Today's tip is probably most needed when working with columns, but it also applies to pages and other layout options.

I've noticed a lot of people who spend lots of time moving things around in Word to make them line up "just so." The good news/bad news is that they're wasting time because Word can do most of those things for you.

First, if you want your information to appear in table or column format - do that! Rather than tabbing over (or worse, hitting the space bar until you get there), just use the commands in Word. If you want columns, you can either type your information and then turn them into columns by highlighting the text, selecting Format and then Columns. From there you can select the number and the space between the columns. Also make sure the bottom box is selected correctly (do you want it applied to the whole document, just the selected text, etc.).

If you want your data in a table (columns and rows), just go to Insert, Table. From there select your options. You can always insert more columns and rows. Note that you do have to do this before entering the data. This way your information can be grouped together (ex. an address isn't intermingled with other information if you're doing a directory, so it makes for easier copy and pasting), you can have grid lines appear if you want to, and most of all it's a lot easier!

And the real meat of the tip today - check out the command to Insert Break (insert is on the menu, break is the first choice). If you've done the columns and you don't want information to flow across two columns, rather than inserting extra spaces, just insert a break. The downside is that if you go back and edit later, you may not want that break there. If you click on the icon that looks like a backwards "P" but with an extra "leg" and the "hump" filled in (it's a paragraph symbol used in editing) it will show you all of the formatting characters in your document (including column and other breaks). Don't worry, these don't print and all you have to do is hit the icon again to make them go away.

If you have a table with multiple lines of text in each row and you don't want a row to be split between pages (or if you have any other kind of document where you don't like where it goes to the next page, just insert a page break (Insert > Break > Page). Most of the time this does not work to move the two lines on the next page BACK up to the page before. You typically have to insert the break before the paragraph/table row/etc. If you want the lines on the next page to move up, you'll have to change formatting in another way (decrease margins, change font size, etc.).

Use these "breaks" to help save a lot of extra spacing and make your formatting a little neater!