Archive for copy and paste
Never retype
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or, type once, use often
You can copy and paste text and graphics from one program to another (including from the Internet to a word processor for example). Or, you can export and import data among applications (for example, from a database to a spreadsheet). If you have a long company name, phrase, or other text you use often, make it an autotext entry. While it’s hard to know what you don’t know, this is one way to figure out where there’s probably a tool or process that will help you work smarter. Just find where you’re retyping the same information and then figure out how to have the computer store/re-enter it. I scored a –3 on a typing test so this is definitely a big one for me. If you ever find yourself retyping, contact me and I’ll find a way around it.
How have you saved time/frustration letting the computer enter?
Reuse and recycle
Posted by: | CommentsIn the last post I talked about ways to reduce your stress and efforts. In this one I’ll look at a few of my favorite ways to reuse and recycle text and information.
Never retype. I scored a –3 (yes, a minus 3!) on a typing test one time so typing is clearly not my strong suit. So, I never retype. Use copy/cut and paste. It works within a file, between files in the same program, and between programs. For example, if you see some text on a web page you want to keep, just paste it into your word processor. I keep Word open when I am surfing the Internet and frequently cut and paste.
Use features like AutoText and templates to store frequently used text or files that are only a couple of clicks away. For example, if you have a form letter you send out, make it a template. Then, just add the person’s name and address and it’s ready to go. If you use your contact manager for this, you can have that letter printed in about 10 seconds. One way you can do this for email is to create different signature files with the messages you send frequently (a signature file can contain anything, not just your signature block).
A simple adage is enter once, use often. In other words, reuse and recycle. One way to do this is to use contact management software if you spend any time at all writing letters or email messages, making phone calls, or doing tasks that are associated with people. I used ACT! in my business and now rely on Microsoft Outlook. There are others as well. These let you enter your contact information once and use lots of times in different ways. They will also keep a history of all you’ve done. For example, in ACT! if I have to write an email, with a couple of clicks the word processor opens with the person’s name and my signature block. All I have to do is type what I have to say. And, it puts a note in the history that I wrote that message. Do you frequently mis-dial phone numbers like I do? Instead, with one click, ACT! asks me which number to dial, dials it, and pops up a screen for me to make a note of why I called that person and the results (left message, completed, etc.). These two features alone can save minutes to hours if you write a lot of letters/emails or make a lot of phone calls.
What are your favorite ways to reuse and recycle?