Creating Your Own Word Templates
I explain how to create and use templates in Word, making repetitive document creation easier and more efficient.
Six Tools to Enjoy Your Job Like a Zen Monk
I've discovered six Zen-inspired tools that help me manage work stress and enjoy my job more. By practicing awareness, pacing, mindful transitions, prioritization, routines, and relaxation, I've created habits that make my workday smoother and more fulfilling.
Using Excel To Take Apart and Consolidate Text
In this document, I discuss my fondness for spreadsheets, particularly Excel, and how I use it not for number crunching, but for text manipulation. I share how Excel can be a powerful tool for consolidating or splitting up text. I provide a detailed walkthrough on how to put text together using the ampersand (&) as a concatenation tool. Then, I demonstrate how to pull text apart using the Text To Columns tool. This tool is especially useful when you need to extract specific information from a chunk of text. I conclude by emphasizing that Excel is not just for numbers and can save you from having to manually retype text.
How A Coffee Pot Jarred My Thinking About Productivity
I now avoid feature bloat in purchases, only buying what I truly need, after a costly coffee pot incident.
The Beagle Guide To Simplicity
My dog had things that she could teach me. She had few needs, few desires. Her life was peaceful and simple.
So here is the Beagle's Guide to Simplicity.
Doing Time Compression Right
One of the ways to get things done faster is to use time compression: set a tight deadline and then pare down the task at hand to the bare essentials.
How To Spot and Stop Scope Creep
Scope creep is when you are asked to add things into a job to get it to done. It means that "done" becomes a moving target, and can cause things go be in a perpetual state of work.
How To Eliminate Life Feature Creep
Feature creep is not just something that happens in software. The over-complication of devices that we use can lead to a near constant level of feature creep with every area of our lives.
Applying Pareto To Housecleaning
I've talked about the 80/20 principle before. Formally known as the Pareto principle, it says that 80% of the results will come from 20% of your effort. Today I want to apply this rule to housecleaning.
My Recipe Cheat Sheet
I have a tendency to make the same recipes frequently. I know the steps to make the food, but not necessarily the exact proportions. Yes, I could look them up, but just having a list with my bare-bones information was all I really needed.