Many of us feel frustrated in front of a white sheet of paper or the modern version of it, a blank screen, when faced with some writing assignment.

Usually people prefer to start from a certain point and customize their docs further rather than develop entirely new piece of work. One way to overcome frustration and more important to save your valuable minutes is by using templates. Using them does not mean that you cannot do better on your own; it only helps you check your feelings towards how your work might end up looking or maybe what you should avoid. Either way you will be one step closer to completing your task.

Search your archives

Templates are abundant in internet but my tip is first to start searching always from your own your previous work and your archives. Chances are good that in this way you will keep your style consistent and it will be easier and more comfortable for you to make corrections on your own work. Keeping tidy and well-labeled files and directories surely will help you here find your templates.

Search Microsoft Office Online

A second place to look for help is Microsoft’s Office Templates Home Page which offers documents in many languages. They cover templates from expense reports and financial calculators through gift certificates, resumes, petitions, business cards and thousand more. You name it. All templates are free and could be browsed not only by categories but also by products (Access, Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.) if you choose not to use the search box directly. Templates have a preview which nicely sums up the front page of the documents, which by the way might be the only one piece you need.

Template fans and frequent users are able to follow news of the latest free template downloads available from Microsoft Office Online through the Templates blog which comes with RSS2.0 and Atom1.0 feeds.

Do you think using templates is saving time and increasing productivity? Other tips?