Personally, the rhythmic tapping of fingers on a computer keyboard is like music to my ears. If there was a room with a thousand monkeys typing on a thousand computers…well, I don’t know if they’d eventually churn out a best-selling novel, but I’ll bet it would sound like a symphony in there.

This is one of the reasons I love using keyboard shortcuts while I’m working at my computer. When I’ve got a good typing rhythm going on my keyboard, I don’t want to have to disrupt the flow by reaching for the mouse to perform some commands (even though mouse-clicking can also be quite a pleasant sound).

Many e-mail clients support keyboard shortcuts, so when I’m catching up on e-mail correspondence, I try to make the most of those time-saving keystrokes. Everything from cutting, copying, and pasting text, to flagging a message for follow-up, and even sending the message, can all be performed right from the keyboard. If you’re doing something as simple as scrolling from the beginning of an e-mail to the end, you can avoid using the mouse altogether.

Even when you’re not composing a message, you can take advantage of many of the keyboard shortcuts that are available for organizing your messages and navigating through your mailbox. There are shortcuts for moving through messages in your folders, jumping directly to certain folders, moving or copying items between folders, and creating items such as messages and appointments.

Learning the keyboard shortcuts and teaching yourself to use them can take some time. I started off learning one or two, and found that I felt like I was working more efficiently when I could keep both hands on the keyboard. So I took the time to learn a few more, and eventually abandoned my mouse completely when I was working in Outlook or Gmail.

The tips for this podcast will focus on teaching you the keyboard shortcuts that are available for working with your e-mail, whether you’re in Outlook, Lotus Notes, or working on the go with a BlackBerry or Windows Mobile device. The links for these tips can be found on the blog entry for this podcast, at www.productiveupodcast.com.

• A Hands-On Approach to E-mail: Keyboard shortcuts you can use while composing a message in Outlook
• No Mouse Required: Keyboard shortcuts you can use while composing a message in Lotus Notes
• Control and Shift Your Mail: Keyboard shortcuts you can use in Outlook’s main window
• Moving Multiples: Using the Ctrl and Shift keys to perform keyboard shortcuts on multiple messages at once
• Get the Most Out of Your Keyboard: Shortcut keys for the BlackBerry e-mail application
• Touch and Go: Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook on a Windows Mobile device

We’ll also throw in a few bonus links to sites that list keyboard shortcuts for some of the other popular e-mail clients:

• Outlook Web Access
• GroupWise
• Eudora (PC)
• Eudora (Mac)
• Gmail
• Yahoo Mail

Once you get into the habit of using keyboard shortcuts, you’ll find that they really can save a lot of time compared to using the mouse for certain actions. The best way to start using them is to learn one or two at first. After that, you may find yourself hooked and wanting to learn more. Then, when someone walks by your desk and mentions that you sound like a thousand monkeys, you can smile gratefully and accept it as a compliment, knowing that you are composing your own symphony of tapping keys.

That’s all for this week, but if you’re enjoying the podcast and the tips, be sure to write a review for us over at iTunes. Also, don’t forget that you can follow us on Twitter @productiveUcast.

See you next time!

Music courtesy of Clayton & Fulcrum

Well my personal “fix” has to be my iPod Touch. It has become the companion that keeps me warm on those lonely solo commutes to work and when traveling to our office in Cleveland, Ohio.

So what is it about this little device that has me sleeping with it at night and grabbing it before my morning coffee? (Yes, my wife does get jealous and asks why that THING is between our pillows. I usually just tell her “It’s okay, honey, you’re still my number one precious…yes, my precious.”)

Well, it has to be the apps…

Yes, I bought it originally for its most basic functionality—you know, to play music and watch videos on trips—but, WOW, have the apps changed how I go about my day!

Here is a list of the apps I love most and how they shape my day. Let’s start with the apps I use for work:

I use the built-in Voice Memos app when I’m inspired with an idea while I am driving the car into work (and with a brain like mine, if I don’t get the idea written down or recorded, it could be gone by the time I get to work). Once I arrive in the office, I can then get the thought down into a more appropriate location, such as one of my Microsoft OneNote notebooks. But, like anything, you can use this little app for evil, too. For instance, let’s just say some truck driver who cut me off the other day got a nice message left on one of those 800 numbers that ask “How’s my driving?” Ha, as if he didn’t already know. You’ll need an earbud with a mic to use this feature, and not all models come with them.

The iPod Touch also works very well for syncing my e-mail and calender items with the Exchange server at work. With my handy dandy gadget and a little WiFi connection, I can now respond to e-mail and schedule meetings while sitting in other meetings where someone is droning on about some topic that we had covered completely well over an hour ago. (If you’re careful, you can also work in a game of Skee-ball, another great app.)

If you’re really into the social media stuff, then I highly recommend using TweetDeck. Not only is it a free app, but it allows you to manage multiple Twitter accounts. I use it for my personal account and my podcast account. By the way, if you’re enjoying this podcast, you might like to let me act like the Pied Piper and follow me @productiveUcast.

Looking for some way to type without typing? If you’re familiar with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Nuance also has a free app called Dragon Dictation that transcribes dictation using its online transcription engine. Keep in mind that you’ll want to have a WiFi connection or else it doesn’t work. It helps with this app to speak somewhat like you would if you were, say, visiting in France and didn’t know French so you would try to get the people to understand you by doing things like speaking slowly and enunciating clearly. Also, it doesn’t hurt to be in a quiet location. Although it may not be perfect, it can help and it’s certainly fun to see what your app might really think you’re saying.

If you find yourself traveling and looking for a good way to save on phone calls, find yourself a WiFi spot and turn on the Skype application. I personally have a “Skype Out” and “Skype In” number, so I can place calls to virtually anywhere at a fraction of the cost of what I would pay using a traditional cell phone plan. Keep in mind that some models of the iPod touch don’t come with earbuds that include a microphone, but I picked up iPhone earbuds online that have the mic.

Now, these last few apps can be used both for home or work, but still I find myself using them everyday.

Alarm Clock is a great app and well worth paying for the premium version. This is also another reason it is either in my bed or on the night stand. I have given up my traditional alarm clock for this one. It works wonderfully on a daily basis or, better yet, on business trips. It’s reliable and, more importantly in my case, loud.

If you’re like many people, you’re probably on Facebook. The free Facebook app is really good and keeps getting better. Although you can’t view videos on it, you can see pictures, chat, post status updates, send messages, accept and send friend requests, and receive notifications. It’s always great to be able to stand in your kitchen cooking up bacon and grilled cheese while telling all your friends about it.

And finally, probably my favorite app of all is Air Mouse by RPA Tech. It turns your iPod Touch into a remote mouse and keyboard for your PC and the Mac. Yes, you can use this to control that presentation in PowerPoint or Keynote, but where I get the most use is in the basement of my house. My personal Man Cave. I have my Windows 7 laptop connected to a projector along with my Wii and I use it to control Windows Media Center while using my Netflix instant viewing account and the Hulu Desktop Client. Now I can change my movies and TV shows and still surf the Web on a really large screen. A word of warning: Don’t let your seven year old in on how you “magically” control the computer with the power of your mind. It’s great fun watching my son trying to scroll through Netflix while squinting hard and thinking about the show he wants to see. Hey, the way I see it, I have to pay for him, so I might as well have a little fun before he wises up and stops being my “can you get that for daddy” guy.

Well, that’s it for this week’s podcast. If you like or dislike what you hear, please stop by iTunes and write a review of our podcast, or leave a comment on the blog at www.productiveUpodcast.com.

Until next time… If you squint hard enough, maybe you too can start “He-Man” on Hulu!

Enjoy!

Music courtesy of Clayton & Fulcrum

This week’s edition: “A Sign of the Times (New Roman): Exploring the World of Fonts.”

On my commute into the office this morning, I had a striking revelation: we are surrounded by more words than we sometimes realize. This revelation came to me as I slammed on my brakes to avoid striking the Mercedes in front of me; at that point, I was close enough to be able to read its bumper sticker. That just proves that there are so many opportunities to observe this, no matter where you are.

Take a moment right now to examine your own surroundings. How many instances of text do you see? Obviously you see the computer screen right in front of you, but if you can pry your eyes away from this compelling box of light for just a few seconds—no, really, just look away from the computer. I know you can do it. Okay, good. Now—what do you notice? You probably see at least a few examples of text. If you are in an office right now, you might see memos, printed e-mail messages, maybe motivational posters around the office, or even a calendar on the wall. If you drive to work as I do, you probably saw street signs, billboards, advertisements printed on the sides of buses or cars, or even graffiti. If you take public transportation, you no doubt saw some text on advertisements posted inside of the bus, on the walls of the train station, or on magazines and newspapers being sold in the train station concourse.

Now take a closer look at some of that text and observe the different fonts that are being used. The style, color, and even size of the fonts may vary depending on the purpose and message of the text. This is because, in different situations, certain fonts are usually more appropriate than others. For example, when you create a new document in Microsoft Word, you can choose any font that is installed on your computer; but for professional documents, you wouldn’t want to choose a fancy font that’s difficult to read. But there may be other situations where such a font is entirely appropriate, such as in an advertisement where there is not as much text to be read, or on a formal invitation, where flowing calligraphic fonts are often used.

So what happens when you open Word and don’t choose a different font? By default, you’ll get a font called Times New Roman. It’s been the default font for Word in versions 97 through 2003, so it should come as no surprise if you notice it on the majority of documents you’ve dealt with in the past 10 years or so. It’s much older than that, though; Times New Roman was created in 1931 by font designer Stanley Morison after he criticized British newspaper The Times for their current font choice, Times Old Roman. After that, The Times used the new font for 40 years, and its popularity grew. (Read all about the history of Times New Roman here.)

What has kept this font so popular through the years? Well, as I already mentioned, it’s the default font in most versions of Word. Some people might not care enough, or might not even know it’s possible, to change Word’s default font. Other people have just become so familiar with it that they prefer to use it over other fonts. In Word 2007, the new default font is called Calibri—arguably easier to read than Times New Roman, but if you’re one who doesn’t welcome change, you can easily choose a new default.

At this point, you might ask what makes some fonts easier to read than others. It might help here to know a bit of French and Dutch. Calibri falls into a category of fonts known as sans-serif fonts; “sans” coming from the French word for “without” and “serif” coming from the Dutch noun “schreef,” which translates to something like “stroke of the pen.” This category of fonts lacks the ornamental details that appear on some characters in a serif font such as Times New Roman. You’ll see these if you look at the bottom of a lowercase “n.” In a serif font such as Times New Roman or Georgia, this character will have little “feet” that do not appear on sans-serif fonts such as Calibri, Verdana, or Arial.

In Word 2007, you can easily test this out with a new feature called Live Preview. Type some text in a document, select it, and then click the Font drop-down list on the Home tab of the Ribbon. As you hover your mouse over different fonts, you can preview how your text will look in that font without actually committing to the change.

Anyway, some people argue that these “feet” in serif fonts help move your eyes along the text, making it easier to read; other people say the serifs can be distracting. Some say “po-TAY-to,” while still others say “po-TAH-to.” And around and around we go.

The bottom line is this: you should strive to find a font that suits your text. For large blocks of text, such as a formal document, you will want to avoid any fonts that are too fancy, flowy, or curly (or Moe, or Larry, or even Shemp, for that matter). While we’re on the point, try to stick with a color that is easily readable. Black text on a white background is always a safe bet. Blue text on a pink background? Your readers might go into seizures before the end of the first paragraph.

But that’s not to say that you should always stick with the defaults, either. There is a wide world of font formatting options and text effects available in Word that you can use to help your text stand out, and these are particularly useful for heading styles. If used in moderation, you should be able to create some eye-catching text that maintains professionalism. The tips in this week’s blog entry will show you where to find these options and how to apply them to your fonts. You can get the links for these tips at www.productiveUpodcast.com.

The tips for this week are:

• Strike Out – exploring the text effects available in Word
• Fix Your Fonts – adjusting the character spacing for text
• The Space Between – adjusting the font kerning
• Start Fresh – clear the formatting from selected text
• Making Normal Your Own – changing Word’s defaults for font, paragraph, and page setup styles (Word 2003 and earlier, Word 2007)
• Using Live Preview with Fonts in Word 2007
• Installing Fonts in Windows

For all you Mac users out there, we haven’t forgotten about you! Here are a couple of tips you can use for managing your fonts:

• Changing fonts in applications
• Enabling/disabling and installing/uninstalling fonts in Font Book

That’s all for this week. As always, if you found these tips useful or have some questions you would like to see covered in a future episode, you can leave us a quick note on Twitter by following @productiveUcast. Or, if you want to spread the love, write a review of the podcast on iTunes.

Until next time, remember: actions may speak louder than words, but when words are all you have, be sure to make them look good!

Music courtesy of Clayton & Fulcrum