{"id":7026,"date":"2018-08-04T10:28:52","date_gmt":"2018-08-04T17:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teachinginhighered.com\/?p=7026"},"modified":"2018-08-09T15:00:14","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T22:00:14","slug":"textexpander-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teachinginhighered.com\/2018\/08\/04\/textexpander-1\/","title":{"rendered":"An Essential Time Saver"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"TextExpander:
TextExpander: An Essential Time Saver<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you have been listening to the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast<\/a> over the last few months, you have heard me talk about TextExpander<\/a> (available both on the Mac and Windows). This application is one of the first programs I ever install on a new computer because it is so essential to me getting work done.<\/p>\n

However, talking to you about TextExpander<\/a> isn\u2019t quite as powerful as getting to show it in action. That\u2019s what I\u2019ll do in this post. I have created three, short demos that let you peek behind the curtain to see how I use TextExpander<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You Can Still Keep a Personal Touch<\/h2>\n

Before I get to that, however, I did want to mention that my goal in saving time with TextExpander<\/a> isn\u2019t to lose the personal touch that comes from authentically-written prose. Instead, my approach is to consider that whatever time I can save through the automation that TextExpander<\/a> affords me means that either I can give that much more of a personal approach as I customize boilerplate text, or that I have additional time to be able to reply to more people.<\/p>\n

When someone comes on the podcast as a guest, I do use TextExpander<\/a> to help me curate a message of gratitude to the person. There are a few basic pieces of information I always send:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • A link to the episode\u2019s show notes<\/li>\n
  • Information about where the podcast is distributed (Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Stitcher<\/a>, etc.)<\/li>\n
  • A link to the quote graphics from the episode<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    By automating that part of the email, I can spend more time letting them know the kind of response I have been getting about their episode on social media or some of my own personal reflections about our conversation.<\/p>\n

    When someone gets in touch with me asking about how to join the Teaching in Higher Ed Slack group<\/a>, by having a \u201ccanned\u201d response, I am able to get back to more people who have questions or suggestions.<\/p>\n

    \"TextExpander
    View demonstrations of TextExpander in action below<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Demos<\/h2>\n

    Below are three demos that show TextExpander<\/a> in action.<\/p>\n