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Every week brings task lists, emails, documents, and new jobs. How much of this is different from the job you’ve done? Odds are, maybe not much. A number of our day-to-day tasks are variants on something.
Do not reinvent the wheel every time you start something new. Use templates–as starting point for new 17, standardized files with formatting and text. As soon as you save a version of the template, just add, remove, or alter any data for that record that is exceptional, and you’ll have the job completed in a fraction of this time.
Templates work anywhere: in word processors, spreadsheets, project management apps, survey programs, and email. Here is how to use templates from your favorite apps–and to automatically generate documents from a template–so it’s possible to get your tasks done quicker.
Templates take time to construct, and it’s easy to wonder if they are worth the investment. The answer: absolutely. Editing a template requires much less time than formatting something from scratch. It’s the distinction between retyping it, or copying and pasting some text.
That is not the only advantage: Using a template means you are not as inclined to leave out key info, too. By way of example, if you want to send freelance writers a contributor arrangement, changing a standard contract template (rather than writing a new contract every time) ensures you won’t depart out the crucial clause regarding owning the content as soon as you’ve paid for this.
Templates also guarantee consistency. You send investors or clients regular project updates. With a template, you understand the update will have the formatting, design, and general structure.
How to Produce Fantastic Templates
Not many templates are created equal–and a few things do not need a template. Here are a couple of tips to follow.
First, templates must be comprehensive. So err on the side of including too rather than too little, it’s easier to delete information than add it in.
Imagine you are creating a template of your own resume. You would want to record details about your responsibilities and accomplishments, so you are going to have all the info you want to apply for any job.
You can delete less-important notes later on, but you might forget it if it is not from the template.
Some applications will automatically fill in all these variables for you (more on that in a bit). But should you need to fill in the information on your own, add some text that is easy and obvious to search for so it is possible to locate.