As we start a new week, we’re sharing a few tech tips that can help you get more done. These aren’t hard to do, but can make a big difference.
Keeping a healthy separation between work and personal life is key to focusing on the tasks at hand. Check out these seven time-saving tricks that will help you do just that!
1. Get a text expansion app
If you type a lot, you may need a text expansion app. These apps help you save time and increase productivity by automatically inserting snippets of text into any program you use.
These applications also can help you eliminate repetitive stress injuries, which are a major productivity killer. They monitor your typing and replace any words you don’t type with pre-defined snippets of text that you’ve saved.
Some apps even have a variety of different types of snippets. Plan snippets are the simplest type, and they include predefined templates that you can fill with your own text or a phrase that you select.
Many apps also offer macros, which make your snippets dynamic. Macros can pull in your current time and date, string together key combinations, and even grab information that you’ve copied to the clipboard.
For example, if you’re in marketing, you could create a snippet that includes the company name and a blurb about your services. This way, you can save time and improve your productivity while creating a consistent message for customers.
The best text expanders also let you create your own abbreviations for specific things. You can also control Windows functions with these snippets, for instance, opening a file or launching a program.
There are a lot of text expansion tools out there, but the best one for you will depend on what you need. You’ll want to make sure that the application supports the platforms and programs you use most often.
2. Keep a healthy separation between work and personal life
A healthy separation between work and personal life is important for everyone. It can help to prevent burnout and increase your productivity at work. It can also improve your mental health and relationships with friends and family.
One of the biggest challenges that many people have when trying to maintain a healthy separation between work and personal life is time management. This is especially true for remote workers and hybrid employees, who may find it difficult to stick to a routine.
Establishing a morning and evening routine will make it much easier to keep work separate from your personal life. When you know your workday will begin and end, it will be much easier to resist the temptation to check your email or social media during that time.
Another way to separate your personal life from work is by establishing clear boundaries in your workplace. This can help you avoid problems with your colleagues, such as gossip or unwanted phone calls.
For example, if you receive calls from your boss that require you to leave the office, you might consider limiting those calls to weekends or after a certain time has passed. It can also be helpful to set boundaries on what you will and will not tolerate from your coworkers, such as sharing confidential information.
It can also be beneficial to create a separate personal email account and phone number for your business. This can help to ensure that your business and personal emails are kept separate, which can be a hugely beneficial strategy for avoiding work-related distractions at home.
3. Use emojis on a desktop
Emojis, emotes, smiley faces, whatever you call them, are a great way to add fun and personality to your text messages and social media posts. They help you communicate better and can also be useful for marketing your business.
If you have a Windows computer, you can easily insert emojis into your desktop by using keyboard shortcuts or the touch keyboard. If you have a Mac, you can use the Character Viewer to enter emojis and symbols into your documents.
Start by opening a text editor such as Word or PowerPoint. Next, click the emoji tab and pick an emoji. You can also search for an emoji using the arrow keys or the “Alt” key.
Once you’ve found an emoji, just press the corresponding button on your keyboard to type it. If you’re using a MacBook with a Touch Bar, emoji suggestions may appear there when you’re typing in a specific app.
You can also access the emoji picker from any text field on the keyboard. To do this, press the
Besides using emojis in your texts, you can also use them in your searches on major search engines. This is because most search engines support emoji as the keyword graphic for their search engine.
As a result, you can save time and energy in searching for keywords, avoiding the need to type lengthy descriptions or search on Google, Bing, or Duckduckgo for a more appropriate keyword phrase. Moreover, they can make your searches look more versatile and professional. The emoji search is also faster and more convenient than a traditional search.
4. Use keyboard shortcuts on a Mac
Keyboard shortcuts are a great way to quickly perform tasks on your Mac. They usually consist of one or more modifier keys and a final key, all pressed simultaneously. You can find these keyboard shortcuts next to menu items in many macOS apps.
For example, the keyboard shortcut Command-Tab allows you to step through all open app windows on your desktop without navigating the app dock. You can also use this shortcut to take a screenshot or open a screen recording in macOS Mojave or later.
If you’re using an app that has a feature that causes it to freeze up or run slowly, you can often get the app working again by tapping Option-Command-Esc. This is especially useful if you’re not able to restart the app.
Another shortcut is Command-P, which is used to print documents or other items on the screen. This works with both the Finder and most any app, so it’s handy for printing out a file in the background of an open window, for example.
Similarly, you can easily open the Help menu in an app with this shortcut. You can also add your own shortcuts to apps in the System Preferences panel.
The same goes for Spotlight search — the Mac’s most powerful and easy-to-use search tool. Getting this shortcut down is critical because you can find any file, application or email in Spotlight.
To add a keyboard shortcut, go to the System Preferences panel and click Keyboard Shortcuts in the sidebar. In the left panel, select a category, like Mission Control or Spotlight.
