An email signature that protects your time, and 15 other work hacks to simplify your day.

Anything that can get us through the workday with a bit more time, energy and sanity intact is a win in our books.

Which is exactly why a handy hack or 15 is just the ticket when we're staring down the barrel of another day that promises to be every bit as... work-filled... as the last.

From time savers to inbox management, here are 15 fab work hacks to simplify your day.

Watch: Work emails -Translated. Post continues below. 

How to sort out your monster of an inbox.

"Don't open an email if you can't respond on the spot."- Jessie. 

"I use my inbox as a to do list. Once it’s done, I file into a folder (I have lots of folders based on teams or subjects etc). So anything left in my inbox is outstanding." - Nicolle. 

"Set up inbox categories on email so you don't have to see ALL your emails at once, only the important ones. And on top of that, set up filters for certain emails so they filter in your other tabs." - Melody. 

"If I can't action something immediately then I mark it as 'unread' so I don't forget about it. So Slack messages, Instagram DM's, emails etc. all get marked as 'unread' if it's not something I can do right away and tick off my list." - Bridgette. 

"I sort my inbox into starred (to do), unread (to read) and then everything else." - Talia.

A great, thoughtful, email signature on the message I just read while excavating my cave of an inbox:

My working day may not be your working day.

Please don’t feel obliged to reply to this e-mail outside of your normal working hours.

— Anne Helen Petersen (@annehelen) March 2, 2021

How to stay organised at work. 

"Particularly relevant for part-timers where you may have a few days between work days – write your to-do list for your next work day at the end of the day so when you arrive at work the list is there and you don’t have to try and remember what you were doing or what your priority tasks are." - Danielle. 

"Google Keep, it's literally so handy. I never lose notes anymore because I also have Google Keep on the go (laptop, iPhone, pad) and can add any thoughts at any time to it. I love it." - Isobel. 

"Schedule in EVERYTHING. I live through my Google Calendar. Everything is in there. Work, home admin, sport, social etc." - Katie.

"One Note. It is amazing I have a paper free desk now and never pull out a notepad I use one note for everything from to-do to training guides to writing notes when on the phone. Also, you can Pinterest one note templates." - Angie. 

The shortcuts we wish we knew about sooner.

"Window button and the 'L' key locks your screen so when you walk away, no one can read your emails. It's a lot faster than clicking windows and then lock. I also use this at home when my cat is around to stop her from sending emails for me."- Sherry.

"If you're using a YouTube video link, add a hyphen in the address in the YouTube part (eg. yout-ube). It makes it just the video only, not other ads or links to other videos good for links for kids or during professional presentations." - Lana.

"Use 'ctrl' with your arrows and it skips whole words not just one letter, or down it skips paragraphs. Home and end takes you to the end or beginning of a line but 'ctrl' goes to the beginning or end of document. It sounds silly, but it saves time. 'Ctrl shift' and arrow selects stuff, just shift is one letter but 'ctrl' and 'shift' is as above." - Gina.

Other genius tips.

"Set your calendar preferences to 25 or 50 minute meetings so you have time to pee, drink and log in/move rooms. In Google Cal go to Event Settings - select 'speedy meetings'." - Hannah

"If you're wfh, buy or borrow an exercise bike and for the period that you'd normally be commuting to and from the office, ride the bike. This will accomplish three things: 1. It gives you a clear start and end to the working day. 2. It’s great exercise (working from home means we often miss out on all those little opportunities to move and it’s easy to become sedentary). 3. You’re not doing additional work during that time – it’s too easy to start blurring the lines between work hours and home hours essentially become being 'on call.'" - Ellie. 

"Record all of your wins, no matter how big or small – smashing a presentation, finishing a project, not losing it at a cranky client, remembering to drink enough water. I keep a small notebook on my desk just for this purpose. As a team, we then review these at the end of the week... Even if you don't do it as a team, reflect upon them yourself at the end of the week. It's a great way to finish up on a positive note. Normally we focus so much on all the things that went wrong, or we didn't do, that we forget all of the things that did go well!" - Ashleigh.

Do you know any other work hacks? Let us know in the comments below. 

This article was originally published in 2021, and has since been updated. 

Feature Image: Getty/Mamamia. 

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