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Each week brings files, emails, new projects, and job lists. Just how much of that is different from the job you’ve done before? Odds are, maybe not much. Many of our tasks are variations on something.
Don’t reinvent the wheel every time you start something fresh. Rather, use templates–standardized documents with text and formatting as starting point for new work. As soon as you save a separate version of the template, just add, remove, or change any data for that document that is unique, and you’ll have the new work.
Templates work everywhere: in word processors, spreadsheets, project management apps, survey platforms, and also email. Here is the way to use templates from your favorite programs –and to generate documents from a template–so it’s possible to get your tasks done quicker.
Templates take time to build, and it’s easy to wonder if they are worth the investment. The brief answer: absolutely. Editing a template requires much less time than formatting something. It is the difference between retyping it, or copying and pasting some text.
That’s only one benefit: Using a template means you’re less inclined to leave out key info, also. By way of instance, if you need to send freelance authors a contributor arrangement, modifying a standard contract template (rather than writing a new contract every time) guarantees you won’t depart out that crucial clause regarding owning the material once you’ve paid for it.
Templates also guarantee consistency. Perhaps you send regular job updates to investors or clients. Using a template, you understand the upgrade will always have the formatting, layout, and standard arrangement.
How to Create Great Templates
Not all templates are created equal–and a few things do not need a template. Here are a few guidelines to follow.
First, templates should be comprehensive. So err on the side of adding instead of too small, it’s simpler to delete info than add it .
Imagine you’re creating a template of your resume. You’d want to list facts and that means you are going to have all the info you want to submit an application for any job.
You always have the option to delete notes on, but you may forget it in the last 25, when it is not from the template.
Some applications will automatically fill in these factors for you (more on that in a bit). But if you need to fill in the data by yourself, add some text that is easy and obvious to look for so it is possible to find.