Docs

"The palest ink is better than the best memory." — Chinese proverb

Docs are where most people quietly lose hours.

Not from writing too much — from not knowing the little tricks.

So this chapter is just that: small hacks that change the game.

Google Docs moves most people miss

Type @ to insert anything

Hit @ anywhere in a doc.

Dates, people, files, dropdown status chips, even a full meeting-notes template — it's all in there.

I drop in @date and status chips constantly. It turns a flat doc into something closer to a mini-app.

Paste a link straight onto text

Select the words, paste a URL — it links them. No dialog, no faffing.

PCCtrl+K

Mac⌘CMD+K

Turn on Markdown and ditch the toolbar

Tools → Preferences → tick "Automatically detect Markdown".

Now ## is a heading, ** bolds, and - starts a list.

You write at the speed of thought instead of reaching for buttons.

Paste without the ugly formatting

PCCtrl+Shift+V

Mac⌘CMD+Shift+V

Kills the random fonts and colours that ride along with copied text. Use it every single time.

Build your own text expander

Tools → Preferences → Substitutions.

Make "addr1" expand to your full business address. "sig1" to your sign-off. "sop1" to your go-to prompt.

It's a free snippet tool hiding inside Docs.

Voice-type the first draft

Tools → Voice typing. Talk, don't type.

First drafts come out about 3x faster — then you tidy. Your mouth is quicker than your fingers.

Name your versions

File → Version history → name a version before any big edit.

Now you roll back to "before client feedback", not scrub a mystery timeline.

Publish a doc as a web page

File → Share → Publish to web.

Instant public page. Ugly, but perfect for a quick policy, FAQ or link you need to share fast.

The AI doc hacks that actually save hours

This is where it gets a bit silly.

Loom transcript → SOP

Do the task once on a Loom. Grab the transcript. Then:

Turn this transcript into a numbered SOP.
Verb-first steps. Add a "Done when…" line at the end.

A 10-minute screen recording becomes a clean SOP someone else can actually follow.

Messy notes → owned actions

Pull every decision and action item out of these notes.
Format each as: owner — task — due date.

Tighten anything in one line

Cut this by 30%. Keep the meaning and my voice. No corporate filler.

You don't need Notion gymnastics or a "knowledge base" subscription.

A plain Google Doc plus five of these hacks beats most of it.

Sweet, you’ve completed this section! 🥳 Move on to the next section on design.