This is a running list of big girl/big boy extensions, tools, apps, and computer hacks that you should know as a brand new corporate employee. I’ll update this page frequently, so bookmark it!
The Incognito Tab
If you run out of “free” articles on gated content websites (i.e. The New York Times), simply open an incognito tab, copy and paste the article you’d like to read, and presto! You have more “free articles.”
Common Keyboard Shortcuts
You’re gonna be tasked with making the company slide deck, and you’re gonna mess up. Here are some common keyboard shortcuts to help ya out.
- CTRL + A (PC) or CMD + A (MAC) = Selects all text.
- CTRL + X (PC) or CMD + X (MAC) = Cuts the highlighted item/text.
- CTRL + C (PC) or CMD + C (MAC) = Copies the selected item/text.
- CTRL + V (PC) or CMD + V (MAC) = Paste the selected item/text.
- SHIFT + CTRL + V (PC) or SHIFT + CMD + V (MAC) = Paste the selected text without formatting.
- SHIFT + CMD + <–(MAC) = Put your cursor at the end of a text, and this command selects all the text on that row that comes before it.
- CTRL+ (left or right arrow) [PC] or OPT (left or right arrow) = Move one word to the left/right at a time.
I’m a mac gworl, so here are a few more mac keyboard shortcuts:
- CMD + SPACE = pulls up the “Spotlight Search.” Freely search your mac’s files.
- CTRL + (up, down, right, or left arrow) = Look through your currently open apps.
Get Your Writing in Order With AI-Powered Tools
We can’t all be master writers like Hemingway. But there are tools that will help you at least sound like you’ve got it together. Check out a few of my faves below:
- Hemingway App: Create concise sentences. This is really good for copywriters. Completely free.
- Grammarly: The OG grammar tool. Get the Google extension so that the app can check your mistakes sooner rather than later. Mostly free.
- Paper Rater: Uses AI to examine grammar, plagiarism, spelling check, and word choice analysis. Free tool!
- WordTune: Free-ish sentence rewriting tool that helps you clarify your writing. (You get 20 free sentence re-writes per day)
- Slick Write: Free proofreading tool
Text to Speech: A Tool That Reads to You
Listen I got in trouble for not reading company emails. Trust me, in the corporate world you get a ton of emails, and you may opt not to read a few too. Don’t get in trouble like me though. Pop your emails or any other lengthy texts into a platform that reads them to you. Problem solved. Here are two you can try:
Organization Apps That Organize Your Digital Bookmarks
Of course, everyone knows and loves (maybe hates?) Google’s Bookmarks feature. But if you need a bit more help organizing/ want more freedom when it comes to organizing then you should use:
- Bublup: Save emails, links, videos, images, and more with this robust organization app.
- Pocket: Store, share, and discover web bookmarks.
Know What the Heck is Going on In the World
Elevate your office small talk or even your business decisions just by simply knowing what’s going on in the world. Also, here’s a tip! Follow industry newsletters or websites that keep you up to date. Here’s how you can stay up to date:
- Morning Brew Newsletter
- LinkedIn Daily Rundown
- Twitter Trends
- New York Times International News
- CNN World News
Get a Burner Email
You’ll be asked to do competitor research, test to make sure something works, inquire about something, sign up for events, etc. Sometimes these things require you to input an email address and trust me the last thing you want is more emails. So, get a burner one.
Extra tip: Get in and get out. Don’t click on any of those spammy-looking ads.
Bookmark a Good Text Editor
Sometimes you don’t have time to figure out how to find the character count, change the text from lower to upper case, or invert the case. And if you have a deadline, you won’t even have time to learn the keyboard shortcut. In instances like this, you need a text editor. Here’s the one I use:
Quickly Make Gifs & Memes
This is helpful for all my professional creatives. Maybe you run social media or you’re putting together a deck for the company party. Whatever you’re tasked with, here’s how you can quickly make Gifs and Memes.
- Make Gifs with Giphy’s Capture App (Mac only, sorry)
- Make Memes with Meme Creator
Quickly pick out colors on a page
Trust me when I say having a good color copy tool will save your life! Especially if you’re still at it with those decks. Here’s the one I’ll go to bat for:
- ColorZilla’s Extension (Available for Chrome and Firefox)
YouTube Hacks Galore
- Youtube Video Downloads: Some youtube videos let you download the FULL videos for FREE. Just scroll down to the area where you like/dislike the video, and if the download is available, it’ll say “download”. For videos that don’t have that feature, you can use a Youtube to Mp3 downloader. (Google: Youtube to MP3 and click the link that says “YouTube to Mp3 Music Converter”. Don’t tell anyone I sent you).
- Copyright Free Music: YouTube has an audio library full of copyright-free music.
- Background Music for Work: People create 24/7 streams and videos just for background music/sounds. Find one that suits your style. Here are a few: Pomodoro Method Playlist; Lofi Music Stream.
- Access A Youtube Video’s Script: Chopping a Youtube video for social or repurposing a Youtube video? You can quickly grab Youtube Video Scripts. Locate the “like button” then find the three dots next to the button. From there, you should see an option that says, “Show Transcript.” And there ya go!
WHAT’S NEXT?
Check out more career resources from Breakroom Buddha below!
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