Stress, Deadline, Portfolio: How to Turn Chaos into a Professional Document in an Hour
Do you know that feeling? An important application is due, the deadline was “yesterday,” and even though you have brilliant material, you feel a paralyzing fear of the technical side of the task. You know what you want to show, but you don’t know how to put it into a professional, coherent form.
This was the exact problem a client called me with recently. I could hear the time pressure and stress in her voice. She urgently needed to prepare a digital portfolio for an important application, and the functions of the text editor seemed like black magic to her. She was afraid her excellent work would lose its value due to sloppy formatting.
My Philosophy: Not "Do it for them," but "Do it with them"
I could have just taken the materials, prepared the file, and sent back the finished product. But I knew that would only solve half the problem. The real challenge wasn’t the document, but the client’s sense of helplessness. Therefore, my goal was not only to technically complete the task but to guide her through the process without stress and to give her back a sense of control.
During a short online call, we built her portfolio together, step by step. I showed her each action, explaining why we were doing it and how she could do it herself next time. This simple approach worked wonders—the stress began to disappear, replaced by curiosity and confidence.
Knowledge That Stays: My Mini-Guides
We based all the work on the free and widely available LibreOffice Writer software, so the client wouldn’t have to worry about licenses. Two features proved crucial in turning a simple document into a professional portfolio. I prepared simple “cheat sheets” for the client so she could use them in the future:
Mini-Guide 1: How to create an automatic List of Figures in LibreOffice?
1. Right-click on each image and select "Insert Caption...".
2. Enter the caption text (e.g., "Fig. 1: Title of the work") and confirm. The numbering will be automatic.
3. Once all images are captioned, go to the beginning of the document where the list should be.
4. From the top menu, choose "Insert" -> "Table of Contents and Index" -> "Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography...".
5. In the "Type" field, change "Table of Contents" to "Table of Figures" and click "OK." Done! The list will generate itself.
Mini-Guide 2: How to export a file to PDF?
From the top menu, choose "File" -> "Export As" -> "Export Directly as PDF." You can also click the PDF icon on the main toolbar. This is the safest format for sending documents as it preserves the original formatting.
The Result: More Than a PDF File
In less than an hour, chaos turned into order. The client received not only an aesthetic, professionally formatted PDF file ready to be sent. She got something much more valuable: practical knowledge, self-confidence, and peace of mind. She knew that next time, she could handle it herself.
This assignment reminded me that technical support is often much more than coding. It’s the ability to listen, empathize, and explain complex things in a simple way. The greatest satisfaction comes from knowing that technology, which was once intimidating, becomes a friendly and understandable tool in my hands for someone else.
Do you feel that the great content you create loses its value because of its form? Do you get lost in the technical formatting of documents, portfolios, or presentations and feel overwhelmed?
Contact me. I will help you get through the process without unnecessary stress and teach you how to do it yourself in the future.
