Tips & tricks

Todoist: priority and due date right in the task text

Q

Type “p1” and the task turns red, “tomorrow 9am” and it gets a due date. Quick Add understands it all in one line.

The Todoist Inbox: everything goes in, sort it out later

Ideas and tasks drop into your Inbox without a second thought about where they belong. Once a day, you empty it — into projects, or into the trash.

A distraction blocker: stronger than your willpower

Apps like Cold Turkey or Freedom block chosen websites for a set period. Decide once, and it holds for the whole morning.

Anki: learn in half the time with spaced repetition

Flashcards with an algorithm that quizzes you right when you're about to forget. For languages, exams, and professional knowledge alike.

Obsidian: the command palette controls everything from the keyboard

Ctrl+P

Ctrl+P finds every command — switching modes, inserting a template, exporting. No need to memorize shortcuts.

Obsidian: [[links]] weave your notes into a network

Double square brackets create a link to another note — and backlinks show you where it's referenced from.

Obsidian: the daily note as a safety net for your day

One place where you dump notes, ideas, and links all day long. Sort it out in the evening — or don't; search will still find it.

Templates in Notion databases: a new entry, pre-filled

A record template pre-fills the structure — meeting notes, task briefs, client profiles. Set it up once, use it forever.

One database, many views: no more copying

The same tasks as a table, a kanban board, and a calendar. Notion views filter and display one dataset differently — nothing gets duplicated.

Align objects with the tool, not by eye

Select objects and let PowerPoint align and space them evenly. The difference between an amateur slide and a clean one.

Slide Master: change the font everywhere at once

View → Slide Master controls the look of the whole presentation from one place — fonts, colors, logos.

Copying formatting: Ctrl+Shift+C and V

Ctrl+Shift+C

The format painter has a keyboard version — copy the look of one element and stamp it onto the next.

Notion: Ctrl+P jumps to any page

Ctrl+P

Quick search finds a page by title and by content. In a growing workspace, it's the only navigation that makes sense.

Notion: the slash inserts anything

/

The / key opens the block menu — headings, tables, reminders, columns. Notion's core control.

Presenter view: notes only you can see

The projector shows slides; on your laptop you see notes, a timer, and a preview of the next slide.

PowerPoint: Shift+F5 starts the show from the current slide

Shift+F5

F5 runs from the beginning, Shift+F5 from wherever you are. Priceless when you're fine-tuning a single slide.

The B key while presenting: black out the screen, get attention

B

Pressing B during a slideshow blacks out the screen — the audience turns to you. W does the same with white.

Ctrl+Shift+V: paste without formatting works everywhere

Ctrl+Shift+V

In Docs, Gmail, and most web apps, it pastes plain text without foreign fonts and colors.

Google Docs offline: keep working without a connection

One checkbox in Drive settings and your documents open even on the train. Changes sync once you're back online.

Shift+F3: change letter case without retyping

Shift+F3

Caps Lock stuck on by accident? Select the text and Shift+F3 cycles between lowercase, Title Case, and UPPERCASE.

Word without distractions: Focus mode

View → Focus hides the ribbons and leaves just the page. Writing without visual noise.

Find and Replace in Word: more than just text

Ctrl+H

Ctrl+H can also replace formatting, double spaces, and paragraph marks. Cleaning up a whole document in a few clicks.

Google Docs: @ inserts people, dates, and templates

Type @ and insert a mention of a coworker, a date, a checklist, or a whole meeting template. The fastest way to structured documents.

Voice typing in Google Docs

Ctrl+Shift+S

Ctrl+Shift+S starts dictation — in English, free, right in the browser. Ideal for rough first drafts.

Word: heading styles instead of manual bold text

Heading 1 and Heading 2 aren't just about looks — they power the navigation pane, an automatic table of contents, and chapter collapsing.

Checkboxes in Google Sheets: a checklist in under a minute

Insert → Checkbox turns a range of cells into an interactive list — and you can attach formatting and formulas to it.

Version history: who changed what, and when

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H

Google Sheets and Docs save every single change. Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H opens a timeline — and you can revert to any point.

Google Sheets: filtering that doesn't wreck your teammates' view

A filter view filters data just for you — everyone else in the shared sheet sees everything unchanged.

Text to Columns: Split a CSV Export Apart

Data separated by commas or semicolons crammed into one column? The Text to Columns wizard splits it correctly.

Paste Values Only: Formulas Out, Numbers Stay

Ctrl+Alt+V

Ctrl+Alt+V opens Paste Special — paste results without formulas, formats without content, or transpose a table.