50 ways to work faster

Posted on 25 Nov 2009 at 13:31

31. BUY A BUSINESS CARD READER

If you’re the type of person whose idea of filing business cards involves piling them up in a box in your drawer, consider buying a business card scanner. Most modern models are bundled with OCR software that reads text, puts it into the correct fields and then adds it to your Outlook Contacts. Alternatively, purchase business card reader software, and you’ll be able do the same using the camera on your smartphone.

32. LEARN TO TOUCH-TYPE

If you use a keyboard all day and are still hunting and pecking, then you’re a fool to yourself. Come up with whatever excuses you like – “I’m as fast as I need to be” is one of our favourites – but the reality is that if you can touch-type you can work faster. If you can work faster, you’ll be considered more efficient. If you’re considered more efficient, you’re more likely to get promoted. So how to learn? She’s been around for so long it’s almost a cliché, but you could do a whole lot worse than buying Mavis Beacon’s latest software (around £20).

33. USE THE TWO-MINUTE RULE IN OUTLOOK

How much of your working day is spent looking at things you’ve already looked at? Wouldn’t your working life be easier if you could only look at things once? That’s the principle behind the two-minute rule, developed by David Allen’s Getting Things Done book. The idea is simple: if you can respond to an email (or any other task that comes your way) in less than two minutes, then do so. If you can’t, then action it in some other way: move it to an Actions folder for your attention when you have more time.

34. SYNCHRONISE BROWSERS

It’s aggravating to fire up your home PC only to discover you can’t find an important website because the bookmark is stored on your work PC. However, this irritant is easily banished by installing Xmarks, which will sync bookmarks and passwords across a variety of browsers. Fear not Opera users, the Opera Link service will allow you to sync your bookmarks, speed-dial information and notes between all versions of the browser, even the mobile versions. Google is also working on a syncing tool for Chrome. The tool is currently only available in the beta build.

35. SHARE DOCUMENTS, DON’T EMAIL THEM

If you’re working on a document that needs several people’s input, use a service such as Google Docs rather than emailing it to everyone. You’ll save your own time – do you really want to enter everyone else’s suggested changes into one document? – and also your colleagues’, because corrections and additions can be made and seen by all.

36. UNINSTALL UNWANTED PROGRAMS

We all have a nasty habit of installing software on a whim, toying with it once or twice, and then leaving it to gobble up resources on our system. Get rid of it! If there’s a program that launches itself with Windows, either look for an option in its settings to stop it launching at startup or fall back on our trusted friend, MSconfig. In Vista and Windows 7, you run this by typing “msconfig” into the Instant Search box; in XP, first press Windows-R to bring up the Run dialog, and then type “msconfig”. In the System Configuration tool that appears, click on the Startup tab and deselect any programs and services that you don’t want to launch with Windows. If you later decide you do need them, simply rerun the tool.

37. USE THE QUICK SEARCH FEATURE IN VISTA AND WINDOWS 7

The fastest way to control your PC is the keyboard. If you want to start typing away in a new document then a mouse is no match for pressing the Windows key and typing “word” then Enter. Touch-typists can do that in less than half a second. Your friend here is Instant Search in Windows Vista and Windows 7. In Vista, it will search for programs, documents and emails. By pressing Enter, you’re selecting the top-most entry, so if you’re not confident this is the document or program you want then wait for the list to appear. In Windows 7, the search extends to the Control Panel and becomes more intelligent, so “paint” actually surfaces “Turn Windows features on and off” – in this case, it’s offering you the ability to remove the Paint app.

38. SET UP FILTERS IN OUTLOOK

Short of hiding away from colleagues, you can’t control physical interruptions, but you can control your email. This could simply mean switching off alerts (right-click on the Envelope icon in the taskbar). You can also filter off non-vital email to subfolders. Create one called “Later”, for instance, and send all Facebook and similar notifications there: click Tools | Rules and Alerts, then select “New Rule...” A wizard guides you through the process.

39. RUN MULTIPLE MONITORS

If you constantly have several programs running simultaneously, it pays to take full advantage of multiple displays. After all, if you can’t get the information you need at a glance, it doesn’t matter how fast your PC is. Even if you’re stuck with the single display, you can enjoy many of the benefits of multiple monitors by downloading Desktops. Desktops provides up to four virtual desktops, which you can swap between at the touch of a button – on a laptop, or the confines of an office monitor, it’s an indispensable tool.

40. ADD EXTENSIONS TO MOZILLA FIREFOX

Mozilla Firefox extensions are plugins that add extra features to the world’s second-most popular web browser, and if you choose the right ones they can save you time in numerous ways: TwitterFox integrates Twitter feeds so you don’t need a separate application; Fasterfox adds extra features for tasks you frequently perform (such as one-click downloads of videos); and WebMail Notifier keeps track of email flowing into your accounts. Keep a lid on the add-ons: any more than ten and the browser can slow.