Work Smarter - Not Harder
Productivity Tips & Tools
Below are my favorite techy time-savers.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts may not seem like they're that useful, but I promise they can give you back valuable time. Memorize and start using 1-2 per week (or month!), and watch your efficiency rise.
Omnibox Tricks
One Screen for Everything
Use classroomscreen.com to access a variety of tools all in one place online.
Lists
Do you love lists? Do you find yourself with a handful of pieces of paper that get left behind when you need them the most? Try creating lists online so you can access them anywhere!
Recommendations:
- Wunderlist (my favorite)
- Google Keep (a close second for me)
- OneNote
- Evernote
Chrome Extensions
URL Shortener & QR Code Generator
Shorten a link and/or generate a QR code in one click
Webpage Printer & PDF Maker
Turn any webpage into a PDF, choose which items print (don't want the picture? Don't want a certain paragraph? Erase it!), and zoom in for readers who need a visual accommodation
Bookmark Manager
If you're logged in to your Chrome account, bookmarks will appear across devices by default, but this extension adds further organizational and search tools so you can easily find your links.
Tab Manager
Are you a tab-a-holic? Try one of these extensions for better management:
- Toby: saves tabs to a cloud account so they can be accessed from any Chrome profile; allows organization of tabs (like bookmarks)
- Tab Cloud: save any browsing session and restore it at a later date or on another computer
- OneTab: consolidates all your tabs into one with a sharable list (note: does not save across devices)
Take a Break
Studies show that taking frequent breaks actually makes you more productive. Use a Chrome extension to remind you when to take breaks.
Tame Your E-mail Inbox
Inbox Rules
(This definitely works in Outlook and Gmail, but I'm not sure about other email services.)
Set up rules so that certain emails get filtered to certain folders. For instance, at work, I have all of my teammates' emails set to go to a "Tech Dept" folder. All emails from blog subscriptions and newsletters go to a "Read Later" folder that I check when I have time. You could use this with parents, Admin, your teammates, etc.
Google's Extra Email Addresses
If you have a Gmail account (for personal emails), take advantage of your unlimited email addresses to further organize your inbox!
- Gmail does not recognize periods (.) when it comes to differentiating between email addresses. For instance, candicekaras@gmail.com is the same as candice.karas@gmail.com, which is the same as can.dicekaras@gmail.com. Emails sent to all 3 of these addresses go to the same inbox.
- Add a plus sign (+) followed by any word or phrase at the end of your email address to create even more mail options. For instance, candicekaras+pd@gmail.com and candicekaras+cisd@gmail.com both go to the same inbox (candicekaras@gmail.com).
- Create a rule in your Gmail account that filters all messages sent to a certain address into a particular folder. Ex: all candicekaras+pd@gmail.com messages are sent to my PD folder.
- If unsubscribing to a newsletter does not stop spam, you can block all emails sent to a certain address. Ex. all candicekaras+smore@gmail.com emails are blocked.
- If you start receiving emails from random companies and people, you can usually be sure your information was either shared or sold from another company. If you signed up for newsletters with the name of the company in your email address (candicekaras+smore@gmail.com), this is a sneaky way to track which companies are distributing your info so you can cease to do business with them. ;)