For Mac users, here are some keyboard shortcuts to make life easier. You can keep your hands on the keyboard and reach for the mouse less often to speed things up. (If there are enough Windows users who are interested, I can come up with something for them.)
Basics:
CMD – command key
CTRL – control key ^
Shift – shift key
OPT – option key (alt)
- CMD+Tab to move between open applications.
- CMD+~ (tilde, the key to the left of “1”) to move between open windows of an app that is in use. If you have more than one window open in a document, i.e. two or three Word documents, you can easily move from one to another as you edit or modify them.
- CTRL+Tab to move between open tabs in a window. This is especially handy in a browser or Finder where you can easily have multiple Tabs open.
- CMD+, (comma) to bring up the preferences window in almost any app
- CMD+ up arrow, / (slash/? Key) to open Help in almost any app.
- OPT+up arrow+CMD+S to open “Save As”???
- CMD+Z to reverse what you just did
- Press and hold (for a couple of seconds) a letter in Word, for example, to see additional forms of that letter with accent marks
- CTRL+CMD+space bar to bring up Special Characters views. You can click on the symbol or emoji and drag it where you want to place it.
- CMD+Esc to cancel a dialog box
- Click+Return on a file or a folder to highlight the name so you can change it.
- When a Dialog box is open, you can use TAB to move from one choice to another.
- On some Menu drop down lists, you can see additional choices by pressing OPT while the menu is open. Try this on Finder app menus
- To see additional choices on Menu bar items, hold down OPT before you press the Menu bar item. Additional choices or information appears
Don’t forget you can get the Context Menu in almost any app by right clicking your mouse or CTRL+click on a page. This will allow you to select additional features/operations in an app.
Evernote Technique of the month and this is a big one. This works for all Evernote platforms, IOS/Mac or Windows/Android. Create your own personal dashboard. This is your control center and starting place which you will set up to help focus on your projects and what’s important to you. Make this your go to place every morning to get started without have to even think. Come back to it after breaks, lunch, etc.
Here’s how to set it up. First, plan what you would want to include. Urgent/priority items, Follow ups, Hobbies, Papers or presentations to create and so on. Sketch your ideas on a piece of paper.
Now, create a blank Note and put it in Notebook that is used for your primary focus. Apply any tags that are fitting and name the Note, “Dashboard” or whatever you want to call it. Depending on what’s in your planning sketch, you will create rows/columns to match things that need tracking. What we are going to do is create a Table with rows/columns which have links to other documents so that you can go to your dashboard at the start of the day or anytime really, survey from a high level, and go to your next action.
I prefer the sample on the left as it uses the Eisenhower Principle for time management. The colored headers divide your tasks into four modules so that you will spend more time on what’s important. The middle row of colored headers are the less important tasks. The bottom two headers show that you just modify the Dashboard to suit your own needs. The sample dashboard on the right uses: Personal, Work, Medical, Financial and Travel. You decide what goes into your design. Here are a couple of samples.
The Dashboard on the left only requires 2 columns by 6 rows. As you type in the headers, you can format the text and add colors as you desire. If you hover your cursor over a cell in a table a dropdown will appear in the upper right corner, so click on it for additional formatting/copying/etc. Drag the sides of the cells left or right to expand them. As you type tasks in the cell, they will expand down the page to accommodate what you type. You can use “check box” lists or numbered lists by choosing that format style at the top of the format menu on the Note. Formatting and design are almost unlimited. Get creative. Add pictures
The green text in the samples above are live links to Notes in an Evernote account. To create that link, go to the Note you want to link in the Dashboard and select the Note Title and then (while it’s still selected) go to NOTE in the Menu bar and choose, Copy Note Link (about halfway down the list). The go back to the Dashboard (use the back arrow key) and paste the link in the appropriate list. When you click on that link, you will immediately to that page to act on it. To go back to the Dashboard Note just use the left arrow key on the top of the screen just under the Menu bar. Suggestion, keep your Dashboard Note at the top of the Shortcut menu for easy/quick access.
Here’s one that I did in just a few minutes.
This link offers some quick tips on using tables:
https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/208314638-How-to-create-and-customize-tables
Hope this helps. If you have questions or suggestions, I’d like to hear from you.
