Do you click your way through menus to open the Template dialog box?  Assign a keyboard shortcut to open the dialog box instead.

1.  From Tools / Customize / Keyboard, select All Commands in the Categories window.

2.  In the Commands window on the right, select the FileNewDialog command and assign your shortcut.


A quick way to scroll down lists in dialog boxes is to type the first letter of the list item.  In the Categories list, press A to take you to All Commands.  In the Commands list, press F to take you to items, then arrow down to select the name of the command.