Reader Tip: Save Time On-The-Go With Keyboard Shortcuts

otg keyboard shortcuts

Last week I mentioned some ways to save time on your computer with keyboard shortcuts. Lauree from Dancing Dish and Decor shared a great tip of how to save time on-the-go while promoting your business. Simply set up auto correct keyboard shortcuts on your iPhone, iPad, or other mobile device related to your business!

Lauree’s Favorite Shortcuts

eddd = Email Address

num = Phone Number

wddd = Website Address

I can definitely think of a several possibilities for applying this to my business and I’m sure you can too! Thanks so much for sharing this great time-saving tip with us Lauree!

Look for Keyboard Shortcuts to Save Your Time

 keyboard shortcuts
Are you constantly switching back and forth between your keyboard and mouse? Do you spend time searching for options you use all the time that are stuck deep within the program’s menus? Learning keyboard shortcuts for your favorite tools can speed up your work flow and save you frustration within your daily processes.
Here’s where to find keyboard shortcuts for some of my favorite tools:
I suggest picking one of these tools that you use regularly and memorizing 2-5 keyboard shortcuts. Try using those for a week and see the difference it makes in your work flow.

Using IFTTT: Track Your Accomplishments

Using IFTTT Track Accomplishments

Tracking your accomplishments may not seem like a productivity task, but keeping track of your accomplishments not only gives you a proven track record, it can also help motivate you to further productivity. I like to automate as much as possible and thankfully IFTTT gives several options for automatically recording accomplishments. Here are three recipes you can use:

Text to Evernote

Sometimes, the best I can do is a quick text to note something down. Texting my accomplishment to my IFTTT number with the hashtag #yay will add this to my running list in Evernote.

To Do List Completion

Do you depend on a to do list like I do? Use it to your advantage by capturing the tasks you complete via RSS feed and adding them to your accomplishment list.

Calendar Notes

Sometimes everything you accomplish is just making it through a busy scheduled day. IFTTT can take your calendar and add each starting event to your accomplishment list. Look at your day and you’ll see how much you’ve been able to accomplish through your schedule.

Need help setting up your automation system? I’d love to assist!

Don’t Forget to Follow Up on Your Meeting with IFTTT

Whether you are meeting with customers or your team, it’s essential that you follow up with your meeting items in a timely manner. In the fast paced world of entrepreneurship it’s not always easy to remember to follow up on meetings. I prefer to have my reminders automatically generated so that it’s not floating around in my brain. Thankfully, IFTTT is a great tool that does just that for me!

This process utilizes Google Calendar and Remember the Milk, my preferred calendar and task reminder services, however you can customize this process depending on the services you prefer.

Sign in to your IFTTT account.

Click Create New Recipe.

Choose Google Calendar to Email.

Connect to Your Google Calendar account.

Create a search using the word “meeting”.

Add your private Remember the Milk email address. This is found under “settings” and “info”.

Include the following email subject to have Remember the Milk add a task for follow up in one day:

Follow up on meeting – {{Title}} ^tomorrow 

Click create recipe.

Need help setting up reminders within your business? I’d love to help!

An Introduction to IFTTT and Why It’s Great for Your Business

IFTTT Intro

 

Automation is a great way to save time within your business. You can grow your business and  it’s effectiveness by automating as many processes as possible. The free website If This Then That allows for automation between many different websites and services.

When you sign up for IFTTT, you can activate different Channels, such as Facebook or Twitter, based on the services and sites you use (currently 116 Channels are available). Once you have different Channels chosen, you create Recipes that instruct IFTTT to create an action when a trigger is set off. For example, if you post a new Facebook status, you can have it also post to your Twitter account.

IFTTT does a great job of showcasing new and popular recipes, but you can also get creative and create recipes that work for your business needs.  Recipe creation is an easy process and IFTTT walks you through each step. I’ll be sharing a few of my favorite business related IFTTT recipes in the upcoming weeks.

Give IFTTT a try to see how automation can help your business grow!

Need help finding ways to automate your business? Let me know, I’d love to assist!

Calm Your Inbox with Gmail Filters

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Our in-boxes can be a pretty scary place. Emails are like bunnies – you blink and they’ve multiplied right before your eyes. I’ve found a system that makes my inbox a little less scary through using Gmail filters. I want to share this process with you so you can calm your inbox too.

Using Gmail’s filter function you can already have the less important emails out of your inbox before you ever open it for day. This means your inbox will only have those most important emails that you need to deal with right away. Less time sorting means more time for other things!

It’s best to filter messages that don’t need your attention immediately. For example, I filter all email lists that I sign up and Facebook messages. I want to see these messages eventually, but they are not first priority when I open my inbox.  What to filter will likely be different for you than it is for me, based on your business priorities.

1. Select an email from a sender that you want to begin filtering. (Note: You can also filter by different criteria such as subject or who the message is sent to, but I find the sender to be the way I usually choose what I want to filter.)

Gmail1

2. Click “More” and then “Filter Messages Like These”



Gmail2

3. At this point Gmail will try to choose what you want to filter. Take a look at these settings and make sure it matches your criteria. As you see, there are a lot of options, but I usually keep it short and sweet.

Gmail3

4. Click “create filter with this search”.

Gmail4

5. Decide what you want the filter to do. To have it removed from your inbox, be sure to click “Skip the Inbox (Archive It)”.  I usually also apply a label for the messages (Email Lists or Facebook for example) so that I can easily find and read these messages when I have more time. You can choose to do other things with the email if you prefer, such as Star it for backup or delete it.

Gmail5

6. Click “Also apply filter to…” to have the current messages in your inbox filtered to this criteria.

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7. Click “Create filter”.

Congratulations! You’ve created your first filter – easy as that! Your messages will now be automatically filtered based on your criteria and no longer a clutter in your inbox. You may notice that some similar emails pop through into your inbox. Usually this happens when a copy changes their emails address or uses multiple email addresses. Simply create another filter and those messages will be filtered as well.

 

Just not enough time to set up these email filters yourself? I’d love to help!

 

6 Ways a Cow Can Help You Be More Productive

MJPost

 

It’s been nearly seven years since I first tried out Remember the Milk. Since then I’ve tried almost every productivity app or system out there (because I’m a sucker for trying new things like this), but I keep coming back to the smiling cow. Remember the Milk (RTM) is a simple, free productivity system that can be customized to meet any need you have.

 

Smart Add

There is nothing worse than spending more time on adding a task to your list than it might even take to do it! I’ve struggled with this in the past with other productivity systems, but not with RTM. You can easily add the due date, recurrence, priority, time estimate, and tags – all with just a few extra keystrokes after naming the task.

 

Smart Lists
One of the main reasons I don’t use a paper system is the amount of upkeep it takes to locate and move tasks from one list to another.  Smart Lists pulls your tasks based on due dates, priorities, tags – almost any criteria you need. Smart Lists are the core of what makes RTM a system that can fit almost any need. They keep you focused on what you need to do right now.

 

Easy Functions

Priorities can easily change in the life of an entrepreneur, even within the same day. RTM offers keyboard shortcuts that allow you to quickly change your task’s properties without ever leaving your keyboard. You can complete or postpone your task, change the tags or the due date, or even add notes within seconds.

 

Reminders

Another shortcoming of other systems are the lack of reminders for your tasks. Not with RTM. You can set up your system to remind you through email, phone, even Google Talk. Having those tasks in front of you when they are due ensures that you won’t miss any important deadline.

 

Add to Google Calendar and Gmail

I live in my Google accounts, as many entrepreneurs do. RTM knows this and not only lets you access your tasks from your Gmail window, but also lets you add your tasks to you Google calendar. This is an invaluable function that lets you really see how your day is stacking up, both with tasks and appointments.

 

Free, With Upgrades Available

If you’re not looking to pay to keep track of your tasks, RTM is the place for you. The free account you get with RTM puts no limit on your lists, tasks, or any of the core functionalities of the service. However, if you do end up loving the service you can upgrade and get more functionality from your mobile device with instant syncing. I pay for RTM because I want to support a great service and team, but I used RTM free for many years and still thought it was great.