The Blind Leading the Sighted
In this era of general financial uncertainty and increasing pressure to produce more in less time in the medical transcription field, we MTs should always be on the lookout for ways to raise productivity in order to increase compensation. There is any number of useful productivity tools for MTs on the market, and I've always been an advocate for using technology to our advantage whenever possible. Interestingly, however, the single most effective technique for increasing transcription productivity, which doesn't require any additional hardware or software, is one many MTs aren't willing to adopt.
The best way to increase productivity in medical transcription, whether it be traditional transcribing or speech recognition editing, is to keep our hands ON the keyboard and OFF the mouse. Every second our fingers are off the keyboard is "dead" time in terms of productivity. Not only do mouse commands take longer to initiate, they're often inherently less efficient than corresponding keyboard shortcuts in terms of the actual task being performed.
The problem, of course, is that most of us have gotten so accustomed to using a mouse that the thought of changing is too overwhelming. We know that altering our normal routine is going to slow us down in the short term, and many of us simply aren't willing to sacrifice productivity in the short term in order to gain more efficiency in the future.
I recently came across a wonderful online article from the Oneonta (NY) Daily Star by Kate Pavlacka, a medical transcriptionist who's been totally without sight for 11 years. As a blind computer user, she doesn't use a mouse to navigate through programs, menus or websites, but rather uses the keyboard for everything. This, of course, holds true for her medical transcription work as well. Let's be honest, for many of us, the idea of learning to transcribe without sight in the first place would be too much to handle. But what I found fascinating about Kate's article is that even after she had overcome that challenge and had settled into a routine that worked reasonably well for her, she came to the conclusion that she could and should do better. So she decided to make some changes in the way she navigated the keyboard.
Here's what she had to say about that experience:
"I knew I had to make the changes and I knew it would be a real headache and slow me down in a big way, but I went ahead and did it.
‘It was a horrid transition. I had a headache after the first, second and third days of making the change and I got so little done. It was a sacrifice I made, though, because I knew it would yield great results in the long term.
"At this point, I am doing better with the new means of navigating around my computer programs and the Internet, although I am still a tad slow.
"It seems so contradictory that I have to mess myself all up and take away from my current productivity in order to get faster. Like many things in life, though, you have to take the plunge at some point, do what feels difficult, or very marginally tolerable, in order to reap rewards.
"So here I am, making myself as productive as possible by making myself thoroughly confused and slow. Once I get a feel for it, though, it will be as second nature as it was when I was using the old keystrokes that I first learned years ago. This time, however, I will be much faster."
If that doesn't inspire us, I don't know what would!
Truth be told, as we approach the beginning of a new year, there's no better time to make a commitment to change that will benefit us in the long run. Whether it's learning some new keyboard shortcuts, adopting healthier eating habits, or becoming less wasteful in our lifestyles, don't you get the feeling that NOW is the time? Sure, change is scary, and often disruptive. But as Kate puts it:
"Change is a challenge, whether it's on a keyboard or on the path of life. Change takes patience. In my case it takes a lot of patience with myself. Unfortunately, being patient with myself isn't my strong point, but this has shed some light on my weaknesses and I've had some time to ponder how to strengthen those weaknesses.
"There's always so much to learn when you face a challenge, whether self-imposed or not. Struggles can go a long way to making you stronger, if you let them. Cliché, but true."
Amen. And a Happy New Year to us all!