2013 is a brand new year and thankfully the Mayans were wrong. As is a tradition every new year, people are wanting to change their ways, from diets and fitness to how they handle their work and personal schedules in hopes of being a trimmer, fitter, better organized and all around better person. To help get things moving in the right direction this year I’m going to be doing more, shorter posts on ways you can increase your efficiency both in and out of AutoCAD. These things may cause you to change your ways, but hey change is good! In the end, if you follow through you’ll be more efficient.
I myself am constantly looking for ways to spend less time doing any kind of process. By spending less time, I do not mean taking shortcuts – the end result must be equal to or better than the original in quality. In this constant effort to shorten my time requirements and multitask I must still maintain quality in whatever I do.
An example of one thing that I do to be more efficient is in how I write my posts. The majority of my posts are now written while I’m doing other things, like shaving, dressing for work or actually on the drive-in to work. It may seem like it could get messy or even be unsafe, but it actually works out great. I use voice recognition software on my smart phone and dictate in to a note app. I can either email myself the articles or login to the Cloud and finish the editing there before I post it (as I am doing right now). Thanks to the accuracy of the recognition software my editing time is reduced drastically and I am able to do two things at once. This also allows me t be spontaneous about my thoughts on an article or blog post.
Another area where I spend a lot of time, as i am sure you do as well is AutoCAD. Being efficient in AutoCAD is paramount for Architectural and Engineering design firms that use it. We produce drawings to communicate our ideas and designs to clients, reviewers and ultimately to the actual builders. In a business, profits are the key to survival, and you make profits by being able to produce a desired product quickly and efficiently. And no – quickly and efficiently are not the same. In this production process, speed alone is not what makes us efficient.
As an AutoCAD designer or even a regular CADD technician, profits may not be the first thing on your mind. But keep in mind profits are what pay your wages, your bonuses and any other perks you might receive. The more profitable your company is the better you (should) do. By doing your work more efficiently, you create shorter production times which translate ultimately in to more profits. So how do we go about being more efficient? In the next post “Macro Mania” , I’m going talk about about an old AutoCAD customization tool called toolbar macros and how they can automate many of the steps you do every day. These tools will reduce the time you spend doing manual steps, and in the process, increase your accuracy – increasing your productivity and efficiency.
WES
