Disclaimer: This is a bit of a nerdy post. Lately, I've been exploring more efficient ways to interact with my computer. It's only logical, since I spend most of my waking hours behind a computer, whether it's for work or personal matters such as my finances, personal emails, or writing.
I found two types of shortcuts and have been using them for several weeks now, so I can attest to their usefulness: Keyboard shortcuts (searching for files, firing up programs, and in-program shortcuts) and Text expansion.
Text expansion
Let's start with text expansion. The idea is simple: whenever you type a certain combination of characters, your computer will automatically expand or change your input to the desired word or phrase. An example: you probably type "Kind regards" multiple times a day. You can make it part of your email signature, or - if you use different email sign-offs - you can configure text expansion. I have different ways of closing my emails depending on the person I'm writing to and the language I'm writing in, so in Outlook I configured autocorrect to help me out. The different text expansions I have in use are:
tnx; = Thanks,
br; = Best regards,
vrgr; = Vriendelijke groeten,
gr; = Groeten,
Protip: when you choose the combination of characters, make sure that you won't use this combination in other circumstances. That's why I include the semi-colon because I almost never use that symbol in other emails and therefore don't risk Outlook expanding my text in a sentence where it doesn't make sense.
I also noticed that I fill out my email addresses, both my work and personal addresses, frequently, some days more than once. I timed how long it takes me to fully type out my work email address (2.4 seconds) and my personal email address (3.6 seconds). At first I thought that this isn’t too bad, it’s just a few seconds. But over time, this adds up. And perhaps more importantly, I don’t really enjoy typing my email addresses so why would I sacrifice time - even if it’s only a few seconds - on something I don’t enjoy doing if there is an easier way to do it? So, I configured these shortcuts:
a@g; = personal email address
a@d; = work email address
Both take 1.1 second to type, which is an improvement of 54% for my work email and 69% for my personal email. Try finding a hack that yields higher returns!
I am not a fan of installing extra software so I try to configure my hacks in-program as much as possible. The expansions for closing my emails will only work in Outlook, nowhere else. That is a bit of a shame, because I also use Gmail for my personal emails and could use these shortcuts there as well. I realized that I only use Gmail in Chrome so I installed a plugin called AutoTextExpander and configured the same shortcuts in there, as well as the email addresses shortcuts, since the circumstances in which I have to fill them out are almost always on a webpage.
For now, these two solutions work for me. I will continue to track whether I am typing the same phrase over and over again. Perhaps a new solution is needed in the future.
Keyboard shortcuts
I hate using a mouse. It's slow, it hurts my arm, and oftentimes I click the wrong thing or click completely off-target. Fortunately, almost every computer program has its own set of keyboard shortcuts. You can Google them, or - in Microsoft Office programs - you can hover over the buttons at the top of your screen to check the shortcut for that button. I've made a list of all the shortcuts I apply in the programs I use the most and share them at the end of this article. It's quite a list, and it took me a while to completely master it, but I'm so glad I did because not only does it save me a lot of time clicking around and undoing the mis-clicks, it really saves me a lot of frustration and impatience. I definitely recommend using keyboard shortcuts and provide a five-step approach to adopt and memorize them:
Determine the program you use the most
Pay attention to the functionalities in that program you use the most
Find out the shortcuts to those functionalities
Choose 1 shortcut
Apply that shortcut multiple times a day for 1 week
Repeat this approach for every new shortcut you want to learn, and within no time your muscle memory takes over and you hardly reach for your mouse again.
Here is the list of shortcuts I currently use. I hope it inspires you to apply some of these and I definitely hope that it makes your life easier and more productive!
If you use any hacks that are not listed here, feel free to let me know, I'm always searching for more efficient ways to do things. :-)
Universal
Text align left: CTRL | L
Text align right: CTRL | R
Text align center: CTRL | E
Decrease font size: CTRL | SHIFT | <
Increase font size: CTRL | SHIFT | >
Copy formatting: CTRL | SHIFT | C
Paste formatting: CTRL | SHIFT | V
Insert hyperlink: CTRL | K
Bold: CTRL | B Italics: CTRL | I
Underline: CTRL | U
Microsoft Outlook
New email: CTRL | SHIFT | M
Reply: CTRL | R
Reply all: CTRL | SHIFT | R
Send: ALT | S or CTRL | ENTER
Mark unread: CTRL | U
Move to folder: CTRL | SHIFT | V
Microsoft Excel
Insert row (highlight row first): CTRL | SHIFT | =
Go to formula box: F2
Go to cell A1: CTRL | HOME
Go to next sheet: CTRL | PAGE DOWN
Go to previous sheet: CTRL | PAGE UP
Gmail
New email: C
Reply: R
Reply all: A
Forward: F
Send: CTRL | ENTER
Archive email: E
Mark unread: SHIFT | U
Search: /
Go to older email: J
Go to newer email: K
Go to inbox view: U