Work Smarter: Put Your Mouse On The Left Of The Keyboard

A. Well, I’m biased. I, too, am a lefty and have always kept my mouse on the left side. However, I do it not because I’m left-handed, but because I’ve experimented and find the left to be a more efficient location. Just look at the keyboard: When the mouse is on the left side, the hand has a shorter distance to travel between the keyboard and the mouse, reducing the risk of carpel tunnel syndrome. But with the mouse on the right side, the hand has to jump over the numeric keypad to get to the mouse.

There’s research to prove it. According to New Scientist magazine, researchers in Canada asked 27 right-handed volunteers to place their mouse on the left for a month. The volunteers were able to adjust easily and could handle all computing tasks using much smaller movements. They also found it improved their posture during work because they didn’t have to stretch as far. In fact, of the 27 volunteers, 16 decided to stay with the left-handed placement after the experiment ended.

Exception : If you’re a heavy user of the numeric keypad, you may find it’s better to keep the mouse on the right-hand side.

A. Before I tell you how to get each drop-down menu to display all its icons, you should be aware of the various toolbar features available. You can make each toolbar category display all of its functions, which looks like the screenshot below.

Or you can format each category to display only those functions you commonly use. Windows monitors which functions you use most and will display an abbreviated menu tailored to your needs, which could look like this:

If you opt for an abbreviated menu, you have two further options: Either the full menu will drop down a few seconds after the abbreviated menu opens or it will drop down only if you click on the double arrows at the bottom of the menu.

To set any of these defaults, click on Tools , Customize and then on the Options tab, producing this screen:

If you want the full menu, place a check in Always show full menus . If you want Windows to display only your commonly used icons, leave it unchecked. But notice that when that box is not checked, you have the option to place a check next to Show full menus after a short delay . Notice, too, you have the option to reset your saved usage data by clicking on Reset menu and toolbar usage data . These menu options work in all Office applications.

A. Your partners are right. Using the Internet for internal messaging on a network is like using a 747 to commute five miles. Since you’re already on an office network, you’re part of the way to the solution, which is to use peer-to-peer (P2P) technology, where each of your computers is set up to talk to the others without going through the Internet.

What you need is P2P messaging software. One small but versatile program is SnapMail, which you can set up in just a few minutes. SnapMail is a cross-platform (which means it lets Windows and Macintosh computers talk to each other) private messaging and file-transfer utility. It instantly handles interoffice messages and can send files, reminders and alerts to anyone on your network (see screenshot below).

Because all interoffice communications remain inside your network, the system is less exposed to viruses and junk mail and there is no danger of one of your confidential messages going astray over the Internet. The program also can send what it calls “Snaps”—reminders or alerts (such as “Your lawyer is on the phone”) that pop up on recipients’ screens—and preconfigured “SnapBacks” (responses such as “Take a message for me”).

You also can configure SnapMail to work with remote offices not on your local network. Although obviously such messages must be transmitted via the Internet, SnapMail encrypts them safely.

The price is $69 for two users or $249 for 10. For more information go to www.glassbead.com .

A. To do that you’ll want to create a hyperlink between a spreadsheet cell and a separate document containing the detailed explanation, and then display the text directly from the spreadsheet with a mouse click; the document even could contain backup charts and other graphics.

Creating such a link is easy. First prepare your document in Word and copy it (Ctrl+C). Then switch to your spreadsheet and place your cursor on the target cell and right-click to evoke the menu below.

Click on Paste Special , and in the screen that emerges, click on Paste link , Hyperlink , Display as icon and finally on OK .

The hyperlink appears in Excel as a Word icon. Click on it to bring up the document.

However, many readers (too many to mention individually) suggested this simple work-around which is foolproof: Begin in the usual way by entering the addresses in Bcc , but before you send the e-mail, open the Message Options function ( Options , Message Options ) and place a check next to Have Replies sent to: and enter a reply address (preferably yours). Then, when any recipient clicks on Reply to All , only that e-mail address will appear in the To: area and only you will get that reply message.

Thanks to all who sent in solutions to this problem.

A. You’re right; graphics have a way of unexpectedly shifting around. But it’s not hard to get them to sit still. Both Word and Excel have a feature called Group in their graphics tools that can freeze the relative positions of graphics.

After you’ve placed your graphics in a document or spreadsheet, engage Group by opening the Drawing tool ( View , Toolbar , Draw ). Then select all the graphics you want frozen by holding down the Shift key while clicking on each image. Then click on Draw , which appears in the lower left-hand corner of your screen, and then on Group . If the word Group is dimmed out, that means you have failed to properly select the graphics you want to freeze.

You still can move the grouped graphics, but now they all will move together, maintaining their relative positions to each other. Later, if you want to ungroup them, click on them and select Ungroup from the Draw menu.

A. It’s not well-known, but the Find tool can handle the job quite well. All you have to do is dig a little deeper than Find’s opening screen. To launch Find , press Ctrl+F, which displays the Find and Replace dialog box. You may have to click on the Options button to evoke more of the searching options. Then, in the Find what box, enter the words you’re searching for and click on the arrow next to Look in until the Comments choice appears and click on Find Next .

Once you locate the target cell or cells, you must close the dialog box before you can display the comment.

Excel: Once you’ve worked hard to create a formula in Excel, wouldn’t it be nice if you could save it in a convenient workbook? Unfortunately, Excel lacks that ability. But you can copy formulas into a text file and then store the file on your desktop for instant reference.

Internet Explorer: Instead of using your mouse to move your cursor to the address bar to enter a URL, press Alt+D.

Windows: To quickly minimize several open files, click on the Show Desktop on the desktop toolbar or press the Windows key+D. Likewise, the fastest and easiest way to get to your desktop is to click on the Desktop icon, which looks like this:

If the icon is not in your taskbar, you can put it there by right-clicking on an empty space in the taskbar and then clicking on Toolbars and placing a check next to Quick Launch .

Word: To return immediately to the place in your text where you ended up during your last editing session, press Shift+F5 after you open the document.