Speed up your office work
Speed up your office work
Intro
We all know how stressful office work can be with all those deadlines with people breathing down our necks and asking us when is this thing going to be ready,being asked multiple times a day or even asked to give it your all(people think that I’m gonna go and do some sunbathing on the Roof of the building).
Living in a modern era of instant gratification and requiring continuous frantic actions,where everybody wants instant results and not caring about people.
If you wanna avoid bad stress like a demons avoid holy water then you can pick up some speed using these tips and tricks that I’ve gathered over the last decade of office work.
The great majority of these tips come from my brains laziness where if a see a pattern or a repetitive task I need to come up instantly with some way of automatizing it,or cut the execution time of it drastically.
Always remember to never reveal to your boss your true speed otherwise no matter the speed increase you will always be behind!
Tip 1
The program/programs you use in your work needs to be better known than the stuff your wife loves,all its functions need to be remembered better than your anniversary.
To achieve this first step you have to watch either a few videos on the internet(unless you use some Area 51 Tech software) or just flip the pages of its manual to get a feel for the amount of stuff possible.
If you work with MS World and Excel always know the best tools.
Unfortunately if you use an Apple I can’t help you but if you’re using Windows I also have a good tips on which buttons or shortcuts give me the best results.
one of the best shortcuts in windows that I found useful in the office is the windows button combine with the arrow keys which place the windows to either the left or right side of the screen splitting the window in exactly in half,Windows+D minimize all windows and a second Windows + D after that will maximize the previous windows,Snipping Tool,
using the Run menu to run the calculator(calc) and Paint (mspaint)
Tip 2
Since I’m a dude, one of my biggest problems is multitasking, once out of my concentrated state, I need at least 2 minutes for my brain to switch over to the other Project, not to mention the time lost while the software is switching. Try to stay in the zone while working on a project, you can also choose some music if that’s your thing. If you have flexible work hours you can always decide to come in later or earlier and in my experience the best speed is always obtained when there are less interrupting calls or less people bug me with questions at work 7:00-8:00 and 16:00-18:00.
Tip 3
Keyboard shortcuts are your best friends.
Have your email already set up with your signature and greeting or and just use one of the best programs for shortcuts Autohotkey. if you don’t know how awesome it is,search some videos about it pronto!
This program is amazing, almost any action or series of actions from mouse movement to mouse clicks to a series of movements,button presses and clicks combo, to instantly writing out a series of texts shortcuts to files jumping into directories,starting programs will require a simple keyboard shortcut.
if you have problem remembering your shortcuts you can always open and insert them into a notepad or use Post-it with your most recent ones that you want to remember and once you have that in the palm of your hand you can always put a new sticker up with the new shortcut,set it as your background picture.
If you want to see it in action there is an awesome video editor guy on YouTube called Taran doing .
editing videos for living and it brought a video editing to a whole new level and speed.
World’s Most Advanced Video Editing Tutorial and be sure to watch his video about a second keyboard
Or watch the video The Art of the Bodge: How I Made The Emoji Keyboard and see what I mean.These are some really eye opening videos about what is possible using the power of shortcuts and scripts.
To use Multiple keyboards in Windows you need programs like lua macros or intercept(newer) You can find these both on Tarran’s github.
Using these will reduce the chance of you developing Carpal tunnel syndrome and this keeping the doctor away.
Tip 4
If you’re not a fan of the keyboard shortcuts then maybe a multi button mouse would do the trick for you. In my case I use a Razer Naga 2014 which at first I only picket up to be a better healer in World of Warcraft.
Having such a positive experience that I bought one for work on Ebay. The mouse has 12 buttons on the side + 7 functions on the top which are completely programmable.
Buttons :
1 – Desktop or on the keyboard Windows D which minimizes all the windows and with another press brings them all up (who hast time to click the button on the bottom Right side of the screen close to the clock )
I save tons of stuff on my desktop so I can drag and drop them through Emails and allows an easy clean afterwards
2- <Control> Button . I work tons of times with Pdf’s and I zoom here and there so instead of using the the Zoom Button I will use the <Control> +Scroll combination with also adjusts the view screen size in Documents,Emails.This way my left hand is free to do anything else.
3- Delete button . Since 90% of my shortcuts involve my left hand not moving from its place using Control Alt Shift buttons if possible I want to avoid my right hand from leaving the mouse
4- <Control>+ C – Copy
5- <Windows> + Up arrow – take a window and makes it full screen
6- <Control>+ V – Paste
7 <Windows> + left arrow – Moves a window to the left half of the screen,If you use multiple displays with a multiple press of this button I can move 1 window from the right side monitor to the left side.
8 – <Control>+ P – Print since the P button is too far for my left hand I mapped it here 😛
9 <Windows> + right arrow
10 <Control> + <Shift> my shortcuts in Autohotkey require this combo + a button.
Examples for usage of the Autohotkeyscripts:
<Control> + <Shift> +1 writes Hello Colleague 1, and hits enter 2 times
<Control> + <Shift> +2 writes Hello Colleague 2, and hits enter 2 times
<Control> + <Shift> +6 writes “Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,” (Dear Sir or Madam in german) easy to remember because the button 6 is also used for & in the German keyboard layout.
<Control> + <Shift> + F1-F9 jump to specific Project directories
11 Backspace
12 Switches the whole keyboard Mapping to another Profile
Many people don’t believe me when I tell them that my favorite button on this mouse that I use tons of times is actually not on the side but on top
The button 8 is pressing the scroll( wheel ) to the left which comes to natural to me (unlike pressing the scroll to the right side which is the exact opposite) and does the <Enter> function
4-5 Button I use extremely rare because lifting my pointer finger and pressing them is just a *%$ch.
Tip 5
Switched recently from 2 to 3 displays and although I know that the Radiation on my eyes increased by 33% , love not to have to minimize my Email Box and just leave it open.
And if you work in the Technical drawings industry as yours truly , you know how important it is to have the detail drawing close to the drawing space where you can look up the measurements,distances,construction.
Tip 6
If you aren’t that tech savvy and don’t want to give AHK (Autohotkey) a chance (which you should) I could also recommend creating an Excel file that links you to a specific directory.Be sure to use colors,text size and styles so you find stuff you need faster.
Tip 7
Use reminders to make sure I call back and ask if after a given time period I don’t have the requested stuff.If you call and make sure you have all the stuff that you will require for a future project, will likely save a lot of stress later on.
Tip 8
Search the Term Pro Tips and Trick for your Software.
If you brain ever wonders about some action being possible or it could be simplified by a possible existing command, be sure to give it a search on the internet/forums:
example : is it possible to exchange the contents of 2 cells in excel
Or is it possible to load an Api in excel where I can always watch current data extracted from site X to show me the value in my excel file (ex: price of Bitcoin on Coinmarketcap)
You will find that most of the time there is a method or some button which could simplify the whole process,giving you some sweet relaxing or meditation time.
Tip 9
Don’t get sick.
Actually reinforcing the pure thought that I can’t allow myself to be sick is although Placebo I think it works at least for me.
The more of a healthier lifestyle you have the less likely it is for you to get sick and then get tons of workload when you get back.You don’t wanna spend your hard earned money on medicine and doctors so as a preemptive measure make sure you respect ergonomics at the office.
Take regular small breaks every hour,be sure to stretch the finger muscles(this multi-button mouse requires you to do some regular Thumb exercise otherwise after prolonged use or you may notice that the thumb on your mouse hand shakes.
If you have some other type of work that that doesn’t require a lot of brain power maybe integrated between the more mentally stimulating activities. the more you rest your brain the better it can cope with the stress and decision-making and avoiding a possible burnout and make sure you keep yourself hydrated
Tip 10
Prioritizing is a key element that will save you a ton of stress. if possible always have a checklist for the stuff you need to do and stuff that will need to be done in the future. You could also use a project management tool like Trello. Use different colors for stuff that you already did Green stuff that you’re working on Orange and the stuff that needs to be done that you haven’t touched Red.
A Checklist will also help that u will not forget some important steps that need to be taken.
Tip 11
A call is not nearly as good as a face to face conversation.
If you need something from you from your colleague be sure to pay him a visit instead of just calling him, at least you will move your ass and that is good for your health and your lower back.
We all know that most of the communication is body language which amounts to 93% of the communication and you can be sure that you can also use other type of sensory messages so that your partner will understand better what you need.
Tip 12
Write faster on the keyboard.Read this blog of mine about it.
If you liked this post I would truly appreciate a feedback.As long as I can make a positive change in someones life I am happy 🙂 .
