Hey, it’s Terry here. Happy Tuesday!
Nine more sleeps to Christmas🎅🏽That means Easter eggs will be in the shops soon! 😠
Many of us are winding down this week getting ready for Christmas next week, so this will be my last newsletter until 20 January. Me and V will be hooking up the van, heading to Sofala/Hill End for a few nights to do some gold panning with my brother, then we’ll head north somewhere.
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In this week’s issue:
Tech tips:
Outlook Out of office, blocking and reporting junk emails.
Excel - hide or colour code worksheets.
Whitelisting email senders - keep the good ones, block the bad ones.
Xero tips.
Cyber security free course.
How old is the @ symbol? Think of your answer before you read on.
Did you know casual employees can ask to be full-time or part-time.
Plus more…
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Technology
Outlook out of office
🗓️ Remember to set your out of office message before you go on leave.
Go to File/Automatic Replies.
Select Send automatic replies, tick Only send during this time range and enter the time range.
Do this for both external people and those inside your business. Feel free to add a funny comment for others in your own business.
🎯 Make it really clear in your message what date is your first day back, and that you’ll respond to their email asap on your return.
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🚮Outlook junk
Unwanted emails? Don’t just delete them as they’ll keep coming. Instead,
right click them, and select Block. Right click the email again, select Report/Report Phishing.
good email ended up in junk? To whitelist the sender (don’t go to junk) right click the email while it’s in Junk, Block, Never Block Sender. Right click the email again, select Report/Not Junk.
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🔢Excel - worksheet tips
✅ If you have content you want to hide - right click the worksheet title and select hide. To unhide, right click any other sheet and select unhide.
✅ You can colour the worksheet tabs. I do this on a monthly file with seven worksheet’s. The first main sheet is say green, and the remaining six are all yellow. As I work through the six worksheets I change them to say pink, so I know I’ve updated them.
Right click Sheet6, hide, then right click Sheet5 (or any other sheet) to unhide. Then right click Sheet6 and change the tab colour.
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Xero
Last week I mentioned Chrome’s new split screen feature. I thought I would mention it again for Xero users because it’s just so handy having multiple Xero windows open at the same time.
Right click to open the menu that offers Open link in split view. Then you’ll have both windows open on the one screen.
I right clicked on Invoices, then normal left click on Open link in split view.
Business owners - Xero’s Small Business Apps Awards 2025 - find out who won!
Xonboard app also gets a mention, it’s a free employee onboarding app for Xero payroll.
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Cyber Security free course
The NSW Government is offering a free 3 hour’s online self-paced course. Check it out.
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How old is the @ symbol?
Would you believe more than 400 years old and was originally called an amphorae. Read about it here…
🧮Casual employees
Did you know casual employees have the right to request to become a permanent full-time or part-time employee. This could affect you as an employee or an employer, or if you have kids are about to leave school and wanting their casual job to be more secure. Read on…
TUESDAY VIBES
Non-productive but 100% boss-approved (maybe)
🚔Demerit Points
Remember to take it easy on the roads during Christmas! In NSW double demerit points run from 24 December 2025 to 4 January 2026. Check your demerit points balance by logging into Service NSW.
🤶🏽Gift cards
💳Should you give a gift card or not?
This is a contentious issue! Does it show laziness or is it avoiding wasting money because the recipient can choose what they spend it on?
Research shows 1 in 3 Australians have at least one unused gift card laying around with a value around $1.25B.
Those most likely to NOT use gift cards are:
❌ Millennials and Gen Z born between 1981 - 2012
❌ Higher-income individuals
❌ Men
Whereas the older folk are more likely to spend the gift card because they hate waste!
If you do decide to buy a gift card consider the fees:
❎If you choose one from a floor stand in a shop or an online store that only sells gift cards, you’ll pay up to $5.95 on top of the cost of the gift card.
✅Consider buying a gift card from the actual retailer in store or online for zero fees.
Before you go…
Why is it …
👨🏽🦰🧔🏽♂️🙎🏽♂️👨🏽🦲 that men wait until Christmas Eve to do their Christmas shopping? Maybe they’re after last minute specials. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.
💻 Want to share a thought or tip with our readers?
Click on the Comments button at the top of this post!
I’ll be back 20 January 2026 after a well-earned rest. I wish the same for you, your family and friends.
Terry-Anne
Founder & Editor, Qwerty Plus Newsletter
What’s the first thing I do when I turn on my laptop? 💻
Log into my password manager app called Keeper.
When I log into Keeper it then helps me log in to other apps really quickly, and it helps protect me from cyber-attacks on both my laptop and mobile phone. Try the free version!
Don’t get hacked. Get Keeper.
