Computer short cuts –

they can save you a lot of time

The other day, I was searching through my Twitter account and someone was offering a free list of computer short cuts.  Some of these short cuts I knew about and others were new to me.

Interestingly, some of the comments on the blog were quite negative.  Some people felt it was insulting to them and others thought it was a dumb post.  I thought it was a great post because often, we forget and there are so many short cuts out there, who can possibly know them all.

Here are some useful ones you can use every day all the time:

Ctrl + A = select all the text you want

Ctrl + C = copy

Ctrl + V = paste

Ctrl + X = cut

Ctrl + S = save

Home and End to get to the top or bottom of documents

Here’s one we are not likely to use all the time until our computer freezes up or slows down:

Ctrl-Shift-Escape to start the Task Manager

Some web browser shortcuts which may help you if you are not already aware of them:

Ctrl + T = open new tab

Ctrl + N = open new window

Ctrl + to zoom in and Ctrl – to zoom out

To go to a particular tab you have open, simple use Ctrl-number of the tab you want to open; say you want to open the first tab simply use Ctrl-1 and close tabs you don’t want any more using Ctrl-F4

Use Run to access tools eg Windows calculator – simply type calc in run box – there are 21 of them and you might something you can use:

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/21-power-user-tips-for-web-marketers/25896/#ixzz16hhVzF28

If we don’t use something all the time, we tend to forget and go back to using the long methods of getting where we want to go.

Hope this list of shortcuts will help you find something useful or something you may have forgotten to use which might come in handy now.

Lorraine Arams

http://www.wizetime.com

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We all know that change takes time whether it’s personal, societal  or organizational.  The only type, of course, we have control over is our own changes we want to pursue.  Save yourself some time and use a new time management tool.

Use your computer to train you.  How?  There are many, many ways. 

Most people would never think of using their computer for training but it’s a fabulous tool.  Yes, it’s my thing but I hope it helps you too.

Here are some scenarios:

1.  Say you are going to school at night to upgrade your credentials or enter a new career.  Use your computer to ask you questions.  How?  In your Calendar, there is a recurrence setting available.  Use the message box in the Calendar to list the questions and then set a recurrence patterns.  The item will pop up on your screen at the time you set.   You can also use Task or Journal – depends on your subject matter and how you like to learn.  I prefer calendar because I can just add questions easily and the answers way at the bottom.  I like studying this way because, once I can answer the questionis faster and faster, I know I understand the material better and better.  Just formulate questions as you read the textbooks.

2.  You want to change a behavior or you want to start every day with a positive mind set or attitude.  Create affirmations or quotes on your Outlook Calendar which rotate again on the recurring settings – a different inspiration every day.

3.  You want to add something into your life such as exercise every lunch hour but exercise is not exactly something you love to do. And we all do the same, don’t we – when we really don’t like doing something even though we know it’s really beneficial, we’ll sabotage ourselves.   However, say, you’re determined you’ll walk at lunch for 1/2 hour 3 times per week.  Set a recurring date on your calendar to remind you a half hour prior to the time for your exercise that it’s your exercise day.  The bonus here is that you won’t be likely to make another lunch time booking if you already have it in your calendar.

I’m sure you can think up of all kinds of uses for these tools – use your computer as your “nag” – let the computer nag you and we all know what happens when we are constantly reminded to do something - despite our best efforts to avoid it, we get “programmed” even if we delete, it still enters our consciousness.  Eventually, we can’t help ourselves from taking action. 

 Because I spend a lot of time looking at a computer screen every day, I noticed that my eyesight dissintegrated as the day wore on and that I was getting low grade headaches more and more.  I had a suspicion it was due to eye strain. 

I have quite a library of books because I love books and I have many, many interests.  So that’s the first place I looked.  There, I found a book called “How To Improve Your Sight” by Margaret Darst Corbett.  I hadn’t read it in quite a while and, obviously, wasn’t using what I had learned.

One of the chapters dealt with eye strain.  So, I tried the exercises she suggested.

Here are some of the tips that I am using to help me with my eye strain issue and I hope it helps you too. Please know that I am including only what I know works for me; there’s a lot more in the book and the chapter on eye strain but these are the ones I found are easy and work:

Don’t rub your eyes because the pressure of the fist or fingers distorts the shape of the eye.

Instead: squeeze your lids tightly but gently and open them wide four or five times. This works really well for me in clearing my eyes. I wear contacts so this technique also helps to clear the contacts

Don’t hold your breath while using your eyes – this seems like an odd one but in actual fact, on the computer, sometimes, I can get so engrossed, I’m actually holding my breath – didn’t know I did that until I read this. If you pay attention, you’ll find yourself holding your breath or breathing very shallow. The eye needs oxygen.

Instead: Breath consciously – like sigh breathing.  For me this is instant – it’s amazing how this works!  Three or four deep breaths and there seems to be more “light”.

Don’t force vision – if an object is not clear, then do not look harder and longer at it. On the computer, this happens often because some of the type is so small. Did you ever notice how small some Google ad copy is?

Instead: close your eyes for a moment, loosen yourself completely, take a deep breath and look again. And this does work – my vision is clearer and it’s easier to read.  It was a little hard to believe that this technique would actually work but it does – amazingly so – just like sigh breathing to get clearer vision, for reading smaller print, just closing the eyelids, taking one breathe while loosening the tightness usually in my shoulders is usually all I need – it takes seconds.

Don’t blink hard when you blink. Your eyes are very sensitive and the tearing is important to keep your eyes lubricated and disinfected.

Instead: close your eyelids gently and softly for a few seconds, breathe. When you open them, your eyes will feel rested.   Not only will your eyes feel rested, but you will too – 5 minutes is all your really need – good for the eyes and the body!

Don’t be afraid to let your eyes work – using your eyes increases muscle strength as it does exercising any other part of the body.

Instead: go ahead and use your eyes a lot. Just rest them often. I loved this one because I’ve been told since I was little to not use my eyes too much. I love to read and love to write so my eyes are important.

Relieving eye strain, therefore, boils down to closing your eyes, relaxing and deep breathing for short periods of time.  It seems simple enough and it is – it’s remembering to do these things before the headache happens – that’s the trick.  I have a computer prompt ”close & breath” (means close my eyes and take deep breaths).   When it becomes a habit, I’ll be able to remove it from my computer calendar. 

Hope this helps you too.

Lorraine Arams
www.wizetime.com

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