Contextures Blog

I have a secure upload site, and often send the link to my clients, so they can upload a large file for me to work on. Because the address is long, the link sometimes wraps in the email, and doesn’t work when the recipient clicks on it.

To prevent this problem, you can use a link compression site, such as TinyURL or is.gd.

1. Copy the long address, by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + C
2. Go to the link compression site, and follow the instructions.
3. Copy the short address, and paste it into your email.

Note: These shorter addresses are also handy if you’re using Twitter, which has a 140 character limit.

How do you get any work done when the phone keeps ringing and the email alert dings every few minutes?

When I’m in the middle of an Excel programming project, I need to concentrate, or I lose time and momentum. To help reduce the distractions I turn off the email alerts and unplug the phone, then focus on the project for a few uninterrupted hours. It’s amazing how much I can get done!

My clients know that I’m frequently unavailable, either out at meetings, or working away from the phone. If they leave a message or send an email, I’ll respond within 24 hours.

On those rare occasions that I’m away for a few days, I warn my clients in advance, and my voice mail gives my return date, so people know when to expect a reply.

In Take Back Your Life, Sally McGhee suggests adding a response time to your voice mail and your email signature.

You’ll get more done because you can focus on your work, then respond to phone calls and emails once or twice during the day.

Yesterday I mentioned the Windows Calculator and Google Calculator. Did you know that Word has a calculator too?

To use it, you can add a button to a Word toolbar, then select numbers, and click the Calculator button, to see the total.

To add the button to a Word toolbar:

• In Word, click the Tools menu, and click on Customize
• Click the Commands tab, and click the Tools category.
• Scroll down the list of commands, to find Tools Calculate
• Drag that button to one of your Word toolbars.
• To show a picture, instead of the text, right-click on the button in the toolbar
• Click on Default Style
• Right-click on the button again, and click on Change Button Image
• Click on the Calculator icon.

• Close the Customize dialog box

To use the Calculator button:

• Select a column or list of numbers in Word, or type and select a formula, such as 19*10/14.
• Click on the Calculator button.
• Look in the Status Bar, at the bottom left of the Word window, to see the result . The total is also automatically copied to the clipboard, so you can paste it in Word, or somewhere else.

Most of the time I do my calculations in Excel, but occasionally I reach for a calculator instead — and it’s never where I left it.

Fortunately, my keyboard has a button that launches the Windows calculator, so I can do quick calculations there.

The Calculator key is at the top of the keyboard, just above the ScrLk key, buried under a layer of dust and crumbs. Fairly well hidden, but it’s nice to have.

Another way to do a quick calculation is in Google.

Type a formula in the Search box, then click Google Search, or press the Enter key, to see the result.

When working on projects that I’m billing on a per-hour basis, I use an on-line stop watch to record my time.

The site also has a count down feature, which you could use to limit yourself to 15 minutes of Internet browsing. When the bell rings, get back to work!

Energy Star, a branch of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has free guides with energy saving tips for businesses.

They even have a fancy Excel workbook to help you get started — Energy Star’s Cash Flow Opportunity (CFO) Calculator.