Category Archive

There are times when sending work-related emails is just plain inappropriate. Take that end of year report; do you really want your boss to know you finished it at 3.30am, or would it be better to be the early bird and send it through at 8am, at the top of the Inbox?

Getting up half an hour early just to press send on all your pre-prepared drafts is hardly ideal – which is where scheduling comes in. Many email clients and software add-ons now feature the ability to set a specific time to send your emails, getting around the need to hover your mouse over Send in person. Read full article on Guardian Unlimited

In the days of lost laptops, missing CDs and rogue emails, the slightest security slip-up could land you in hot water with your company. And while it may hardly be deemed Official Secrets Act-type stuff, it’s still important to take some basic steps towards ensuring only your intended recipient can read your documents.

Having to enter a password to open your Word, PowerPoint or Excel projects should deter most snoopers, and has the added effect of making you look more professional to co-workers and clients. It’s also extremely easy to set up. Read full article on Guardian Unlimited

The internet is a vital research tool – and the need to cite sources is becoming more and more important. But web addresses for specific pages don’t exactly trip off the tongue very easily – copy and paste a link into a document and it could go on to three lines or more, making it impossible to type in manually. Emailing links can be just as problematic, as long URLs frequently appear broken to recipients – who then have to copy and paste the segments together.

A far easier way of dealing with links is to turn them into “TinyURLs” by quite literally abbreviating them. The new link comes in the form of “tinyurl.com/” followed by a unique combination of six alphanumeric characters, which when entered will redirect users instantly to your chosen web page. Read full article on Guardian Unlimited

It’s bad news for the environment when studies from Xerox reveal that office workers throw away 45% of documents within a day of printing them. So aside from being prudent about what you print, what’s the best way to cut back on waste paper – and avoid extra outlay on costly inks?

First, avoid the temptation to just print the whole document, especially in the case of emails that invariably contain standard company information at the bottom, which you could really do without. After going to file and print, select either the “current page” option or “from” and enter one to one. Read full article on Guardian Unlimited

Most of us employ a tiered system when it comes to email addresses. There’s your pet favourite, only divulged to close friends; your work account; the email you use for signing up for random web-based nick-nacks with overtones of spam – and that’s just for starters. But while it’s important to maintain this multi-tiered approach, life would be easier if we could check them all in one place with a single password. Read full article on Guardian Unlimited