Accelerate Your Computer Time
Today’s guest post is from Allison Rice, who is the Marketing Director for Amsterdam Printing (www.amsterdamprinting.com), a leading provider of custom and promotional pens and other promotional products to grow your business and thank customers. Allison regularly contributes to the Promo & Marketing Wall blog, where she provides actionable business tips.
Computers have engrained themselves into every aspect of our lives, and in most cases, having the world’s collective knowledge at our fingertips is a very good thing. Even going hiking or exploring foreign lands on vacation, it seems like there’s now an app for that. Although smartphones allow us to take our work anywhere, many of us still have to spend a large portion of our working hours seated in front of a computer.
How do we make the best of those hours? The more efficient that we are when using our computer, the sooner we can put it back into ‘sleep’ mode and get outside for a run or head home to see our family.
If three hours into your workday, you often find yourself staring at the screen and wondering what you’ve accomplished, follow these guidelines to rev up your online efficiency.
1. Think in Folders
Is your computer’s desktop a cluttered jumble of dozens of overlapping icons? Are there documents on your desktop that you haven’t opened in months? Right now, create a new folder called “Everything.” Now, drag everything on your desktop into it.
Suddenly, you can actually see that vacation photo you chose for your backdrop that’s been hidden since soon after you purchased your machine. Next, go into your new “Everything” folder and think about how you can divvy up the files with a handful of overarching folders. I use:
Current Projects
Past Work
Pictures
Music and Videos
Each of those folders is then sorted internally by client, project or by month and year.
The key is to create a system where every file immediately has a place to go, and nothing is ever left on your desktop to distract you for eternity.
2. Clean Up Your Bookmarks
Most of us have a routine when it comes to browsing the web. We may check a few news sites in the morning, as well as Facebook and other social media. How much time do you typically spend in the morning before getting to your actual work? If it’s more than 15 or so minutes, prioritize the two or three sites that are most important to you and give them top placement in your bookmarks tab. You could even set these to open automatically at start-up. Take the rest and stash them away out of sight, so that you’ll have to click somewhere else to bring them up, rather than being constantly tempted to check them.
3. Use Social Media as a Reward
Although Facebook, Twitter and Google+ have managed to bring us together in ways never before possible, they’ve also sapped millions of hours of productivity away from us. If you have alerts of new messages or comments from your social media pages set to flash on your phone, consider turning off this constant distraction. Likewise, don’t stop mid-task to check for comments on your latest Facebook post. Get in the habit of finishing one thing, then using social media as a quick reward before moving onto the next task.
4. Keep Information on File
Filling in forms online takes time. I’ve come to love Google Chrome’s browser for its intuitive ability to save and plug in form information whenever I’m making an online transaction. For log-ins and passwords, I keep a Dropbox file handy with encrypted versions of my passwords for any site, so that I can immediately pull them up (from any device, as well) without wasting time or guessing.
5. Amp Up Your Keyboard Shortcuts
If you already use keyboard shortcuts (i.e., Command+N to open a new browser window), then why not create more for the actions you regularly use on your computer? For Mac users, it’s a simple process, outlined here, and it’s possible to create computer-wide shortcuts or commands that are specific to an application.
6. Learn to Type Faster
Nothing slows you down like hunting and pecking. If that’s still you, make it a goal to get up to at least 30 words per minute (the most productive folks can type at 50+). There are tons of typing tutorials and programs available online, many of which are free, so without recommending anything, just search for ‘typing trainer’ or ‘typing tutor’ and you’ll find plenty of great options. Now commit 15 minutes a day to practicing until you meet your goal.
What other ways have you found to speed up your work online and avoid wasting time?
image used under CC license by Michael Moss
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