TIME - Another Time-Saving Technique

I’m going to reveal a secret used by transcriptionists which aids in typing faster and more accurately, and can save all of us that important element called Time. 

At first glance, this may seem to be contrary to my previous advice about creating products by recording your material.  Not true.  It’s still better to create information products by recording and getting transcribed.  Nevertheless, all of us do have other instances when we have to type something – an email, a note, a blog entry, taking notes at a meeting.

Actually, you use this all the time if you’re into text messaging, which I am not—yet.  When you text message you use shortcuts, or text shorthand .

For example, let’s say you wanted to say “by the way”.  You could simply use the letters btw. However, for a formal communication, it would not be a good idea to use only the letters.

If you’re using Word to type your documents, under Tools, Auto Correct Options, Auto Correct Tab, you will see two sections—Replace and With.  Type btw under “replace” and spell out the phrase under “with,” and the next time you need to use that phrase in one of your communications, you could simply type the letters and the letters will automatically be extended to the phrase “by the way.” 

You can use this for other words or phrases that you use repeatedly, such as your name, business name, or other words.  “Business,” for example, could be “bsn” and Word will automatically extend the letters to type in “business.” 

Another part of that is when you see the red squiggly lines under a word that you’ve spelled incorrectly, hover your mouse over it, right click and it will give you a choice of the corrected spelling.  If you use the “auto correct” selection (about half way down), the next time you incorrectly type that word that same way, it will automatically correct it for you.

I have made particular use of this method specifically in the last few months.  I had to have surgery on my right hand for tendonitis or some other ‘itis’ the doctor found a problem with.  Can you imagine a transcriptionist having a problem with a hand?  That’s like a runner having a problem with a leg.  However, I found ways to compensate and using this method in Word, as well as my other professional word extension programs, I was able to continue working during my rehabilitation period as if nothing had happened. 

You could say this was a case of taking a negative and turning it into a positive because it was then that I realized how valuable this tool really was as a time saver.

A word of caution, however.  Sometimes you may be typing something else and right in the middle of it will be a word that had been assigned to be extended.  Whoops.  Suddenly you find you have typed a word that you’re not sure where it came from. 

In spite of that caveat, using word extension can be a great time saver.  Use it for any words you type repeatedly or for repetitive phrases.  But, continue to record to create new information products.