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A very small but productive tip I though I'd share

by ASM Marketing
21 replies
Like many of you, I don't get excited about writing articles very often. So, I have been trying a really small change in my setup.

Here's what I do:

  • I create an 'article template' that serves as a pre-made guide for any articles I write. I save this in a folder that I call 'Articles' (funnily enough).
  • I then create a shortcut on my desktop by right-clicking as I've shown in the picture below: (Of course, Olga keeps the smile on my face whilst I do this )


  • At the prompt screen, I enter the path to Word (Or your text editor of choice). This is usually something like: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\WINWORD.EXE.

    Directly after this, you want to put the path to your article template in quotes. So in my case, it's "C:\WebTools\Articles\ArticleTemplate.dotx".

    You can find the path to both the software and template by finding them as you normally would, right-clicking and selecting properties.


  • Click OK and your shortcut is created!
  • Finally, move that shortcut in to the start-up folder so that when Windows loads, so does the template (which sure kicks your ass into gear). The start-up folder can be found by clicking 'Start > Program Files'.

And there you have it! This method has increased my productivity two-fold just by forcing the task in front of me from the off. Before I do ANYTHING, I bash out at least one good article, or several "filler" articles. Then I can read the news or do what I have to do.

And the great thing is that this isn't limited to just articles. You can set a shortcut to any program, and automatically load up any specific file by following the same procedure.

Note: Don't go crazy on this one, always account for the speed of your computer. I don't recommend auto-loading Final Cut Pro or similar heavy software!

I hope this helps you as it has helped me!

Alex

P.S You can download my own article template from the attachment below.
#productive #share #small #tip
  • Profile picture of the author JohnHuizinga
    I like that tip, thanks. I've used the technique of putting commonly used programs in the startup folder for my J.O.B. but not for IM yet.
    However, I have to admit I'd have trouble getting much work done with that desktop wallpaper.
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    • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
      Originally Posted by JohnHuizinga View Post

      However, I have to admit I'd have trouble getting much work done with that desktop wallpaper.
      And that might be another small but productive tip.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Sorry what was after Olga?
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    • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
      I DEMAND you remove my picture from your desktop immediately!

      Jill "Olga" Carpenter
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  • Profile picture of the author ASM Marketing
    Haha, perhaps I should have changed the background for the purpose of this example!

    I've found that I write on average around 15-25% more articles by using this method, so it's well worth giving it a go. I tend to write simple blog posts and filler content, and leave the proper articles to the great team at 'Need An Article'. This way I am consistently producing content whilst being able to focus on other stuff too.
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  • Profile picture of the author ASM Marketing
    Sure, what OS are you using? The example was on windows vista and I'm guessing it's similar on XP and even Win 2k.

    Macs are a different ball game, and someone else would need to advise you on how to do this on one of those
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  • Profile picture of the author ASM Marketing
    Just clarifying that I do not know how to repeat this function on Mac OSX so a pm doesn't make that fact any different!
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    • Profile picture of the author Todd Sampson
      Screw the article template, where is the download for that wallpaper?

      Seriously though, great idea. Thanks for the tip.

      wishing you success,
      Todd Sampson
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  • Profile picture of the author thewizard
    That's a pretty neat tip! Thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeStrides
    Alex, thanks for the seriously great tip!

    This idea of autoloading an article template is very useful. At one time, I used to autoload an email client. And I then used to wonder where the first two hours of my workday want!

    Mike
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  • Profile picture of the author Craig McPherson
    Top Tips
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  • Profile picture of the author kentaiwan98
    Wonder if the choice of the desktop image has anything to do with the productivity!
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  • Profile picture of the author TheDebtEliminator
    Thanks for the article template.

    Take care of Olga

    She need respect and attention and something else
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  • Profile picture of the author charlesburke
    Hey Alex, that is one great idea. I would never have thought of it on my own, since I use a text editor for writing all my online content. But your suggestion nudged me to try the same thing with my setup, and danged if it didn't work. Very cool.

    I just copied and pasted the text from your file into a text document and saved it as a NoteTab template. Next, I placed the template file into the Startup folder, just as you did.

    But that didn't work at first. I had forgotten to associate the .tpl file extension with NoteTab. Once I set that part right, though, it worked slick as butter on a doorknob.

    Most excellent, dude.

    Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,
    Charles
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  • Profile picture of the author Roger Mayne
    Great tip Olga, I mean Alex

    Any shortcuts like this help speed up daily tasks. I keep my desktop clean, but have shortcuts on a toolbar on my taskbar. Plus, I build small batch files to run regular tasks.

    All helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author Goatboy
    Okay, so the idea is that you will write the articles to get back to Olga?
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    • Profile picture of the author bthurman
      That is a great tip! Thanks so much.

      Bob
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      • Profile picture of the author Kamran
        I wonder if it is such a good tip, why is the OP banned?
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  • Profile picture of the author arnoldschwartz
    Thanks for the great tip
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  • Profile picture of the author IMBT
    Like the tip also.
    I think they meant to ban Olga!! lol
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