Timely Tips© Volume 3, Issue 10; October 2006: A Printing Time and Money Saver

How would you like to save both time and money using your personal printer, either at home or the one on your desk at work? There is a very simple tip that I recommend for you to try that can help you do just that -- save both time AND money. I have to give thanks to my web developer, Sharon, for her inadvertantly teaching me this tip in a recent meeting. We were working on a couple web site upgrades, and she printed a sample document, and in the process showed me this excellent tip. Being the "time management geek" that I am, I made her stop, go back, and show me how to use this simple print management tool.

Here's the tip: use the "Fast Draft" mode in your printer settings when printing documents for simple internal review. This mode will print your documents 2-3 times faster than "Normal" mode, and also uses significantly less toner. It will save you a ton of time and money, especially on longer multiple-page documents. And the print quality is JUST FINE for reviewing draft documents, making copies, or for simple internal distribution.

And if you've ever attended one of my programs on time or e-mail management, you know that I recommend you print out all e-mails that will take longer than 3-minutes to process or respond to, so that you can then sort those e-mails for prioritized processing according to urgency and/or importance. Fast Draft is the perfect mode for printing those e-mails, and once printed and sorted into your Priority file, you can then move those e-mails out of your inbox into the appropriate e-mail archival file folder in your e-mail account, thus helping to manage your e-mail inbox. No need to print the e-mail at high quality, since you simply need a readable version that can be later tossed or shredded upon completion.

Here's how to use the "Fast Draft" mode in a Windows environment. With any open document or web page, go to the "File" drop down menu and select "Print". This will bring up the Print Manager screen. Click on the "Preferences" button, and you will see a screen with several possible tabs to select to configure your print job. The first tab is "Paper/Quality", and you will see in the lower righthand corner of this screen "Print Quality". It usually defaults to "Normal", but instead, select "FastDraft", and then select "OK". Your document will now print in Fast Draft mode -- faster and with less toner.

Now, if you'd like to avoid having to do all of these steps every time, before hitting "OK", go up to the "Print Task Quick Sets" drop down menu, and select the "Draft text or text with color printing" option, then click the "Save" button. Then, whenever you have a draft print job, you can just select the "Print Quick Set", and your job will print in Fast Draft mode. I even created a new "Print Quick Set" that allows you to print in Fast Draft mode and also just in black and white -- that can help you save more on expensive color toner too.

I recommend you try this tip, and see how it works for your personal printers at both work and home. And, if working in a large office unit, you may want to share this tip with your team. It could save your entire group quite a bit of time and money.

Timely Tips© Volume 3, Issue 9; September 2006: An "Off The Wall" Timesaver -- Literally

As many of you know, we are expecting our second child in December (here comes a crazy holiday season!) Part of this process is preparing our home for a new little life, and to facilitate this, we are moving our daughter Halle into her new room, the old guest bedroom. That room has had "80's style" wallpaper in it since we moved in, and we are in the process of removing the wallpaper to paint the walls "yellow, pink and white", per our 3-year-old daughter Halle's specific instructions.

Usually, wallpaper removal is a MAJOR HASSLE -- takes forever and exposes you to many nasty chemicals. But I learned a very cool tip recently I thought you would all be interested to know. The best wallpaper removal product on the market: Herbal Essences Shampoo!! Yes, the same stuff you wash your hair with!

Get a spray bottle -- fill 1/4 of the bottle or less with Herbal Essences, and the rest with water. Shake it a bit, then spray on your "scored" wallpaper. Let it sit for about ten minutes, then have a BLAST peeling off big clean sheets of wallpaper. Depending on how well it was attached or glued, it may come off in the first application. Or, you'll need to hit it with the "super shampoo" 2-3 times, but that wallpaper will come down!

I know it sounds pretty nutty -- but try it. You'll be surprised how well it works. I've also had Dawn Dish Detergent recommended to me too, but I haven't had the chance to try it. If you do, please let me know how it works also.

Timely Tips© Volume 3, Issue 8; August 2006: A Handy Junk/SPAM E-mail Time-Saver

The great thing about leading programs on time management and personal organization all around the country is that I get to occasionally learn a few really good tips from the people that attend my programs. This month, I have to give a big “thanks” to Nancy from Boston for her e-mail tip that has become this month’s Timely Tip. It is a very simple tip that helps MS Outlook users deal with spam and junk e-mail in their inbox.

The tip is a simple tip to use whenever you receive a “junk” or “spam” e-mail in your Outlook inbox, especially for those messages that you are suspicious may harbor illicit content, malicious spyware, or possible viruses. Most of us have learned the “Double Delete” strategy (delete from inbox, then delete again from your deleted items box also, so the message is knocked completely out of your system and thus cannot infect or harm your system). This tip helps you “shortcut” that process:

Rather than hitting the delete key to delete the message, and then going into your deleted items folder to delete the message again, instead just hit the “Shift” and “Delete” keys simultaneously. This will completely eliminate the message from your e- mail account in one step. (When you do this, Outlook will ask you if you are sure you want to fully delete – just click “Yes” or just hit "Enter", and that message is GONE.)

If you are a user of other popular e-mail management tool, such as Lotus Notes or GroupWise, please let me know if a similar technique works for your e-mail system too. If it does, I will add the technique as an addendum to this Timely Tips posting on my web site.

Now, no more need to “Double Delete” – just blast those junk e-mails right out of your box once and for all!

Until next month, Stay Timely!

Timely Tips© Volume 3, Issue 7; July 2006:A Couple New Time-Saving Tools from Google

Just about everyone is a “Googler”. I myself am a prolific Googler (although I do recommend using other search engines when doing research to get a broader set of results). Still, for simple searches and finding very specific information quickly, nothing beats Google.

Google has recently added a couple very useful enhanced features worth looking into if you Google too. One is a little program download that allows you to add Google to your Internet Explorer browser toolbar (There is also a version for Firefox users, and I’m sure Google has other browser toolbar options on the way soon). This way, whenever you are surfing the web, rather than having to jump to the Google homepage to initiate a search, you can simply type your search term/phrase into your Google toolbar feature, and initiate the search immediately. It saves you a single step, which probably saves a few seconds every time you initiate a search (more if using dial up). I probably make 10-20 Google searches a day, so I’m likely saving several minutes every day using this download feature.

Google also now offers another download, the Google Desktop program. This program actually launches a Google search bar during your PC’s start-up routine. It appears in the bottom toolbar section of your screen (when running Windows XP). Then, even if you don’t have your browser open, you can immediately initiate a Google search regardless of what program you are running. You can type your search phrase in the toolbar and go back to your Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document (or whatever you are working on), and behind the scenes, your Internet browser will launch, go to the Google site, conduct the search, and deliver the results -- all while you are still being productive. Google Desktop Download

Even a "Chance to Win" Through Your Normal Search Activities

And, if you like fun and games, there is even a version of the Google toolbar for your web browser called “Blingo” that was developed by Publisher’s Clearing House. It basically offers a “chance to win” every time you conduct a search. I’ve tried it, and it seems to work exactly like the regular Google search bar, except that below the paid search results, you also see a list of “recent winners”. (I haven’t won yet!) Hey, if you are going to be doing searches anyway, why not have a chance to win something? (Downside: they are probably collecting information on your search statistics so they can send you offers via e-mail – so if you e-mail inbox is already “junked up”, you might want to avoid this tool.)

Just a few new ways to take advantage of this new technology. Happy searching! Until next month, Stay Timely!

Timely Tips© Volume 3, Issue 6; June 2006: A "Simple Stupid" Project Folder Time Saver

READERS PLEASE NOTE: This is the text version of a Video Timely Tip that was released in June 2006. Click here to view the video.

Hi Everybody. I'm Randy Dean, the "Totally Obsessed" Time Management & PDA Guy.

Here's a little timely video tip, related to this April's e-mail Timely Tip on "Keeping Your Train of Thought on Its Track".

This useful tip I learned from David Allen, time management guru and author of the book Getting Things Done. I learned this tip about 15 years ago, and it is a very simple yet highly effective tip regarding project folders:

Whenever you create a new project folder, don't just put the name of the project on the folder tab - also take a big black marker and put it on the folder's spine.

This way, when you have several active folders on your desk, you can easily find the folder you need right when you need it. It may save only a few seconds every time, but, hey, over a lifetime, that might be enough time for a trip to Europe!

And don't forget about keeping that "Train of Thought on Track" - keep those sticky notes with your project reminders and Next Steps handy!

Until next time, Stay Timely!

Timely Tips© Volume 3, Issue 5; May 2006: Save Time (and Money!) on Groceries and Shopping

I would guess that most of us make anywhere from 5-20 unexpected and possibly unnecessary trips to our favorite grocery/general merchandise stores each year, usually because we forget to add needed items to our list when we do our weekly shopping trip. Now, if you love going to the store, this is no big deal - you might be looking for a reason to shop. But for me, I'd prefer to be at the store as little as possible so I can use my time for other things.

Now I've figured out that my local shopping trips to Meijer, Kroger, or Target take no less than 45 minutes to an hour on average, even if I'm just running in for a few items (figure 10-15 minutes each way, plus 15-30 minutes shopping and getting through checkout). And, each trip probably burns a gallon of gas (not to be forgotten in these days of $3.00 a gallon gasoline!) If you figure an average of 10 extra trips a year, that's 10 hours and $30.00 cash lost from your life each year. Over five years, that's a full week's vacation, including budget airfare! It adds up, and it is time and money that I'm sure many of us could better use in other places.

So here's the two things I do to reduce the number of extra trips made:

1. My wife and I keep a large-sized "sticky note" pad on the counter next to our refrigerator. Whenever we see that any grocery, personal, or cleaning supply item is running low or is out, we simply add it to our "fridge" grocery list. Then, whenever we are heading to the store, we make sure to grab that list! Often, it acts as our primary shopping list.

2. I also keep a second version of this list handy on my PDA (it would also be easy to keep one in your notebook or planner too!), in case I happen to think of something I need when I'm not at home and it isn't convenient to add this item to our "fridge" list. Then, before the next shopping trip, I make sure to transfer my PDA items to the master "fridge" list. (One other quick idea - sometimes I just call my home number and leave a voice message to myself with the needed item.)

I've expanded this idea to more than just groceries & personal/cleaning products. I've also created lists in my PDA for any clothes I might want or need, office supplies (a good idea for your admin assistant?), electronic equipment, yard/home maintenance repair supplies, etc. Then, I just have to bring my PDA with me whenever I'm heading to the mall, office supply, electronics, or home goods store, and I can guarantee I'm saving myself several trips a year, and money for that bonus vacation!

Until next month, Stay Timely!

Timely Tips© Volume 3, Issue 4; April 2006: Keep that Train of Thought Right on its Track

How many times have you been at work, and the phone rings, or someone walks in your office, or the e-mail "blings" and you decide to read it (a "no no" if you've read the past issues of Timely Tips!), and then when you come back to what you were doing, you completely forgot where you left off? And then, it takes you 5-10-15 minutes to figure out where you were, so you can get back to being productive again? Does this happen frequently to you? All the time? This is your "train of thought" getting knocked off of its track, and for many of us, it happens too often and really hurts our short term and long-term productivity.

But there is a pretty simple solution to help you get better at keeping your attention train on its track. It is a habit that I've used for years now, after hearing about it originally from time management guru David Allen (author of "Getting Things Done"), and it is REALLY simple:

Here's what you will need:
- A pen or pencil
- A sticky note and/or pad of scratch paper

Here's what you'll need to do: before you allow your attention to get diverted by an unexpected call or visitor, write a really quick note to remind yourself exactly where you are at on whatever it is you are working on, and what the very next step will be.

Here's how it works:

- The phone rings: pick up the phone, politely greet the caller, ask them to hold on a quick second, and write your reminder/next step note. Then, take the call.
- Someone walks in: greet them nicely, but ask them for just one second before they let you know why they stopped by. Write your reminder note. Then, talk to the visitor.
- The e-mail blings: now of course, you shouldn't be jumping over to check your e-mail every time it blings (I can't imagine anyone that has attended any of my courses is still doing that!!) ;-), but if you are expecting an important e-mail, before you look at it, stop and write your reminder note! Then, read your e-mail.

When you write your reminder note, either put it on top of your "priority" pile, or put it on a sticky note and attach it to the project folder you are working on. (Or, if you are a techie, you can always key your new reminder/next step right into your computer or PDA.)

Nearly everyone will give you a couple seconds to gather your train of thought if they are interrupting you unexpectedly. It is a common courtesy they should be willing to give you - take advantage of it. And then, when you come back to your project, task, or activity, your reminder note will help you get back to being productive in a matter of seconds - not minutes.

This is one of those "simple stupid" tips that will literally save you hundreds if not thousands of hours over your career. And a nice side benefit - by writing down where you are at on your project before taking the call or visitor, you can then give your caller or visitor your undivided attention, rather than spending the entire conversation trying to remember where you are at on your project. Pretty easy, eh?

Until next month, Stay Timely!

Timely Tips© Volume 3, Issue 3; March 2006: Take an "Empty Satisfactor" Diet to Change the Shape of Your Life (from Major Satisfactors = Major Success

A simple but powerful tip that I give many people attending my seminars is to consider an "Empty Satisfactor diet." (For reference, in my book, I explain that Empty Satisfactors are a particular kind of time use or activity that provide no real intrinsic value for you personally or professionally. When you get done with an "Empty Satisfactor", you typically say to yourself (with some disgust) "I can't believe I spent that much time doing THAT!" Classic examples for many people are TV channel surfing, reading trash tabloids, and surfing the net for no reason or purpose.)

The concept to an Empty Satisfactor Diet is simple: Identify one of two Empty Satisfactors in your life, and for the next two weeks, or month, or six months for that matter if you are really strong willed, cut the time that you give to those targeted Empty Satisfactors down to nothing or close to nothing. Then, reallocate that time to your Major and/or Minor Satisfactors (the bigger, more redeeming, more fun activities in your life.)

For a food diet, you need to identify a few problem foods (for me, chips and ice cream would qualify); for an Empty Satisfactor diet, you need to identify a few problem activities, and try to cut them out of your life so that you can "get back in shape".

Using this simple focus and discipline may find you MANY additional hours per week. Let me know how your Empty Satisfactor Diet goes. And until next month, stay Timely!

Timely Tips© Volume 3, Issue 2; February 2006: Courteous Voice Mail Time Savers

This month’s Timely Tips is short and sweet – appropriate for the week of Valentine’s. I have to thank my friend and client from Ohio State University, Rob Chabot, for reminding me of this quick tip, after I left him an unintelligible phone number when leaving him a voice mail recently (as many of you know, I sometimes talk a little fast.) It is a tip I’ve heard before, but is one that makes for a good reminder now and then.

The tip is very simple. When you are leaving a voice message, at the end of the message, when you leave your phone number, recite it slowly and clearly, and then repeat your number again. By doing this, you make it VERY easy for people to get your phone number with only having to listen to your message once (how many times have you had to listen to an entire message two or even three times just to get the phone number that was left at the end of the message?) This is obviously a very considerate thing to do, and if we all started doing this, we’d likely save several minutes each week listening to voice mails. (By the way, why not always make sure to have a scratch pad of paper and a working pen available before you ever listen to any voice mail message? Be ready to write!)

When I was at Pace & Partners, one of my clients there would even repeat her name again at the very end of the message also, just so you would remember who it was that was calling. Another great tip, especially if you are calling someone new or someone that you may not interact with very often.

This month’s tips may not save you personally a lot of time, unless of course you spread the word (please do!), but these tips will definitely save time for the clients, vendors, and colleagues that you frequently call, and make your voice messages some of the messages they appreciate the most.

Until next month, Stay Timely!

Timely Tips(c): Volume 3 Issue 1: January 2006 -- Using ICE in your Cell Phone and PDA as a Possible Time AND Life Saver

Happy New Year! After a one-month holiday season hiatus, we’re back publishing Timely Tips. I know I’ve had a restful and entertaining holiday break, and I’m ready for a great 2006. I hope all of you are too!

For this month’s Timely Tip, I have to give credit to a group of staffers from Grand Rapids Community College. I was giving a staff training there in October, sharing several of my PDA address book and memo strategies, when they turned me on to the concept of ICE. Of course, ICE is very relevant in January up here in Michigan, but the ICE they shared with me actually could save lives – possibly yours, possibly mine! ICE stands for In Case of Emergency, and is a strategy being encouraged of people by emergency responders both in Europe and the United States. They believe this strategy has the capability of saving many lives in coming years.

They are asking people to mark one of the contacts in their address or phone book in their mobile phones and/or their PDAs with the title ICE.

Then, within that contact, they ask that you provide the name and contact information for one or two relevant people to contact in case of emergency. You could also list any important personal health information (blood type, allergies, medicines you are currently taking, any other important medical conditions, etc.) I’ve even put in my daughter’s personal and health information in my ICE listing, just in case we are together when an accident happens. That way, God forbid that you are ever in a serious accident or incident, and are unconscious or incapacitated, then the emergency responder can look in your cell or PDA for your ICE info, and save precious minutes when helping to save you or your loved one’s life.

I’ve installed an ICE contact in all of my PDAs, as well as in my personal mobile phone, and I’ve had my wife do the same. I’m asking you to spread the word too, because this is such an important tip. Please forward on to anyone you know that regularly carries a cell phone or PDA. And let’s hope that none of us ever have to actually use this strategy in a crisis situation, but at least we can feel a little safer and more prepared just in case.

You know, they always did say ice comes in handy when somebody gets hurt. Now I guess that is both a literal and figurative saying. If you’d like to learn more about ICE, this link, http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/phones/2005-08-15-ice-cell-phone_x.htm, takes you to an article on the USA Today web site on the topic.

Until next month, Stay Timely!

Timely Tips(c): Volume 2, Issue 11; November 2005 -- Thanksgiving as an Analogy for Life

As many of you begin recovering from your post-Thanksgiving turkey food coma, this is a great time for me to share with you one of my favorite “bits” from my time management program. It is an analogy I give on how Thanksgiving dinner is a lot like life, and I think it cuts to the heart of effective time and life management. Here’s how it goes:

Life is a lot like Thanksgiving dinner. Here is how I see Thanksgiving dinner – first, you get together with a big group of family members, many of which you only prefer to see once or twice a year. ;-) Everybody brings too much food to eat, and it all gets laid out on a big family table. Once it is all organized and ready, then everybody comes to get in line, gets a plate and silverware, and then fills up those plates.

Now what is interesting is how the food table is laid out. As you walk through the line, you go past the stuffing, the potatoes, the gravy, the green beans, the baked beans, the cranberries, the Mexican dip, the veggies, the sweet potatoes, etc. etc. At the far end of the table, that is where you find the food everyone (save the vegetarians among us) really wants – the turkey, the ham, and the pies!!

What most people do is wait their turn and go through the line and get a little bit of everything -- stuffing, potatoes, gravy, beans, veggies, etc. They make sure a little bit of everything is on their plates to be polite so no one gets hurt because you didn’t eat granny’s cranberry surprise. But what often happens is that you get to the end of the table and have no room for what you really want – the turkey and the pies! So you throw it on top of the potatoes, and end up making a mess. Then you also end up eating too much, and not feeling too good about it afterward.

Now that is the polite thing to do. What is the smart thing to do? Of course – cut right by Aunt Ethel and go for that turkey!! Fill up your plate with the food that you really want, and then just fill in the few open spots on your plate with small portions of the other foods to keep things a little bit diverse and interesting.

It makes a nice analogy for life too, eh? No, I’m not telling you to fill up your life with a bunch of turkeys! What I mean for you to do is fill up your life and your time with the activities, events, and people that mean the most to you. (Of course, that requires you to figure out exactly what your “turkey” is in life.) That will help you create a life that you can really give thanks for.

Here’s hoping that you have a turkey-full holiday season! Until next month, Stay Timely!!

Timely Tips© Volume 2, Issue 10; October 2005 -- A Junk Mail Time (and ID) Saver

I have to give credit for this month’s Timely Tip to my wife, Jana. We had been struggling for some time on how to deal more efficiently with all of the mail – and especially junk mail – that we had been receiving at our home address. I tried using the previously-mentioned Three Minute Rule (November 2004 Timely Tips), but when you are getting about 20-30 pieces of junk mail a day, even the three minute rule gets a bit unwieldy. Most of that stuff doesn’t even deserve three minutes of attention!!

So we decided to take our processing of junk mail one step farther, by creating a “Junk Mail Bin” – an idea conceived by my wife on how to dramatically cut down on how much time we gave to junk mail. Basically, this is a bin – a little larger than a bread box – where we put all of the junk mail that we receive. Every day, when we get our mail, we stand by the junk mail bin, and toss every piece of unwanted and unsolicited junk mail into the bin as we sort through the rest of the mail. After spending 30 seconds sorting out the junk mail, we are left with only the mail that has some real value/importance, including all bills, credit card statements, bank and investment account statements, personal mail from family/friends, etc., which gets put into a separate pile and is processed with the individual attention that it deserves.

Then, once that junk mail bin fills up (it usually takes a couple of weeks to a month to fill it up), I bite the bullet, and take about 5 minutes (and ONLY 5 minutes) to go through that bin and get rid of all of it at one time. (Thus, instead of giving junk mail five or more minutes of my time each day, I’m only dealing with it for five minutes every few weeks!) You might be asking why I even bother to give it 5 minutes and I’m not just throwing it away outright, but I’m a bit concerned about the possibility of identity theft. I have read that ID thieves can take certain types of junk mail – especially pre-approved credit card and mortgage offers, and open accounts in your name that you may end up responsible for. Because of this, I don’t just throw it away - I instead try to quickly go through my junk mail to make sure there isn’t anything in there that could open us up to ID theft risk. Anything that is marked to “Resident” gets trashed or recycled immediately. If it is actually addressed to us by name, I put it into a shred pile. I don’t take the time to open it up and see if it has any information that could be used by an ID thief – instead, I just assume there could be something in there and shred it all.

To enable this, we’ve purchased an office-strength cross-cutting shredder capable of shredding documents up to 15 pages thick. Nearly all pieces of mail that come in to our home can be easily handled by this shredder, including those annoying credit card offers that include a “mock credit card” (they are trying to make it tough on you to get rid of their mail!!) and also those AOL “Free 100 Hours” CDs. And, it is also a good tool for getting rid of sensitive but older bank account statements, credit card slips, etc. This more powerful shredder has definitely been worth the extra $50 when you factor in how much time it has saved us in dealing with our junk mail (not to mention the additional peace of mind regarding ID theft).

So, if you want to handle the junk mail beast, consider a “Junk Mail Bin” and an office strength shredder. This combination makes for a powerful time and ID saving one-two punch.

Timely Tips© Volume 2, Issue 9; September 2005 -- Stumping “The Jump” Part II: A Version for Excel Users

Dear Friends,

Last month, I shared a very handy tip on how to help save some time by avoiding “jump” – that annoying habit of today’s super-fast computers to jump you much further into documents that you are editing than you would like. You usually run into this problem when trying to select text or data into your clipboard or for other manipulations.

Gary Kapanowski, a good friend and colleague, wrote back with an equally helpful little keystroke trick that can especially help Excel and other spreadsheet users, but can also help MS Word and other word processing program users.

When working in a spreadsheet, get your cursor in or near a section of data that you would like to select. Then, press the “End” key one time, and then hold the “Shift” key and use the directional arrows. You can toggle up, down, left or right, and highlight the cells (and only the cells) that you would like to select. This can be very useful when cutting or copying and pasting both actual data, as well as cells that have defined functions and calculations – potentially a real time saver.

Out of curiosity, I tried to see what happened if you followed the same steps in MS Word. Using the “End” key typically just jumps you to the end of the line of text that you are on. But interestingly, if you hold the “Shift” key down (regardless of whether or not you just pushed the “End” key), and then use the arrow keys, you can either select text in the lines directly above or below your cursor location (up/down arrow keys) or directly to the right or left of your cursor location (using the right/left arrow keys). This can be very handy for specific editing/copying/cutting functions.

So, now you’ve got a few new keystroke tips that will hopefully save you quite a bit of time moving forward. I recommend that you go and try them out and add them to your “computer skills toolkit”. Until next time, Stay Timely!

Timely Tips© Volume 2, Issue 8; August 2005 -- One of the Best Little Tips I’ve Seen: Stumping the “Jump”

Dear Friends,

This month’s Timely Tips is short and sweet, and yet may be one of those crazy little tips that truly saves you both time and, more importantly, aggravation!! The tip is related to the increasing speed and power of most computers and their CPU’s (central processing units). Usually, this extra speed and power saves you time because it makes programs run faster. But occasionally, an old “relic” behavior pops up in very popular and heavily used programs that can cause this extra speed and power to actually slow you way down. Perhaps the most frustrating of these “relics” is what most people call “jump”.

“Jump” is when you are using a program like Microsoft Word or Excel, and you are trying to select text or data into your clipboard, and as you start to scroll through the data, the cursor suddenly “jumps” much further into your document than you intended. Suppose, for example, that you are trying to select data from rows 30 to 240 in an Excel spreadsheet, and as you start to scroll down from row 30 you suddenly find yourself on row 2754 – this is “jump”! It all happens because most computer programs, including most word processing, spreadsheet, and web editing programs were built way back in the days of the 25 Mhz IBM 386 processor. Back then, the scroll feature worked pretty well due to the slow speed and power of the processor. But, as the speed and power of the processors have increased, these programs have unfortunately not been updated to keep up, and thus “jump” can become a real problem and aggravation for many heavy users.

Recently, I became aware of a little keystroke trick that helps with the problem of “jump”. Here is how you can “stump the jump”:

1. Very simply, go to the beginning of the text or data that you want to select.

2. Do a single left click on your mouse.

3. Then, hold down your “shift” key while you locate the end of the text or data that you want to select.

4. With the “shift” key still held down, left click again. All of your desired text or data should now be selected (and, more importantly, nothing more than you desired to be selected!)

Try this out right now. I’ve tested it in MS Word, MS Excel, and my web editing program, Namo Web Editor 5.5. It works in all of them, and I assume it will work on most PC-based programs on most computers. It is such a great tip that I just couldn’t wait to share it with you. Hopefully, you’ll see your productivity “jump” a bit (excuse the pun) and your aggravation drop a bit by this one simple tip – of course, please feel free to share this tip with other heavy computer users! They’ll jump for joy. (Sorry, I can’t help myself.) Until next time, Stay Timely!