So the question now is "How do I increase my productivity?"
Here are a few suggestions.
Keep It Simple
If you embrace any rule, it should be "Keep It Simple". Think
about the most effective documents and presentations you've
seen. It's a safe bet that they were clean and functional,
and didn't look like the latest issue of Wired. If the
company you work for has corporate templates and a style
guide, use them. With any luck, they were created by someone
with training, or skills, in document design.
If your employer doesn't have templates or a style guide, press for
their creation and use. Doing this will require some time and
expense, but in the end it will be worth it. You will have
a unified corporate image and, more importantly, people in your
organization will spend less time experimenting and more time
doing their jobs.
Right Tools for the Right Job
Use your software in the way it was meant to be used. One of
the surest ways of wasting time and increasing your
frustration is to try to do something an application isn't
designed to do. It's a lot like trying to hammer a nail with
a screwdriver. You can do it, but it isn't easy. A good
example is a word processor.
No matter how many neat features, functions, and templates the developers have added
to these programs, they're for writing not publishing. A word
processor isn't designed to create newsletters, brochures,
flyers, etc. Anyone who has to do any kind of publishing work
should get the boss to spring for an application like
InDesign. The software and training will quickly pay
for itself.