Skip to content

Tag: productivity

Published on Leave a comment on ICYMI: Boost Your Gmail Productivity

Are you overwhelmed by your email inbox? Email overwhelms and irritates most of us. Part of the problem is that most of us were never given any training on email. We were just given an email address and no instructions.

email inbox with 6763 new messages

Joanna Stern, of the WSJ, created a short video with 10 time-saving tips to help you master your Gmail inbox. Her video shows you keyboard shortcuts to increase your efficiency, hidden features and tips to turn you into a Gmail ninja.

Note: How you get to your Gmail settings has changed since this video was recorded. Follow these instructions to change to your Gmail settings. Additionally, tip #3 and #5 in the video refer to a “Labs” tab in the Gmail Settings. The “Labs” tab has been replaced with the “Advanced” tab. Canned Responses are now called Templates. The settings for the Preview Pane were moved to the “Inbox” tab in the Gmail Settings.

Do you want to get to inbox zero? Read this What Is Inbox Zero, and How Can You Achieve It? blog post by Rob Woodgate.

If you are looking for more ways to boost your productivity, check out my Keyboard Shortcuts and Type with Your Voice blog posts.

Image credit: image by gabrielle_cc from Pixabay

Published on Leave a comment on Google Chrome Tips and Tricks

Google Chrome web browser icon

Google Chrome is my preferred web browser. I’m always looking for ways to work smarter and not harder. If you use Google Chrome and are looking for ways to be more efficient with it, check out Rajtilak Bhattacharjee’s Google Chrome tips and tricks to help boost your productivity.

ICYMI, check out my Getting Started with Google Apps, Boost Your Gmail Productivity, and Brightspace Tip #55: Google Apps Integration blog posts.

Image credit: image by geralt from Pixabay

Published on Leave a comment on Introducing… The CAT+FD Faculty Writing Room!

Note: This post written by Dr. Elizabeth Manley (Department of History).

Do you need a quiet space to write on campus? Looking to take a writing lunch? Have some planned writing time but keep getting distracted? Come by CAT+FD and take advantage of our new writing room!

CAT+FD Faculty Writing Room

Over the summer, we repurposed an old office in CAT+FD as a dedicated faculty writing room. The room, located just off the reception area, is a space solely for scholarly writing and research. It is an email-, social media-, and grading-free zone, where you can get away for an hour (or six!) for some focused research and/or writing time. Sit in an armchair and do some reading, spread out on the big farm table to get some words on the page, or simply contemplate a new (or old) project.

CAT+FD Faculty Writing Room

It’s totally up to you! Here’s what one visitor has to say:

The writing room was the perfect place for me to go and shut myself off from the world to get my conference presentation completed. The room is comfortable and the staff was very attentive offering drinks and snacks as I worked. I will definitely use this space again when I just simply need to get
work done without disruptions!!

Celeste R. Parker, SLP.D., CCC-SLP
Director of Clinical Education, Department of Speech Pathology

Further, we are building a library on writing productivity (for online suggestions see the new Writing and Research Productivity resources on our wiki), as well as working to fill the space with plants and nurturing vibes.

We have refreshments, quiet, and (hopefully) writing inspiration. Come by, grab a coffee and a snack, and get down to writing! We look forward to seeing you soon!

Published on Leave a comment on Boost Your Gmail Productivity

Are you overwhelmed by your email inbox? Email overwhelms and irritates most of us. Part of the problem is that most of us were never given any training on email. We were just given an email address and no instructions.

email inbox with 6763 new messages

Joanna Stern, of the WSJ, created a short video with 10 time-saving tips to help you master your Gmail inbox. Her video shows you keyboard shortcuts to increase your efficiency, hidden features and tips to turn you into a Gmail ninja.

Note: Tip #3 and #5 in the video refer to a “Labs” tab in the Gmail Settings. The “Labs” tab has been replaced with the “Advanced” tab. You will find the Canned Responses and Preview Pane options in the “Advanced” tab.

Do you want to get to inbox zero? Here are some suggestions from a Washington Post article by Brigid Schulte to help you get there:

In two weeks, I went from 23,768 e-mails in my inbox to zero. Here’s how

If you are looking for more ways to boost your productivity, check out my Keyboard Shortcuts and Type with Your Voice blog posts.

Image credit: image by gabrielle_cc from Pixabay