How great does it feel when you’re in the zone and on a roll? Nothing slows you down, you power through your tasks with ease and efficiency, and by the end of the day, you’re wondering why you’re not in charge of all the things. Much better than constantly running into barriers, technology not working the way you want it to, or just stuff that makes you feel slow.
As digital marketers, we work on computers all day every day, so it’s important to do what we can to make the technology work for us in the best way possible. Time savings can be had, but the aim of game is to optimise your workflow to suit you best, so you can get into, and stay in the zone more often, without small little things slowing you down.
So here are a 5 of my favourite digital tips and tricks, that might speed up your workflow.
- Use desktop versions of apps where available
Yes, you could open your upcoming presentation in the web version of PowerPoint, or edit your data set in the Excel Online, but in my experience, it’s a much smoother experience using the dedicated apps.
It feels much easier to separate and focus on individual tasks, as you have a dedicated window per task, some keyboard shortcuts will not work in the browser, and because there is less screen space available, to make room for the tab bar, useful functions and settings are not always displayed.
Using an app like OneDrive, also allows you to sync and save documents to the cloud, allowing colleagues to view and make changes to them
2. Use Desktop shortcuts/links
Working in the PPC department of a marketing agency, we have A LOT of Google accounts to access, and every time we open a new browser, type ads.google.com, then click sign in, we have to find the specific clients account in a big drop-down list containing loads of existing and previous clients.
Eliminate all that with a web link desktop shortcut straight to the webpage you want, easy as a double click.
The best thing about these shortcuts is that you can edit the picture that is used for the icon, giving you a clear visual indication of what you’re clicking too.
3. Keyboard shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts can really speed up your workflow, and if you chain together a few in a row, it can feel like you’re the Usain Bolt of navigating an operating system.
It’s worth noting that a lot of apps have the same or very similar shortcuts, so learning a few will go a long way. The most common are things such as:
CMD or CTRL + N – New window or document
CMD or CTRL + A – Select all
CMD or CTRL + W – Close windows or apps
(CMD for MacOS, CTRL for windows)
One of the most useful shortcuts that works pretty much anywhere, is the shortcuts for navigating and editing text.
CTRL + arrow keys – move cursor to next or previous word
CTRL + shift + arrow keys – move cursor & highlight next or previous word
Another of the most useful, is using CMD or CTRL + tab, to switch to different apps or programmes.
4. Custom keyboard shortcuts
Once you get used to using keyboard shortcuts, it can be difficult to go back. It can also be frustrating if a function you use a lot in a programme doesn’t have a keyboard shortcut assigned to it. Enter custom keyboard shortcuts.
In the settings of your computer, you can create your own shortcut for certain functions in your different programs. This is very useful if there’s a feature you use but can never remember which sub menu to find it in, or an action you perform on a regular basis, so a quick shortcut would be beneficial.
5. Add your cloud storage solution to your file manager
Whether you use SharePoint, Dropbox, iCloud, or another type of cloud storage, it may be a good idea to utilise the feature that allows you to manage your files within your own computer’s file manager application (Finder for MacOS, File explorer for Windows).
Navigating your files becomes lightning fast, allows you to open documents easily in the desktop versions of the apps, and gives you access to the file manager’s organisation features, such as easily and quickly sorting by name, or using the tagging features.
No matter your job role of the industry, there are many, many more small ways to optimise your digital workflow, and when you add them all together, they make a big difference to your ability to work quickly, efficiently, and stay in the zone. It’s all about finding a way to work that suits you best, and hopefully some of these tips might help you along the way!
