Sometimes I get carried away with templates. If I’m procrastinating, I’ll design a template and take the time to think through the necessary steps to complete a task. If I’m ready to work, I’ll complete the task and then take the time to design a template around what I did. I’m not sure which is the better method, but I know if I have a clean template I’ll most likely finish the task again next time.
Benefits of a template
Templates are embedded with prompts to guide you through the task. It could be a checklist, a sample script, questions or phrases, or fill-in the blanks to enter information… It all depends on your needs and what it takes for you to get the job done.
One major thing I look for in a template is keeping everything in one document instead of having multiple documents to switch back and forth from. Especially when it comes to recurring tasks like writing a timesheet, a blog post (like this one), or adding to a project (like a presentation or training).
Download this free Supervision Agenda template in the Resource Library when you subscribe:
Pretty much anything you do can become a template, like a paper flowers (stencils), financial budget (spreadsheet), or a report (word document). Whatever the task, think of the best platform for your needs. Today I’ll specifically share with you how I use Google Docs.
Google Docs
There’s 3 reasons why I often choose Google Docs over Microsoft Office:
URL links
Outline panel
Collaboration opportunities
With that said, I don’t solely use Google Docs. I also use Microsoft Word and Adobe Indesign for my documentation needs, but I’ll save that conversation for another day.
Here are the reasons you need Google Docs in your life:
URL links
Each Google Doc has a unique URL address with different levels of sharing capabilities. This is really helpful with recurring tasks when you need quick access to the documents without having to click through a ton of folders.
If you’ve got a digital calendar like iCal or Google Calendar, set up a recurring appointment and attach the link, like so:
This way, when it’s time to revisit the document, you can click directly from your calendar and get started.
I use the same concept with my project management system, Asana. The only difference is it’s integrated with Google Drive so I just have to attach the file. It works exactly like a URL link, and I attach it to my recurring Asana tasks. No worries if you don’t use Asana. Many other management systems also integrate with Google Drive.
Need examples of recurring tasks? Here are a few of my tasks using Google Docs:
Presentations: plan, outlines, and scripts
Supervision Meetings: time log, agenda, action plans
Blogging: schedule, outline, draft/edit
Here are a few of my tasks using Google Sheets:
Weekly Schedule: reviewing tasks and appointments for the week, block scheduling
Payroll and Taxes: weekly payroll, monthly tax deposits
Outline Panel
Templates
The outline panel is a HUGE productivity hack. Go to view // show document outline. This panel on the left side allows me to navigate to any place within the document. To control the outline titles, go to the dropdown “Normal text” and utilize the heading 1, heading 2, heading 3, etc. option styles.
Need examples of headings? Here are a few of my outline titles in Google Docs:
Dates: supervision agenda, blogging
Slides: presentation slide numbers, outline
Prompts
Each outline heading will take me to a template with embedded prompts. With recurring tasks, you don’t want to start with a blank document. Think about all the things you need to get the task done and set up your prompts as fill-in-the-blanks.
For example, my supervision document needs the date, duration, agenda (outline), and plan of action.
Here’s what it looks like filled out:
To create this template, I click insert // table and format the table to remove the outlines (0px border width). Then I shade in the areas to be filled out.
Collaboration
Lastly, Google Docs allows you to share the document with anyone, even if the other person doesn’t have a Google account. You can make it as restrictive or public as you need it to be.
For the supervision agenda, I share the document with my supervisee, and they are responsible for setting the agenda week to week. I’ll set up a recurring task to review the agenda the day before and of course have the URL attached.
Another example is editing. I am not the strongest writer, so I’ll have my editor (aka my husband) correct my grammatical errors.
I love the ability to add comments and even have conversations through the comment feature.
Like I mentioned earlier, templates can take any shape or form. Customize them to your own needs by creating your own workflow with them. To help you out, I’m adding my Supervision Template to the free Resource Library. You can see how I lay things out and how you can create your own.
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