Overworked? How To Make Word Work For You
Contributed by
Jay Schroyer
When you’re first handed a daunting word processing project, there’s always a bit of apprehension. How on earth is all of this work going to be completed by one person? If it’s just you and your computer, you have to realize that the computer can and will do most of the work for you. You’re responsible for the content, but the computer can do the rest. Once you learn how to use your computer and make it work for you, you can stop the age-old cycle of the computer controlling your workflow. With your turnaround time at a minimum and your workload at its maximum, learning the tricks of Microsoft® Word is a lot easier than a full-out Word training course. Take a look at these features and see if you’re taking full advantage of allowing your word processor to work for you.
Templates
As with any Microsoft program, there are always preloaded template features as well as a plethora to choose from online. The templates are arranged by duties. For example, if you wanted to create a calendar, there is a template already set up for the year with all of the months, individual boxes for each day that can contain text, and other areas to add notes. By using these templates, you can save yourself the hassles of designing and formatting complex documents such as spreadsheets, address labels, and outlines. One of the most time-saving templates I’ve ever used for Word is the newsletter template. Within that category, there are a bounty of styles to choose from with assorted color schemes and layouts. The template will provide you with four pages featuring a cover, two inside supporting pages, and a back page. Each page contains preformatted text boxes which you can edit with your own content. There are even preplaced graphics which you can replace with clip art that is also available in Word or your own pictures from file. If you are given the unfortunate task of completing a newsletter within a twenty-four hour period, there is nothing easier than opening this template and making it yours.
Shortcuts
Shortcut keys are incredible ways to make the computer work in your favor. Instead of jumping back and forth between the keyboard and the mouse to locate special features available in Word, you can exclusively use your keyboard to make your word processor perform all the tasks you need. You can also create macros to redo tasks that you repeat constantly. By looking in your “Customize” option under the “Tools” menu, you can find out what shortcuts are already programmed into your version of Word and if you want to change them, you can do it with a few punches of some buttons. Here are some of the most common and standard defaults in Word. Using the “Control” button with the following letters will produce these results: “B”= bold, “I” = italics, “U”= underline, “C”= copy, “V”= paste, “X”= cut, “S”= save, “O”= open, and “W”= close. These are only a small sampling of what’s available and there are still endless combinations that can be used with the “Shift” and “Alternate” keys as well. Try to do any of the above mentioned features using the mouse and you can quickly see how much time you can save by allowing the computer to do the work for you via shortcuts.
The macro feature is very simple to program and use and will save you uncountable hours of time if you do complex yet repetitive tasks using your word processor. Check under the “Tools” option to learn how to record a task and replay it whenever you want to perform it.
Utilities
There are numerous utilities available through Word that can make your writing and office life a lot easier by doing all the leg work for you. Can’t find that perfect word to describe something? Check out the Word thesaurus to quickly look up synonyms available not only on your computer, but in the online thesaurus as well. The spelling and grammar function is another automated task that will help save you hours of flipping through dictionaries and the Chicago Manual of Style searching for the perfect spelling and punctuation of a word or phrase. The feature even offers suggestions for editing and correction. You can have Word check a specific word, sentence, paragraph, or your entire document. There is also a letter and mailing wizard available through Word. You can create a mail merge list that pulls from a database file of names and addresses and prints them directly onto letters, postcards, or envelopes. If you just need one envelope printed, you can create one with a receiver’s and sender’s address printed right on the envelope.
This is only a taste test of how you can make your word processor do your work for you. There are even more plug-ins and features that we haven’t even touched on here. Headers and footers, page numbers, bulleted lists, page setup, PDF utilities, and even the paragraph settings can all be set to help you finish your daunting tasks that much quicker. Instead of fighting your word processor, learn how to make it an employee under your complete will and command to complete your assignments correctly and on time.
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About the Author:
Jay Schroyer has worked in the client and customer service end of business for over five years in retail, advertising, and printing. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English writing and communication.
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