Efficiency – Jake Miller

Canned Response Filter

In a separate post, I shared my love of Canned Responses in Gmail. What’s better than being able to save time by clicking on a “canned response” to send it out? Having your gmail do it for you! That’s right – if you always send the same response to messages containing the exact same phrase or from the exact same sender, then you can create a Filter that automatically replies with one of your canned responses. Super cool.

Tip: you may want to also select to archive the message, if you’d like it to also disappear from your inbox after the canned response is sent.

Step-by-step instructions are after the GIF.

Continue reading Canned Response Filter

Canned Responses in GMail

I am efficiency-obsessed. Anytime I can make something that I do in my job more efficient without compromising quality, I am in. Involve something Google-y in that and I’m not just in, I am psyched.

Canned Responses meets that criteria. It allows you to save certain email text (typically for replies) that you send regularly. You can then insert those messages when needed, make minor edits for personalization if needed, and send them out. Awesome sauce.

The only flaw is the menu – you have to be really careful to not accidentally overwrite your saved canned responses by clicking in the wrong spot (insert vs. save vs. new). But I can live with that!

Check out a GIF of Canned Responses after these brief setup instructions.

Click the gear in the top-right corner of your Gmail window.
Click Settings
Click Labs
Navigate to Canned Responses in the list.
Click Enable, then save.

AutoText in Google Docs

Improving your efficiency is a great feeling. Typing the same thing over and over again? Not such a good feeling. To add some efficiency, avoid repeatedly typing the same thing and save a few seconds, I’d like to show you how to add some AutoText or AutoComplete automation in Google Docs.

I love using the Chrome Extension “Auto Text Expander,” but it doesn’t work in Google Docs. So, here’s the solution. First – a GIF and second – the step-by-step.

Open a Google Doc.
Go to Tools > Preferences.
In the table, put the shortcut you’d like to type under “Replace.”
Put the corresponding expanded text under “With.”
Click OK. It will now work in all of your Google Docs on this account.

Tips:

Choose shortcuts that you’ll never type. You wouldn’t want to use cheese as a shortcut for cheeseburger, because sometimes you just need to type cheese! Starting shortcuts with a rarely used symbol like a ~ or ^ is a good way to do this.
Capital letters won’t work. I’m not sure why, but if your expanded text is long enough, the hassle of going back to capitalize a few letters is worth it.
Note that the options need to be check-marked in the preferences window to work. This can be convenient if you have shortcuts that you only use sometimes – turn them on when you need them and off when you don’t.

TwitListManager

***NOTE: On 8/29/18, I received word on Twitter that TwitListManager is either no longer working or not working consistently. I haven’t confirmed “what’s up.” An alternative called twitterlistmanager.com was suggested. I have not used it and cannot confirm its quality, safety or reliability. Others do recommend it though!***

If you’ve been on Twitter for a long time, you probably follow more people than you can possibly keep up with. And, if you’re like me, it probably bums you out when you’re missing some good posts from some of the people that you really want to see everything from.

The solution is lists. Create lists in Twitter that contain the “important” people or that relate to a certain thing (i.e., the school you work for). Don’t worry: your lists can be private.

Well, if you’ve ever created lists in Twitter, you know that it’s clunky. TwitListManager is the best solution for that that I’ve found. Go to the site, log into Twitter and assign all of the accounts you follow to certain lists. Easy-peasy.

My strategy:

First, I have lists for my school district and my friends (I read every tweet in those lists).
Second, I separate everyone into Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3. Level 1 are the people who I really want to see posts from. I try to read all of them. Level 2 are people who I’d like to read the posts from, but they’re not a priority. Maybe if I have to wait an hour in the doctor’s office waiting room… Level 3? Well, I’m just following them to be polite.😬 Sorry, if you’re in Level 3! 😬
Finally, I have some other lists that I use at certain times. That includes things like the NFL Draft–I use that list for a few days every April–and Fantasy Football–I look at that lists on Sunday’s in the fall and when I’m setting my lineup.