I may have discovered a way to save keystrokes. I was not taught this in typing class and I never knew about it. It was just by accident that I found this by typing “as we are op…”
That’s it!
“as” “we” “re” “op”.
Granted it’s not much but there are a lot of times you would use those letters combinations.
Try it. Type the word “were” in two keystrokes. First, rest your hands on the keyboard as you should have been taught by your typing teacher. Second, move your ring finger up to the letter “w”. Then, this is important, put your ring finger between the “w” and the “e”, between the keys. Finally, press down. Now repeat the steps and type “re”. What’s that spell? “Were”.
I’m going to train myself to use this typing method. I’ll have to consciously make an effort to type certain words, which at first will be slow. But it’ll become second nature and will save time and keystrokes. Has anyone ever heard of this? Anyone ever done this before?
So do you make much money as a typist? I’ve got a foolproof method of typing a “z” and simultaneously bringing up the Start menu. It’s a goldmine. Really.
You know, there’s much, much easier ways to save keystrokes. Trust me, I’m the queen of minimizing keystrokes. When using either Word or WordPerfect, which both have the autocorrect feature that’s preloaded with words that are commonly misspelled that then autocorrect once you’ve typed them, just go in and add your own shortened versions of words.
I started with a few longer words that I often mistype, moved on to almost any long word, then to shorter words just because I’m lazy, added entire phrases (“in accordance with” becomes “iacw,” for example) and have lately taken to seeing how many times I can eliminate having to hit the space bar – such as typing “icohvbn” and it expands out to “I could have been,” or running words together so that I can type “isthe” and it breaks it apart. The more you get used to doing it, the more easily it comes, and the more ways you can think of to avoid hitting extra keys. Oh, and entering zillions of acronyms in lower case that then automatically revert to upper case, and even coming up with letter combinations for numbers (the fewer times you have to stretch your fingers up to the numbers, the faster you can type).
Run into something that you need to use an abbreviated entry for? Just go in and eliminate it, and then you can add it later.
Since I transcribe professionally, I can’t tell you how many keystrokes I save myself on an average day, except that it’s probably in the many thousands. For example, I’d have typed that sentence in my word processor, “Since itcb pfnly, icnt tell you hmy keystrokes isave myself on an avg day, ecp that it’s pbly in the many thds.” You can count how many keystrokes I saved if you want; all I know is that I’ve really, really been able to notice the difference in how much less tired my hands get and how much more work I can produce in an average day.
Oh, I can type fast spelling everything out; I have to when I write emails or post online, for example, and I’ve used enough other computers often enough to be able to turn it on/off easily. It’s just that 98% of the time I’m on my own computer and can do whatever I want. That’s the benefit of working at home, I’m my own IT manager.
