Increasing Productivity-Week 4 Text Expanders and Macros

"Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves." ~Dale Carnegie

I am so happy to report that I finally received the course book, "Technology for the Medical Transcriptionist" on Monday--yippee--truly worth the wait and very thankful since this week's course objectives covered AutoText, AutoCorrect, Macros, Spelling and Grammar features and finally text expansion. While these may seem like small jobs in and of themselves, the time they have proven to save is what certainly what peaked my interest in tonight's lesson.

Tonight's class centered in Microsoft Word and brought everything down to the basics beginning with definitions of AutoCorrect, AutoText and macros, samples of each, how to create new entries and finally implementation of these built-in features to Microsoft.

Did you know that AutoCorrect is a Microsoft Office feature and will work across all Office programs (excel, Outlook, et cetera) while AutoText is a Word feature only? The key differences, other than the one previously mentioned is by utilizing the Spacebar and any punctuation, AutoCorrect expands (this change will always occurr when Replace text is typed, making changes universal); however, to implement AutoText (allows storage of words, phrases, paragraphs and boiler templates) pressing F3 will make the insertion into the document; AutoCorrect will always insert a space while AutoText can insert text without a trailing space. I found it very helpful learning the basics between AutoCorrect and AutoText.

The purpose of macros is to store a series of commands as a single command. Macros can be used in Editing using a single step, Opening documents based on templates, and Turning repetitive tasks into single-step productions; however, macros are not ideal for storing text. I had used macros on my very first transcription job around 6 years ago and this was not only a great refresher, but now I truly understand how to use a macro correctly.

We next briefly covered electronic spell check, how the reference files are used , spell check setting and finally performing spell check. Spell check can be accessed by either F7 to use the dialog box; ALT + F7 to jump to the next misspelling (review document word by word) or Right-click, press Application key and use the right click menu. A little job we use every day but it has 3 ways to access this feature.

Our final area covered tonight were text expanders. The bottom line, the results of utilizing a third party text expander is definitely worth the initial investment. In comparing text expanders to AutoCorrect and AutoText, the text expanders are more stable, more flexible, more portable, holds a larger database, can have multiple glossaries/lists as well as may offer choice of expansion key. The downside to text expanders, duplicates can be created, incorrect insertions, inadvertent insertions and short form collision with real words can occur. Basically, if you are not using a text expander, find out what works with you platform and utilize this option.

My ah-ha moment tonight was in learning some additional shortcuts. For example my shortcut use for aspirin is asp; if we utilized numbers, our shortcut can read asp8 = aspirin 81 mg or asp3, aspirin 325 mg. I never thought of adding a basic dosage to my expander; this is something I have already changed and look forward to using!

HOT TIP: Use letters to represent numbers in short forms:

ttn--two thousand nine
tttn-- two thousand ten.
risw--return in 6 weeks.
lfso--L5-S1.

I am pleased that I am able to now utilize my keyboard primarily when switching between the two platforms I work in. I am saving time now and know this will be a great habit to have developed. It is a great feeling to see some of what I have already learned becoming part of my daily routine. With the final lesson just around the corner, if you are serious about changing your productivity, my recommendation is to take the course the next time it becomes available--it covers everything for the novice to the experienced and you will not be disappointed.

Make it a great week!