(continuation of last week’s article)
- When you sit at your desk in the morning, it may seem like you have ample time to complete your transcripts, but by the time it’s afternoon, you may find that there’s still plenty of work left to be completed and not much time to do it either. One of the best ways to solve such a problem is to jot down your schedule for the day, week and month in a planner or work diary so that you take control of your time management. Besides, it also helps you meet any set deadline and also smooths out the entire work process as well.
- We agree that it does get difficult to remember what each abbreviation stands for, the details required for various transcription formats or even any specifications laid down by regular clients. How about using a notebook to jot down important information that you keep using time and again, for abbreviations, links, references and the like? When you are transcribing and listening to an audio file, your quick notes will be the reference tool you need.
- Let’s be honest – listening to an audio file and typing out each word that you hear can be difficult. As a transcriber, you don’t have to get all the matter absolutely correct first time typing, by proofing it and running the audio a second time against the document can ensure corrections are made. By using Auto Correct a typist can use abbreviations and short forms of long words and phrases which automatically replace. For instance, words like ‘collaborate ’ can be shortened to ‘clb’lse, ‘step-by-step ’ to ‘sbs’ and other difficult to type words which are tricky or use a lot of key. You don’t really need to adhere to a prepared format for such short forms- simply use what works best for you as long as a common word is not made from it i.e. ‘ate’ cannot be used for ‘at the end of the day’ as the word ate exists and would be replaced! In fact, the ‘Find and Replace’ option in Microsoft Word, also helps you edit whole documents in seconds. For example, if you hear a specific phrase which has been used countless times previously in the audio, but which is heard clearly to be different well into the audio, and you find the exact word online to confirm in context to make sure. Then you can put into Find the incorrect word and Replace with the correct word and it will show you how many replacements have been made! On a second run through you can check to ensure all the spelling and grammar and any Find and Replace have been done correctly.
- Don’t stress about those one or two words that appear barely audible and which don’t make any sense at all. There’s a good chance you’ll be able to figure out what the person is referring to, when you are half-way through your transcript. Constantly hitting pause, rewind and play to get a few words right can confuse you further. You’ll be in a better frame of mind to nail the missing words when it’s time to make further edits.
- Take breaks. We can’t emphasise this enough because you do need a breather at least every two hours or so just to de-clutter your mind and to refresh your senses. Besides, staring at a computer screen for long does cause eye-strain too and has been linked to decreased productivity at work.
- Learn to strike a balance between your work life and personal life. This helps to ensure that your job stays challenging each day, your job interest remains undiminished and it also helps you give your best to your clients as well.
We hope our tips help you perform at your optimum in your workplace!
