Reviewed Content on March 13, 2025
- If used in the right way, technology can save us a lot of time. But if you do not use technology in a smart way, it can become a real time drain. Some of the warning signs that technology kidnaps your time are:
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- You routinely leave someone a voice mail message that says “I wanted to let you know that I emailed you the information you needed”
- You have ten or more voice mail messages in your mailbox
- You stop to read incoming email when it arrives
- You lose track of time surfing the web, Facebook, personal email, etc
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- Save time with these technology tips.
- Not all emails and other messages are urgent. So, do not drop what you are doing because someone emails you something. Reserve 15 to 30 minutes just before noon and again before 5 p.m. to read and answer messages.
- Keep email messages short. Do not waste precious time composing the “perfect” email message. If you cannot explain yourself or reply to a message with just a few words, contact the person for a “live” conversation.
- Always have an email subject line. The subject line should indicate what your message is regarding. If the message is urgent, say that in the subject line.
- Use the priority indicator when needed when a message is either high or low importance. But be careful and do not overuse the high importance indicator. Make sure that a message really is high importance for both you and the person to whom you are sending the message.
- If you are away, change your email’s automatic reply and voice outgoing messages. If you are going to be away from the office—or simply unavailable for an hour or two—change your email automatic reply message to inform those who email you. You should also change your voice outgoing message if you are away for a day or more.
- Set an alarm for 15 minutes when you must surf the Internet. Log off when the alarm sounds.
- Work Faster, Smarter: Eight Keyboard Shortcuts.
Whether itis a speedy way to create a bar chart or a trick for switching from one window to the next, keyboard shortcuts can help even power users knock out work faster. As you find more, add them to your Work Faster and Smarter document. Here are ten favorites:
- Create a simple bar chart within a set of data in Excel by pressing F11 in any cell.
- Switch from one window to the next with Alt-Tab.
- Use F4 to repeat your last action. It is definitely a time-saver in Microsoft Word. Say you are changing the font in certain areas of a document. Once you change the first section, you can highlight the next section and simply use your F4 command to copy the changes.
- Move to another page quickly with the F5 key, which brings up the Go To box.
- Take advantage of the shortcut power of macros. Example: You like only one space after the end of a sentence, but many documents come to you with two spaces. Create a macro to take care of that.
- Control the appearance of text. Examples: Ctrl + Shift + < to decrease font size one point at a time, and Ctrl + Shift + > to increase font size one point at a time.
- Make up your own shortcuts with ShortKeys Lite. (Other similar software: AutoHotkey and Keyboard Express.) Say you have to enter the same paragraph or contract section in many documents. By assigning a shortcut key to them, you can quickly move from one document to another.
- Lock your keyboard with Windows Key + L; minimize your screen with Windows Key + M.
- Outlook Basics can help you to manage your days. Review Technology and Tools with notes to help you learn how to create the following:
- E-mail management – creating folders and setting rules are two tools that can help you organize and prioritize your emails.
- Calendar management – setting an appointment and updating and deleting an appointment are some basic calendar features to help you stay organized.
- Task management – entering tasks in Outlook can create an electronic “to do” list. Tasks can also be color coded to help prioritize or categorize them. You can also flag emails and move them to your task list to help you remember to respond to them.
- Don’t Let Technology Replace Relationships. If you are anything like me, you reach for your smartphone as soon as you wake up to check email and respond to texts. The rest of the day, you are constantly on a tablet, mobile device, laptop or desktop for personal or professional use. You are entering data, messaging, browsing, friending, tweeting and sharing. It is great we have the technology to connect with people instantly but there is also a sense of disconnection. The question is “How does technology affect human relationships?”
- Conversations Lack Context: Almost all of us have felt at one time or another “My biggest problem with technology and relationships is the inability to detect tone. You can never really know when someone is being sarcastic, funny, not funny, serious or joking.” How many times do we wonder what someone meant by their words—whether on social media, in a text or over email. Unless you see a person’s face, hear their voice and understand the environment, you have no idea the context surrounding the written words. Misunderstandings, miscommunications and assumptions result, which have an impact on how we view others.
- Online Contact Falls Short on Empathy: As a corollary to the context issue, there is an utter lack of empathy when using technology to interact with others. “I am so sorry your ___ died” or “I heard you lost your job; I feel for you.” Where is the compassion and solidarity with loss? It certainly does exist within the soul of the person who texted, posted or emailed this – but words do not convey that.
- Technology Fails to Deliver Essential Personal Touch: Sometimes you just need a hug, a handshake or a pat on the back. Once in a while, you might get “stickers” and “emojis” on social media. The thumbs up symbol or smiley face are cute, but it does not necessarily make you feel a personal connection with the poster. Do you use technology to pet your dog or cat? Not likely, because they could not care less. Sometimes we fail to realize that, as humans, we are also animals that need personal touch.
- Tech Overload Leads to Cocooning: Technology has become an electronic addiction for some, taking them out of the physical world as they cling to the features it offers. And like many addictions, there is an impact on the number and quality of human relationships. Conversations through social media and email take the place of traditional interactions and discussions; eventually, a person does not even need to leave the house to communicate with others – and many people will not. The cocooning phenomenon leads to social isolation that can be crippling for some.
- Etiquette. For transferring information efficiently, technology is excellent. For transacting emotionally sensitive or satisfying connections, it is not. Even when we are careful to use the technology to only exchange information, problems can still arise. People tend to delay answering emails when they do not have what they consider to be good answers or when they want to avoid whatever responsibility the email demands of them. But this is like being asked a question in person and rather than responding, “I do not know” or “I will have to think about it,” turning on your heels and walking away in silence. It is far easier to ignore an email sender’s request than a request from someone made in person because an email sender’s hope to get a response or frustration in not receiving one remains mostly invisible. But it is every bit as rude. A few common sense rules for the electronic world are:
- Do not say anything on email you would feel uncomfortable saying to someone in person. If it needs saying but feels awkward, do it in person. Look upon it as practice for handling confrontation maturely. Take steps to monitor yourself carefully. If you find yourself tempted to behave like a boor, step away from your keyboard.
- Do not delay your response to messages you would rather avoid. If someone has reached out to you, they care about your response.
- Relationships are affected by online communication. It is much easier to injure relationships online than in person because of the ease of creating misunderstandings electronically. Non-verbal communication (argued by some to represent up to 40% of our in-person communication), after all, is completely absent. Be careful how you word every electronic message you send, in whatever context. Remember that every message you send becomes a permanent part of your brand.
- Balance time with technology with time spent with co-workers, friends and family. It may seem too obvious to mention, but it feels qualitatively different to go out to lunch or dinner with co-workers or friends than to just spend several days engaged in back-and-forth email exchanges. So much communication and meaning is lost in the latter. And our effect on one another is much more intense when we meet in person. When a co-worker or friend is going through a rough time, nothing substitutes for in-person communication. A gentle smile or a heartfelt hug has far more power than the cleverest emoticon to lift another person’s spirits.
- Reduce your stress through time management and organization.
- Time Management – Schedule (but do not over-schedule), list, and prioritize tasks.
- Plan each day. Planning your day can help you accomplish more and feel more in control of your life. Write a to-do list, putting the most important tasks at the top. Keep a schedule of your daily activities to minimize conflicts and last-minute rushes.
- Prioritize your tasks. Time-consuming, but relatively unimportant tasks can consume a lot of your day. Prioritizing tasks will ensure that you spend your time and energy on those that are truly important to you.
- Say no to nonessential tasks. Consider your goals and schedule before agreeing to take on additional work.
- Take the time you need to do a quality job. Doing work right the first time may take more time up front, but errors usually result in time spent making corrections, which takes more time overall.
- Practice the ten-minute rule. Work on a dreaded task for ten minutes each day. Once you get started, you may find you can finish it.
- Evaluate how you are spending your time. Keep a diary of everything you do for three days to determine how you are spending your time. Look for time that can be used more wisely.
- Take a break when needed. Too much stress can derail your attempts at getting organized. When you need a break, take one. Take a walk. Do some quick stretches at your workstation. Take a day of vacation to rest and re-energize.
- Organization – Make a place for work and personal tasks in your schedule. Plan daily for short-term goals and plan weekly or longer for larger goals. Organize your physical space. There is a direct relationship between clutter and stress; more of one causes more of the other. When you are surrounded by piles, it is hard to relax, to feel at peace, to be contented with your living or working environment.
- The Truth about Time Management. Simply, making the most of your time and energy every day!
The accuracy of this CSQuest article is up to date as of March 13, 2025