Hello there!
Hope your week has started off well.
Welcome to the first issue of the Qwerty Plus Newsletter! 🥳🎇 🎀🍾
Who am I? I’m Terry-Anne McPhail, mum of 3 and a lover of fine chocolate. My admin skills and knowledge can be compared to Licorice Allsorts - a wide variety, layered and a bit of everything.
I’m a lifelong learner with a passion for sharing knowledge — and that’s exactly why I created this newsletter. I called it Qwerty Plus because I’ve owned a typewriter since I was about 5 years old and I’ve been typing almost every day since. In case you’re wondering where I got the name Qwerty Plus from, look for the letters QWERTY on your keyboard.
Grab a cuppa and enjoy! ☺
🐰In 1953 Hugh Hefner intentionally left the first issue of Playboy magazine undated because he wasn't sure there would be a second issue.
In this week’s issue (No. 1):
Tech tips - merging cells, saving files in Xero, and snoozing emails
Hayes Salary Guide - is your salary on par with industry averages?
Hulk Hogan and wrestling. How’s that admin related? You’ll see.
plus more
Did someone share this email with you? Sign up here and get my weekly newsletter in your own inbox!
TECHNOLOGY TIPS
💻 Merging cells and rows in Excel
Here’s two options you may not be aware of!
Most people click the merge icon, then left align text in a separate move. To merge cells and left align at the same time: Highlight cells → down arrow next to Merge icon - Merge Cells.
To merge cells for multiple rows like the gif below: Highlight all the cells (in this case A2:I4) → down arrow next to the Merge icon → Merge Across.
How to merge cells for multiple rows
📌 Xero’s 4 locations to save files
Most Xero users attach bills in the Bills module, that’s No. 1.
Company files module - click on your company name in the blue bar at the top left, then Files.
Save copies of current insurances, finance contracts, staff contracts etc, and it’s easy for your Accountant or bookkeeper to find them.
Create folders and group similar files together, you can even email docs straight to the Files module. Click on the Inbox folder on the left to view the email address.
Files folder
Contacts - Click on Contacts in the blue bar to access your contacts. There is a Files tab at the top of the window.
Perfect for saving subcontractors certificates of currency, or customers signed credit application, or create a supplier contact for employees and save their employment contract, resume, job application etc.
Invoices - Open the invoice and Attach Files via the blue button underneath the invoice items. To include the files when you email the invoice, tick Include with online Invoice.
Attach your terms of trade, subcontractor statement, original quote, workers comp certificate of currency etc.
💤 Snooze your emails
I always snooze emails that I need to attend to later. They could be bills I need to pay at the end of week, or because I like to batch handle certain emails.
Select your desired day and time to snooze till. They disappear from your inbox and stay in your Snooze folder until your selected day and time arrives, and voila, they appear back in you inbox, at the top.
You can always retrieve emails from the Snooze folder or check what’s in there.
Outlook on the web and New Outlook desktop version - right click the email and select Snooze.
Classic Outlook does not have a snooze feature. Use the flag feature instead. Or switch to New Outlook via the button at the top right of the screen.
Gmail - Hover over the email subject, or select it, click on the clock icon on the right, next to the bin icon and choose when to snooze until.
p.s I typed wala because I just couldn’t remember how to spell voila! Thank goodness for spell check 😆
INSIGHTS
☀ Hays Salary Guide 2025-2026
This great annual guide for employers and employees tells you salary benchmarks over multiple industries including admin, so you can compare to what you’re being paid/paying your employees.
It talks about top employee benefits and the key skills currently in demand.
Here are just some of the insights in the guide.
Employee Turnover: 61% of employees intend to leave their current jobs within the next 12 months.
Reasons for Departure: A lack of opportunities in their current role or workplace is a primary reason, cited by 45% of employees.
Valued Benefits: Flexible working is highly valued, with 58% of employees considering it their most important benefit.
Skills Shortages: A significant 84% of organizations are experiencing skills shortages, highlighting a strong demand for specific skills, especially human skills.
Age and salary: Between 40 and 60 years of age are the biggest earning years. 📈 Once you hit 60, it starts to decline. 📉
🤼 PEOPLE
R.I.P Hulk Hogan who died in July at the age of 71. I was never into WWE and wrestling, but even I knew who he was!
Speaking of wrestling, Admin wrestle with lots of things each day.
Here‘s a couple, and how to win:
⏱ Deadlines - know them well in advance and start early, give yourself some leeway when someone asks “when can you have it done by?”. For example if it will take you 3 days to do, say you’ll deliver in 4 days in case there are any hiccups along the way, but plan to delivery in 3 days and exceed expectations without putting too much pressure on yourself.
🤪 Personalities - learn about personality profiling so you understand why people are like they are, how you can work alongside them and how to communicate with them. It’s a great management tool.
DISC is just one type of profiling system you can use. Basically you complete an assessment and a report will tell you what behavioural style you are, how to engage with others and vice versa, and your preferred environment to work in.
D stands for Dominance, which describes a person who is direct, decisive, and focused on achieving results.
I stands for Influence, which describes a person who is outgoing, enthusiastic, and enjoys persuading others.
S stands for Steadiness, which describes a person who is patient, cooperative, and prefers a stable environment.
C stands for Conscientiousness, which describes a person who is analytical, detail-oriented, and focused on accuracy and quality.
Even just on those short sentences you can probably pick which sounds most like you. More on DISC in an upcoming newsletter.
🛎 Constant interruptions
Turn off new message alert pop ups for your email app and work out a schedule to check your emails. It might be every two hours, 3 times a day etc.
Let your colleagues know you’re busy working on a deadline for the next hour. “Please don’t interrupt me unless the office is on fire”. 🔥🚑
Switch your phone to Do Not Disturb and set a reminder to turn it off later.
»»TUESDAY VIBES««
🙅🏽♀️Pet Peeve
Is it just me or is anyone else sick of seeing old Covid stickers on the floor telling you where to stand? P!ss them off!
⌨ The Qwerty keyboard
The first typewriter prototype was completed in 1868…
But then the keys on following prototypes often got jammed. So letters that were frequently used together were moved apart from each other on the keyboard.
So when the arms with the letters struck the paper they came from different angles and jams were reduced.
🏆Your challenge - and don’t peek…
Can you remember all the symbols on the top row of your keyboard? The row that has the number keys, not the function keys. See how many you can write down!
To get you started: ` ! @
😎 Cool stuff
These are my favourite buys for the week!
The limited edition Amazon Beauty Advent Calendar for $100 would be an amazing Christmas gift! It’s got 36 beauty treats and is valued at over $500. You’re supposed to open only one each day in the lead up to Christmas, but curiosity gets in the way.
Anything green that I eat, my teeth attract like a a magnet🥬 So I bought these Colgate mini toothbrushes. Perfect for brushing my teeth at my desk 😬🪥 or in the car, and they come with dissolvable toothpaste so no rinsing required. Great for the after lunch meeting!
BEFORE YOU GO…
💻 Want to share a thought or tip?
Or do you have a great idea that all admins can relate to for an upcoming Printer Jam comic strip? Email me at [email protected].
If someone else sent you this email and you love it, click the link below to get the weekly Qwerty newsletter in your own inbox!
Until next week, be good, smile and be grateful for your family and friends 🥰
Terry-Anne
Founder & Editor, Qwerty Plus Newsletter
