I love finding better, faster and
smarter ways to do things, and recently I’ve realised that some of the better,
faster and smarter ways are not something everyone is privy to.
So today I want to share with you
some of the nerdy little hacks that I believe can save seconds, minutes, who
knows, maybe even hours when you’re working on your computer.... And if nothing
else, help you to be a bit more productive which means you can get more done,
in less time, and be less stressed!
Interested? Here are my favourite
12 at the moment. You may know some, all, or none, but always a good refresher
to figure out how we can save time on the devices we spend so many hours on
each day. Comment with any of your
favourite hacks!
1. Quick
Parts
Are you frequently typing the
same email over and over again? Or going into templates to copy and paste into
your emails? For things like confirmations, reminders, explanations of those
repetitive PM questions? In your outlook there is a feature called “Quick
Parts” which allows you to quickly dump your frequently used and favourite
content into your emails – you can save as many as you like and categorise them
too. For a handy guide on how to set it up and use it, click here
2. Keyboard Shortcuts
A few quick keyboard shortcuts
that will speed up seconds when working on your computer (they all add up):
- Alt – M –
minimise all windows to show desktop
- Alt – TAB –
flick between open programs/windows
- CTRL – X – cut
- CTRL C – copy
- CTRL V – paste
3. Delay Send
This handy one works on outlook
and gmail now has a feature for this too – allowing you to shoot of an email
now but select when you would like it to be delivered, great for reminders to
tenants ahead of routines, after moving in to return condition reports
etc. The above download will also
explain how to delay send emails.
4. Turn off email alerts
Constant distractions popping up
in the corner of your screen will not make for a productive property manager. To
disable Desktop Alert in Outlook, simply go to: Options – Mail –
disable “Display a Desktop Alert” option. Turn them off on your phone too
otherwise the buzzing in the background will keep you just as distracted. (Turn
off all your alerts on your phone actually you’ll be amazed at how much more
pleasant it is).
5. Work Offline
As above, distractions will
derail your productivity. If you’re trying to work on a specific task, or just
want to clear out the email clutter without getting new messages in that
distract you – select to work offline from your main menu. Some super
productive PM’s will selectively use this throughout the day.
6. Shared Calendars
Sharing calendars with your
fellow staff members will save time asking who is where and what each other has
got going on. It might seem a bit big brother but it can save a lot of time and
help others in the office know when not to disturb you, or when you’ll be back
in the office.
7. Format Painter
If you’re ever trying to get some
text to match up to how another area of text looks in outlook or word... there
is a cheat mode to do so, click on the text you want to duplicate, then click
on the format painter icon (top left on the main menu on most versions), and
then click on the word or highlight the area you want to past the formatting
to. Saving time fiddling with fonts, sizes etc.
8. Follow up
Sending an email but think, I
really need to follow this up if I don’t hear back, but how will I remember?
From your draft message you can set a follow up(either a flag to go into your
outlook to-do list) or an actual pop up reminder. You’ll thank yourself for
reminding yourself.
9. Email rules
Most mail clients can help with
this. And they are not too complicated to set up - Even simply by right-clicking
an email. Helps if you're organizing emails into folders on a regular basis.
10. Group messages by.......
If you receive a high volume of email, tracking
down relevant messages can be a chore. Outlook can group emails into
conversations, so that a single click shows all related messages together. You
can set this on a global or per-mailbox basis by going to the View tab and
ticking “Show as Conversations”. Click the “Arrange By:” bar at the top of the
message list and select “View Settings...” from the dropdown menu to configure
additional grouping options.
11. Unsubscribe
If you’re wasting
time sifting through email newsletters you’re no longer interested in, instead
of deleting them each time, click on the unsubscribe button at the bottom of
the email. Save yourself some seconds and frustration.
12. Apps
I’m the one in the office that
says “oh there’s an app for that” and quite usually there is! So as far as
computer apps go here’s a few of my picks
- Momentum
Extension – when using Google Crome, you can add on this app, which means that
everytime a new browser tab is opened, the time and your main goal for the day
is displayed loud and proud, reminding you to get back to the task at hand and
avoid procrastination.
- StayFocused –
The app StayFocusd increases your productivity by limiting the amount of time
that you can spend on time-wasting websites such as social media, set your
limit to 30 mins each day and you’ll quickly see how much time you really spend
online.
- Forgotten
Attachment Detector - Whenever you send an email contains terms such as attachment,
attached, enclosed, and more but does not actually have a file attached, it
will alert you before you send your email. A saviour for me.
Comment below with your hacks. Happy
Productivity!
Hermione Gardiner
Real+
Leading a team can sometimes prove challenging and getting everyone on
the same page is all about communication and how well you deliver the message
to that team. Let’s take a look at some steps that you could look at to keep
them all on that yellow brick road:
