyboard shortcuts.  Yes, 180 days!! Full, 24-hour days, not 8 or 10 hour workdays.  What would you do with an extra 180 days over the course of your career? To help you get started saving time, here is a list of common shortcuts for Microsoft Word:

  Read more »

Going Paperless (part 3)

You’ve been thinking about the benefits of being paperless, mulling over your strategy, considering the best way to organize, and dreaming of a more productive team and work space.  All of that is great, but have you thought about what happens when you lose an important file?  Or, all of your files?
 

File Back-up

One of the most critical, and most overlooked, technology considerations is file back-up.  We’ll say it again – computer drives can and do crash (usually at the most inopportune time!).  We know this because it has happened to us.  More than once.  Whether you store most files on your desktop/laptop or on a shared server and whether you are paperless or not, it is absolutely essential to have one least one back-up process for your electronic files so your business does not come to a standstill when a drive crashes. A good back-up policy addresses questions like: Read more »

Going Paperless (part 2)

Implementing a successful paperless strategy requires a clear and disciplined approach to file organization and security.

Organization

You may be eliminating actual filing cabinets and file folders by going paperless, but the concepts of good filing remain the same for electronic filing.  Your electronic filing system should mimic the paper system: Read more »

Going Paperless (part 1)

One of the first decisions we made for OpenSpark was to be a virtually paperless office.  We made this decision for several reasons: Read more »