What if you could boost your productivity by 20%, just by installing a browser extension? Sounds crazy? It’s not. The guys at Google Labs created the Input Tools extension, which makes your life much easier, when dealing with non-latin languages and special characters that don’t appear on your keyboard, such as Russian letters and mathematical symbols. Let’s take a look at how it works and some of its hidden tricks, that will make you more efficient when working online! Top Secret Google Input Tools Tricks to Boost Your Productivity
Switch Between Languages
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One of my favorite features within GIT is that I can switch between languages in Chrome. I use both English and Spanish on a daily basis, and since I’ve started learning French in my free time, I find myself switching back and forth. While it takes me a few moments at first to remember how to type certain words or letters with my new language, it’s very convenient. Here’s how you do it: First, make sure you have multiple input languages installed (I currently have five). Then, go to Settings > Languages. Here you should see your available options—just click on one of them and then click Add if you want to add another one. You should be able to select up to three different languages for your keyboard!
Type Faster with Gestures
You’re probably already familiar with many of Chrome’s keyboard shortcuts—Ctrl-T opens a new tab, for example. These can save you seconds each time you use them, and over time that extra time adds up. But did you know there are also hidden gestures built into Chrome? To access these, enable input tools from your settings page. From there you can select any installed input tool and add gestures to it by clicking on its icon in your toolbar. For example, if you select Japanese (Google IME), you can then swipe right or left to switch between hiragana, katakana, and kanji characters. This is just one of many useful examples; try exploring all of your options!
Use Voice Typing
One of my favorite time-savers is using voice typing on a Chromebook. Instead of pecking away at a keyboard or hunting down an onscreen keyboard, I just talk and my text appears magically in Word, email or whatever else I happen to be working on. This is possible because I’ve set up voice typing through Chrome OS settings (Settings > Accessibility > Talkback). It works best with an external USB microphone, but also surprisingly well with laptop microphones (I use these Jabra Freespeak headphones).
Copy & Paste Faster
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could write faster? Thanks to online text expansion, you can! Now, you may have heard of text expansion before. For example, did you know that Apple iOS and Mac OS users can use TextExpander? But did you know about some of its other capabilities that can even help your business productivity in specific ways? Here are just a few ways that text expansion tools like TextExpander can boost your productivity: 1) You Can Use It for Business-Related Tasks: If you need to regularly type out legal or marketing copy, then using a tool like TextExpander is helpful. That way, when you do need to create legal documents or marketing materials, all you have to do is type out copy [keyword] and then press space bar twice (or any key combination of choice). Then all of your boilerplate material will appear instantly—allowing you to save time while creating more quality content.