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Every week brings new jobs, emails, documents, and task lists. Just how much of this is completely different from the work you have done? Odds are, maybe not much. Many of our daily tasks are variants on something we’ve done countless times before.
Do not reinvent the wheel each single time you start something new. Rather, use templates–as starting point for 17, standardized documents. Once you save a separate variant of the template, just add, remove, or change any info for that document, and you’ll have the new work completed in a fraction of this time.
Templates work anywhere: in word processors, spreadsheets, project management apps, survey platforms, and email. Here is how to use templates in your favorite programs –and to automatically generate documents from a template–so you can get your common tasks done quicker.
Templates take time to build, and it’s easy to wonder whether they are worth the investment. The answer: absolutely. Editing a template requires much less time than formatting some thing. It’s the difference between copying and pasting some text, or retyping it.
That is not the only advantage: Using a template means you’re less inclined to leave out key information, also. For instance, if you want to send freelance writers a contributor arrangement, changing a standard contract template (instead of composing a new contract every time) guarantees you won’t leave out that crucial clause regarding owning the content as soon as you’ve paid for it.
Templates also guarantee consistency. You send customers or investors regular project updates. Using a template, you know the update will have the same formatting, layout, and standard structure.
How to Produce Great Templates
Not many templates are created equal–and a few things don’t need a template. Listed below are a couple of tips to follow.
First, templates should be comprehensive. It’s easier to delete information than add it in, so err on the side of adding rather than too little.
Imagine you’re creating a template of your resume. You would want to record facts and that means you’ll have.
You always have the option to delete less-important notes later on, but you may forget it in the final 25, if it is not in the template.
Some applications will automatically fill in these factors for you (more on that in a little ). But if you have to fill in the data on your own, include some text that is easy and obvious to search for so it is possible to find.