Three Easy Everyday Time Savers

As we all strive to be more productive during the workday, there are a few simple habits that can save us significant time. While these ideas may not seem revolutionary, I urge you to give them a try before dismissing them.

First is Calendly, which B2B software review site Capterra.com rates at 4.7-out-of-5 stars and describes as “the world’s #1 scheduling tool.” While you may already have a good scheduling system with your coworkers, Calendly is the best method I’ve found for scheduling meetings with external parties, something that can take a lot of time if you’re going back and forth on email or voicemail.

Calendly works by sending a link to your calendar, allowing the recipient to select an open time slot that suits them, with various meeting length and mode options, including Zoom, Teams video, phone call, in-person, etc. Based on their selection, that option is automatically configured for you and entered on both (and in the case of group meetings, all) calendars. And those calendar entries contain handy “cancel” and “reschedule” links, just in case.

Calendly considers your myriad calendars (I use a combination of Apple, Google, TripIt and other calendars) and shows your availability without revealing private details. It also lets you set buffer times between meetings and minimum notice intervals (e.g., not less than 24 hours in advance), resulting in efficient and hassle-free scheduling.

My second timesaver is called FollowUpThen.com (or any of its competitors, including Boomerang, SalesHandy, etc.). On a five-point scale, I rate it a “six.” Whenever you’re engaged in an email transaction (AKA constantly…when sending a Calendly link – see above, sending a client proposal or otherwise requesting something), how do you make sure that you don’t lose the transaction?

Everybody else is just as overwhelmed with their inboxes as we are.

Case in point: Hertz once charged me for gas even though I had refilled the tank. $28.55 for less than 3 gallons of gas is highway robbery I tell you! After Googling the process…

BREAKING NEWS: We interrupt this column to talk about the next one. I find myself Googling a lot less oftenin favor of the new, AI-based chat engines. In just a few short months, my go-to choice for answering questions and doing research (among many other things) has become ChatGPT, followed by Bing Chat. Whether Google’s “Bard” will win me back to its ecosystem is now anybody’s guess. Read all about it and other AI topics in next month’s issue.

… I emailed Hertz to ask for a refund. But what if they don’t respond? I don’t want to forget about this and let them abscond with my hard-earned cash.

While one could add such things to a to-do list, that would take extra time. Instead, next time you engage in any email transaction, in the BCC field specify an interval such as 3days@followupthen.com. In that case, 3 days later this amazing free service will remind you about the outstanding request. There’s nothing to install, there’s nothing to sign up for, there’s nothing to pay for … because it’s “just” an email address. It just works! You can learn more about it at FollowUpThen.com.

And third, this last idea is going to sound incredibly basic, but try it out and you’ll be amazed. To me, it’s the most useful of the three ideas. First, create a folder/directory called “Temp” (as in temporary). Second (most importantly), pin that Temp folder to the left column in Windows File Explorer or drag it to the left column in Mac Finder under “Favorites.”

Now, whenever you need to save a file temporarily, say to download and print it, or to perform some other transient action, you can do so with just one click (Mac) or two clicks (Windows), as your Temp folder will appear in the left sidebar when saving. This saves you time clicking through your folder structure during both save and retrieve actions. In addition, since you’re now placing all temporary files in the Temp folder, you can wipe it periodically to instantly declutter your computer.

While these ideas may seem basic, once you adopt them as habits, you’ll find yourself saving time multiple times a day. These tips can be transformative for your productivity and help you delight your brain with newfound efficiency.

Disclosure: This post was written in partnership with Bing Chat and ChatGPT. Be sure to read “Interactive” again next month to learn more!