This is the time of the year where productivity slows down for a lot of people due to the holidays, PTO, and being sick as we get deeper into winter. It’s harder to get running again come the start of the new year where the holidays are over, and reality faces us all again. Here are some tips for all levels of familiarity with technology and for all price points.
1. Invest in A Secondary Monitor
Price: ★★☆☆☆
Difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆
We’re ending 2023 and about to start 2024 and you’re still using a single monitor? Buying a secondary monitor is one of the easiest things you can do to improve your productivity. It improves efficiency by and productivity by 42% on average. You can get them for less than $150 frequently and they are easy to hook up. However more monitors don’t always mean higher productivity, as 3 monitors for many will slow them down compared to only having 2.
2. Ergonomics Are Important
Price: Varies
Difficulty: Varies
Being comfortable while you’re working will improve your quality of life and make you happier. Ergonomics is exactly that. This one is a broad category but can include a lot of different pieces of hardware, from a more comfortable mouse to a simple wrist pad for your keyboard and up to a standing desk and varies from person to person. But if you find yourself getting up frequently because of your uncomfortable chair, you might have to replace that (or get yourself a standing desk). However, this also means getting up and stretching frequently as well – about 5 to 10 minutes every hour.
3. Using Popular Shortcut Keys
Price: ☆☆☆☆☆
Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆
Windows has a lot of useful shortcuts that you can easily press with 2 or more keys on your keyboard. Knowing some of the most popular ones such as copy and paste can save a lot of time, as opposed to right clicking and left clicking. You can look at some of the popular and my favorite ones below. Often, the most popular programs like Word, BricsCAD, and more have shortcut keys as for specific functions. I’d recommend knowing Copy, Paste, Select All, and moving windows (Windows Key + An Arrow Key).
4. Learning Excel
Price: ★★★☆☆
Difficulty: ★★★☆☆
Microsoft Excel is an incredibly powerful program, but it’s mostly used for basic functions. You can also use Excel to automate many trivial tasks and it doesn’t take much. We go over some forms of automation and many useful formulas in our Microsoft Excel for Construction Estimating and Scheduling class. One of our students created an Excel file that automatically gave them a notification if someone’s OSHA 30 was set to expire in the next 14 days. Before she used to go to that file once a week and look at how many days were left. Automating these simple tasks can allow you to do so much more in a day & focus on more important matters.
5. Microsoft PowerToys
Price: ☆☆☆☆☆
Difficulty: ★★★★★
Microsoft PowerToys is a program that you can install to unleash some more features with Windows. This is for those who have an in depth knowledge of Windows and are great at using technology and their computer. There are some extremely useful features in it. Some great tools are PowerRename, which allows you to rename hundreds of files simultaneously. FancyZones allows you to have custom window layouts. Keyboard Manager allows you to create your own keyboard short cuts as well. You can learn more about PowerToys on Microsoft’s website here. The best part is this is free as well!
