Instantly more productive

I’d read about this feature for a long time and pretty much ignored it. I just didn’t have a need for it.

Until yesterday.

On Sundays, there are three big tasks to do around here. First, I write a post for Monday morning. Second, I write a post summarising my previous week and schedule it for five pm on Sunday afternoon. Third, I have a Google Spreadsheet where I record all of the blog authors, their blog post, and a bunch of other details from the Friday “This Week in Ontario Edublogs” post.

The third one is really just tedious information. It’s a matter of copying and pasting information from the actual blog post and the planning document into the spreadsheet. I’ve done it so many times that I could probably do it in my sleep. Some of the information is unique to each post and other information is the same like the URL to my Friday post.

For years, I’ve mastered the skill of CTRL+C and CTRL+V for copying and pasting. Since there are a number of things to be moved in this manner, it dawned on me that what I had been reading and ignoring actually had a place in the routine.

It’s a feature that’s been in Windows 10 and 11 and I just didn’t see a need to try and it was only a key away.

You’ve been using Windows cut and paste all wrong

The CTRL+C part was good but it was replacing CTRL+V with Windows key + V. Instead of just pasting, it gives access to the copying history where I already had the information I needed just sitting in memory. It seems like a simple thing and, until I actually tried it, I had ignored it. Since It cut out switching back to another document, it was a time saver. I didn’t realise how much of a time-saver until I finished the task so quickly.

The next step seemed natural and that was if Windows Key + V was magic, what about Windows Key + C. That is a Windows key combination but didn’t do what I could use.

I read a lot of these types of article and sit down and try them out. Previous to this, I knew of it but it didn’t change my routine until I actually found a purpose for it. It’s now part of my routine and will make me just that much more productive every Sunday.