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5 Ways to Improve Efficiency in Your Work Routine

Adapted from an article by Sadissa Babeni at sherweb.com

Office 365 and Microsoft 365 come with a full list of tools that will make you and your colleagues more productive! Because you’ve been using Office applications for many years, it’s easy to stick to the same old habits. For example, you’ve probably memorized all kinds of keyboard shortcuts. Once you’ve adapted to a changed interface, you’ll want to use your favorite application in the same familiar way. Instead of using applications in the same way you always have, check out these 5 ways you can improve efficiency in your everyday work routine!

1. Using your mouse as a laser pointer for better PowerPoint presentations
Use a simple keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+P) to turn your mouse into a laser pointer during your PowerPoint presentations. You can also use the Presenter Mode commands. This feature has been part of PowerPoint for years, but was recently integrated for touch-screen devices. If you hold your finger or stylus down on the device, the red button fake laser pointer will appear.

2. Turning OneNote items into Outlook calendar events
Convert notes to tasks inside your calendar and assign them to colleagues with reminders and deadlines. Send meeting minutes taken in OneNote by email and automatically add details (date, location, attendees,…) for each meeting they’re related to.

3. Editing and converting to PDF made easy
Finished editing your document, spreadsheet, presentation or publication? Converting it to a PDF is made simple with the Save as PDF integrated feature. If you want to edit a PDF, you can convert it into a Word document without the formatting issues that come with copy-pasting or editing.

4. Resume Reading your Word documents
The Resume Reading feature in Word allows you to pick up where you left off, even on different devices! Word automatically bookmarks the last page you were reading!

5. Reply in-line to email without opening it
Enable the Reading Pane in Outlook to reply to email without even opening it. The Reading Pane will allow you to preview the email content, hit Reply and send your response, in the same main Outlook window. Combine this feature with the Conversations View and you’ll see at a glance if you’ve already replied to an email. You won’t have to open different windows for each message.