We have entered a new era of normal thanks to Covid-19. The pandemic has revolutionized working environments by forcing millions of people to stay and work at home. Working from home means you have to send emails, containing documents, back and forth. If you are not used to the setup, you will somehow end up with documents that may look unprofessional. Below are the common mistakes people make when creating a document, as well as how to fix them:
1. Avoid submitting Word files.
Word files are one of the many pet peeves of professionals. That is why do not submit your documents in Word unless it requires to be edited further. What you can do instead is to convert Word to PDF. You can easily convert your files with PDFBear online. Unlike Word files, anyone can open PDFs no matter what their operating system (OS) is.
For instance, you used a Windows laptop and the receiver of the files is using a Macbook. The formatting of your text in Word will get messed up because Macbook’s OS is entirely different from Windows.
No matter how careful you are at creating neat text formatting, it will all go to waste because it is not preserved. To avoid this, always save your files as a PDF or use a PDF converter to convert your old Word files.
2. Avoid fancy fonts, stick to basic ones.
People who are not used to creating documents tend to think that fancy fonts are more impressive than basic ones. Wrong! Unless you are creating an invitation of some sort, please avoid fancy fonts.
Professionals stick to minimalism. Hence, it would be best to use basic fonts like Times New Roman, Calibri, and Arial when writing a document. Do not choose scripts, chunky fonts, and those that have curls.
Choosing a default font face makes your document easy to read and less messy. The reader will not get confused about where to put their attention—the font or the message. Plus, using normal fonts will give a more professional touch to your document whereas fancy fonts make it look like a 5-year-old did it.
3. Do not use big text size unless required.
Understandably, not everyone has good eyesight. You might be a senior worker who is now working from home. But that does not excuse you from using a big text size. You can always use the zoom tool to make your document look bigger while you are making it.
Like font faces, text size also plays a crucial role in making your document look neat. For example, you cannot use a font size of more than 12 in the body of your text and you cannot use small text sizes for the titles on your document.
A tip we can recommend is to use larger font sizes for your heading. This includes the title of the piece you are writing and the title of the sections within your text. For the body, stick to 11 and 12.
4. Watch out for your spacing
White spaces are becoming a trend in graphic design. But in making documents? Not so much.That is why do not put too much space in between your lines. If your company prefers double space, fine use it. Nonetheless, use single to 1.5 line spacing.
Also, note that Word has settings that let you add spaces in between paragraphs. Check if it adds a space before and after the paragraphs or only before and only after. The ideal is to only keep the space after the paragraph setting to keep spaces minimal. Do not forget not to add additional spaces under the paragraph unless you set it to no spaces before and after the block of text.
5. Do not indent your paragraphs
Indentation confuses many people. Like spacing, it is all too common to abuse indentation in a document. Again, too much of anything simply makes your document look unprofessional. Hence, you should know how to properly use indentations.
To make things easier for you, remember: if there is a space between your paragraphs, do not intend; if there is no space, you can indent.
The best way to add indentation is by hitting the tab button on your keyboard before starting your paragraph. Do not use the spacebar to make an indentation as it will make it less uniform throughout the text.
6. Do not forget to justify
The alignment of your text may not be a major factor. But it also contributes to how the reader will perceive your document. Always justify the body of your text to make it look neater and tailored.A clean block of text is easier for the eyes. Meanwhile, if you keep your text in left alignment, the margins of the document will look off. It is a small thing but it refines your document to the max. Therefore, always remember to justify.
7. Ditch the colors
Writing a document for work requires the most basic text formatting. You do not need to add anything fancy—simplicity is key. That said, do not add unnecessary colors to your text by setting flashy font colors.
For the body of your text, use only a black font color. Meanwhile, you can add a touch of color to the titles and subheadings in your document. Also, if you want to emphasize something, you can use red. Otherwise, ditch the colors and stick to black.
In A Nutshell
Working from home is not easy, especially if you have always been on the field or under the aid of your supervisor. Knowing how to avoid common mistakes when making a document is the first step to becoming a more independent professional. With a neat document, people will have a changed perception of you as a worker and they will know to trust you more as you work remotely.
