Welcome to Administrative Arts!
Administrative Arts is the blog for administrative professionals. Whether you are just starting out in your clerical career or are a seasoned Executive Assistant, you’ll find tips and tricks here to help you manage your ever changing jobs and duties. Topics will include everything from time management to using Outlook effectively to how to keep your boss happy when she’s traveling. So sit back with your favorite cup of coffee and browse.
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Casual Friday: LibraryThing
Hooray! It’s Friday again, and we have survived yet another week!
Gearing up for the weekend, I introduce you to:
LibraryThing
At LibraryThing, you can catalog all of your books, share your book lists, review books, and explore the lists of others who like the same books. Trust me, you can spend the entire weekend there and not get bored, assuming you’re a bibliophile like me.
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Using Tabs to Align Text
In my previous post, I told you why using the space key to align text doesn’t work well. Today, I will show you how to use tabs to align your text properly, giving your documents the professional look your boss expects.
In the upper right corner of your Word window, where the left and top rules meet, you’ll see the tab setter
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The tab setter by default is the one shown, which is the left align tab. It aligns text on the left wherever you set the tab.
The other tab possibilities are:
The Right Align tab aligns text on the right wherever the tab is set.
The Center Align tab centers text at the point of the tab.
The Decimal Align tab aligns by decimal point. This one is handy when you want to put a column of aligned monetary amounts in a document.
The Bar Tab doesn’t actually align text. Rather, it inserts a vertical bar at the point of the tab. This is a good way to put a vertical bar in the text without using a drawing tool.
To set a tab, all you need to do is click on the selector in the upper left corner until the type of tab you want to set shows, and then click where you want the tab on the toolbar. If you have text already typed that you want to align, highlight the text and then set the tab. Below is a screen shot showing the different tabs in use. Click on the thumbnail to see it full size. I’ve left formatting on so you can see where the tabs are inserted.
Remember, your boss is judged by the quality of correspondence with her name on it. Make your documents stand out from the crowd by their quality and polish.
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Sorry for the brief hiatus
But I’m back now after much drama both at work and at home. It’s amazing how everything can hit the fan at the same time, isn’t it?
Expect much […] Continue Reading…
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A Picture is Worth….
worth1000.com
This website features contests for PhotoShop artists. Even if you have no artistic talent, you’ll enjoy checking out the work of others. There’s really some stunning imagery here.
Have a […] Continue Reading…
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Make Your Documents Cleaner
One thing that I see over and over again, even from experienced Administrative Assistants, is badly aligned text. It might not look that bad on screen, but once […] Continue Reading…
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Understanding formatting in Microsoft Word
One question I often get from other Administrative Assistants is how to figure out why a document is doing something strange. Most of the time I find out […] Continue Reading…
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The Key to Problem Solving
Often as an Administrative Assistant, you are called upon to solve problems. Problems for you boss, problems for your coworkers, problems for clients. The mark of a really great […] Continue Reading…
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Keeping a Time Log
Over at Laughing All the Way to Work, Patricia wrote a very good post on how to prepare for your annual evaluation.
I’ve found that many times, my bosses don’t […] Continue Reading…
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Sharing Your Distribution Lists
The Professional Assistant had a great post on setting up distribution lists. But what about when you want to share that distribution list with another person? Here’s how you […] Continue Reading…
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For the Boss: Keeping Your Personal Life Private
In this day of shared calendars, it can be hard to keep your personal life private. No matter how much you trust your administrative assistant, you just want […] Continue Reading…
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