Simplifying workflow in Windows
Discussion
Hi all - in all likelihood, I'm going to get zero responses to this, but I just thought I would try and see if I can find any inspiration here.
Basically, I'm wondering if anyone has managed to seriously simplify and streamline their workflow in Windows?
To give some context, I work for a large firm, and deal with a constant influx of data and information which is needed to do the job, but is basically impossible to hold in my brain because there is simply too much of it and it changes too often.
I guess my goal is to have one central place thats easily accessible that I can find *everything* by just searching (via a text search of by browsing). The closest I've found so far is a Start Menu replacement like OpenShell but to be honest it takes quite some setting up, even then its far from perfect. The standard Win10 Start Menu doesn't cut it at all for me, it's good for simple searches and app launches but falls over quickly with anything more complex.
What I've ended up with is about half a dozen places to look for things and its very inefficient. However, external factors are out of my control so I have to try and tame the amount of data I get into a solution that works for me.
I have implemented some techniques, but I remain somewhat unsatisfied by it, so I'm just wondering what others do. Perhaps my system is as good as it gets, but I'm sure others have come up with ideas that I've not heard about before.
To give you an idea of some of the things I've tried:-
Emails:
I've set up Quick Steps to file emails into specific folders in Outlook and categorise them - it helps keep my inbox tidy but it still requires constant attention to keep it way.
I have emails I repeatedly send. To cope with these, I save them to my Documents folder and pin them to the Outlook icon on the taskbar for quick access. However, this fills up pretty quick, then its best to just search the documents folder for them, but these are extra steps. I found using email templates in Outlook very clunky so I don't bother. Alternatively I could use my Clipboard tool (see below).
Documentation:
Sometimes we get emailed attachments, which is easy enough to file in my Documents.
However, others are live documents (changed regularly) in SharePoint. I can of course put shortcuts in the Documents folder, which works, but if I want to search using the start menu, it wont find .url shortcuts unless I add them to the Start Menu folders themselves, which is extra work which isn't desirable.
I also save things in OneNote, but again, its just somewhere else to look on top of my emails, documents folder and now this, as well as the online knowledge bases. Sometimes I wonder if I should consolidate everything into here but its clunky, susceptible to corruption and just another thing to maintain.
I also have Sticky Notes - but as you can see, I now have half a dozen places to look for something.
I could put desktop shortcuts onto the desktop, but I hate having a cluttered desktop, and they often just get moved around when I dock/undock/whenever windows feels like it
Clips:
I tried managing with the built in Win10 search history but frankly its rubbish, so I use ClipClip instead, which allows me to save clips and paste them at any time, which has a built in search tool. I can't think of anything better than this at the minute, it's a very useful tool.
Any inspiration. Boring topic I know, but anything that can help me be more efficient is a big boon in my job. I feel like I am quite close but due to the sheer amount of stuff I get, and weaknesses with the Windows OS, I'm not quite there yet.
Basically, I'm wondering if anyone has managed to seriously simplify and streamline their workflow in Windows?
To give some context, I work for a large firm, and deal with a constant influx of data and information which is needed to do the job, but is basically impossible to hold in my brain because there is simply too much of it and it changes too often.
I guess my goal is to have one central place thats easily accessible that I can find *everything* by just searching (via a text search of by browsing). The closest I've found so far is a Start Menu replacement like OpenShell but to be honest it takes quite some setting up, even then its far from perfect. The standard Win10 Start Menu doesn't cut it at all for me, it's good for simple searches and app launches but falls over quickly with anything more complex.
What I've ended up with is about half a dozen places to look for things and its very inefficient. However, external factors are out of my control so I have to try and tame the amount of data I get into a solution that works for me.
I have implemented some techniques, but I remain somewhat unsatisfied by it, so I'm just wondering what others do. Perhaps my system is as good as it gets, but I'm sure others have come up with ideas that I've not heard about before.
To give you an idea of some of the things I've tried:-
Emails:
I've set up Quick Steps to file emails into specific folders in Outlook and categorise them - it helps keep my inbox tidy but it still requires constant attention to keep it way.
I have emails I repeatedly send. To cope with these, I save them to my Documents folder and pin them to the Outlook icon on the taskbar for quick access. However, this fills up pretty quick, then its best to just search the documents folder for them, but these are extra steps. I found using email templates in Outlook very clunky so I don't bother. Alternatively I could use my Clipboard tool (see below).
Documentation:
Sometimes we get emailed attachments, which is easy enough to file in my Documents.
However, others are live documents (changed regularly) in SharePoint. I can of course put shortcuts in the Documents folder, which works, but if I want to search using the start menu, it wont find .url shortcuts unless I add them to the Start Menu folders themselves, which is extra work which isn't desirable.
I also save things in OneNote, but again, its just somewhere else to look on top of my emails, documents folder and now this, as well as the online knowledge bases. Sometimes I wonder if I should consolidate everything into here but its clunky, susceptible to corruption and just another thing to maintain.
I also have Sticky Notes - but as you can see, I now have half a dozen places to look for something.
I could put desktop shortcuts onto the desktop, but I hate having a cluttered desktop, and they often just get moved around when I dock/undock/whenever windows feels like it
Clips:
I tried managing with the built in Win10 search history but frankly its rubbish, so I use ClipClip instead, which allows me to save clips and paste them at any time, which has a built in search tool. I can't think of anything better than this at the minute, it's a very useful tool.
Any inspiration. Boring topic I know, but anything that can help me be more efficient is a big boon in my job. I feel like I am quite close but due to the sheer amount of stuff I get, and weaknesses with the Windows OS, I'm not quite there yet.
Mr Pointy said:
It might help if you gave some idea of what your work entails. Is it project based for instance or maybe sales or creative?
It’s IT but in a very large organisation with a lot of different processes. Most of the stuff I am talking about is basically just various procedure and process documents, but they are often served to you in different ways. Some stuff is just documents, other sharepoint links, intranet links and so on.I just want one place to look to find everything, no matter where it may be stored.
After tying myself in knots for years with this problem, I use the following approach:
Email:
1) 'Inbox' to be cleared daily into either:
1a) An 'actioned' folder. Single folder, if it's a task which will take 2 mins or less, complete the action, move and forget. If it's something which I may need to prove completion, I sometimes bcc myself and move to the folder. Have been let down by sent items before.
1b) A 'do or save' folder.
Nested sub-folders, nested as far down as required. For example:
- Audits
-- In progress (current year).
--- Respond
--- Complete
-- Closed
--- 2012
--- 2013
--- 2014
--- 2015
--- 2016
Documents and Data:
2) Whether on network storage or an intranet repository, I have high level folders which correspond to the top-level folders in the 'do or save' folder. If I know I'm going to receive a lot of correspondence, I'll set the structure up and file emails to Outlook and anything I need to retain (unless of course it's something sent to me in error - e.g., un-encrytped where it should have been).
I have tried to apply flags and rules, but I find that when things get re-directed without me directly 'triaging', I can overlook important things.
Even typing this out, I feel my adenoid twitching. This does all sound incredibly dull, but (like most of us I'm sure) I receive ridiculous amounts of email. Keeping on top of my inbox and filtering everything same day is the only way I have managed to prevent email taking over.
Email:
1) 'Inbox' to be cleared daily into either:
1a) An 'actioned' folder. Single folder, if it's a task which will take 2 mins or less, complete the action, move and forget. If it's something which I may need to prove completion, I sometimes bcc myself and move to the folder. Have been let down by sent items before.
1b) A 'do or save' folder.
Nested sub-folders, nested as far down as required. For example:
- Audits
-- In progress (current year).
--- Respond
--- Complete
-- Closed
--- 2012
--- 2013
--- 2014
--- 2015
--- 2016
Documents and Data:
2) Whether on network storage or an intranet repository, I have high level folders which correspond to the top-level folders in the 'do or save' folder. If I know I'm going to receive a lot of correspondence, I'll set the structure up and file emails to Outlook and anything I need to retain (unless of course it's something sent to me in error - e.g., un-encrytped where it should have been).
I have tried to apply flags and rules, but I find that when things get re-directed without me directly 'triaging', I can overlook important things.
Even typing this out, I feel my adenoid twitching. This does all sound incredibly dull, but (like most of us I'm sure) I receive ridiculous amounts of email. Keeping on top of my inbox and filtering everything same day is the only way I have managed to prevent email taking over.
Edited by PSB1 on Monday 6th April 23:10
Edited by PSB1 on Monday 6th April 23:11
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