Coast River Business Journal

Even before the economy went sour, business consultants chanted "Work smarter, not harder." We thought to ourselves, "Easy enough for you to say."

Today I will share a few small ways I believe you can save time in a work day. Personally, I don’t know why it took me so long to get a password manager. My husband and I maintained a password-protected document of over 200 user-ids and logins for everything from Amazon to United Airlines. Requirements for username and password varied among sites, so I usually had to look up information to log in. (For security reasons, I don’t like to have my computer "remember" my passwords.)

There are numerous password management products on the market, and I selected RoboForm. I created one master password to my "vault." RoboForm then allows me to manage my passwords so I can log in to sites automatically. I don’t even have to remember the web addresses. Because I store profile information, I can fill out forms with one click. I can also store "safenotes"—memos guarded in my vault. These can include ATM PINs, lockbox combinations, etc. You can download a free trial version of RoboForm, but if you want the whole enchilada you pay $29.95 and get free upgrades and free tech support. RoboForm is installed on my computer. A variety of other services store your encrypted passwords on their servers so you can access them from any computer. Some products to investigate are LastPass, KeePass, PasswordSafe, and Password Keeper.

Many of us have smart phones but don’t use them to full advantage. I have found the voice notes recorder to be helpful when I’m working on a project where my hands are busy but I want to store data. I transcribe later. I also discovered I could send a voice note as an e-mail attachment.

Depending on the type of work you do, using two monitors can save you time flipping back and forth from one application to another (and trying to remember why you went there!). It seems odd at first, but you’ll soon get used to the pointer moving through the air from one monitor to the other. I know someone who uses three monitors as she prepares contracts for conventions. Her monitors show e-mail, calendar, and contract simultaneously.

If you’re writing in Word 2007, check out Quick Parts. You’ll find it on the Insert tab in the group called Text. You add reusable items in this manner: 1) Type or paste into your document the material you want to save, 2) highlight it, 3) click on the Quick Parts icon in the menu, and 4) choose "Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery." Later you can quickly insert that text (or photo, diagram, logo, map, etc.) anywhere. Also explore Microsoft’s collection of Building Blocks such as bibliographies, cover pages, equations, footers, tables, textboxes, and watermarks. Any of these can be inserted or modified.

If you grumble about a routine computer task that takes more time than you’d like ("There has to be an easier way to do this!"), consider investing in a minimum of training to see if you’re exploiting the capabilities of your software. If someone handed me a certificate for free training on an application I use, I’d take advantage of it. There’s always more to learn. Yet I have given away numerous gift certificates for individualized training and only a few have been redeemed. Busy schedule? Procrastination? Embarrassment? Technophobia? I don’t know. Maybe all four. Don’t be afraid to ask coworkers and friends for help. They’ll most likely be delighted to share their expertise.