4 ms·

I feel like typing is never really the bottleneck for me except maybe in some chat interactions would have benefited from the extra bandwidth of video or audio.

I feel like typing is never really the bottleneck for me except maybe in some chat interactions would have benefited from the extra bandwidth of video or audio. Do you actually save time on task with these kinds of shortcuts?

eschluntz 3y ago
My main motivation was very fast slack conversations (Can you post a screenshot?) and a bunch of email responses that are pretty formulaic (sending my calendly link, etc). For longer writing I'm often frustrated that I can think faster than I can type, so it does help with that too!
- MobiusHorizons 3y ago
  Very interesting. It sounds like you do a lot more repetitive communication than I do. Thanks for explaining.
- passion__desire 3y ago
  For longer writing, why not write anchor words on the scratch notes and then flesh out details? Or do you think, that in the flow of ideas, all sentence details need to be jotted down too? Because you feel they come out perfect the first time?
  - eschluntz 3y ago
    I certainly write outlines first, but when I do sit down to write a full draft I really like to get to something that's "complete" even if it's really bad. Then I can switch into "editing" mode mentally.
    - passion__desire 3y ago
      Some people write in a "white-heat" fashion. [0] "The Last Question" ranks with "Nightfall" (1941) as one of Asimov's best-known and most acclaimed short stories. He wrote in 1973:[3] Why is it my favorite? For one thing I got the idea all at once and didn't have to fiddle with it; and I wrote it in white-heat and scarcely had to change a word. This sort of thing endears any story to any writer. Then, too, it has had the strangest effect on my readers. Frequently someone writes to ask me if I can give them the name of a story, which they think I may have written, and tell them where to find it. They don't remember the title but when they describe the story it is invariably 'The Last Question'. This has reached the point where I recently received a long-distance phone call from a desperate man who began, "Dr. Asimov, there's a story I think you wrote, whose title I can't remember—" at which point I interrupted to tell him it was 'The Last Question' and when I described the plot it proved to be indeed the story he was after. I left him convinced I could read minds at a distance of a thousand miles. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Question https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Question
fsckboy 3y ago
i wonder if touch typing figures in?
xps 3y ago
Saving time may be one aspect of it but I can also see it being useful for people suffering from repetitive strain injury / carpal tunnel syndrome.
LinXitoW 3y ago
For me, faster typing isn't about saving time in total, it's about reducing the time between thoughts. Typing is a manual process that hinders my thinking, so the faster I can dip into and out of typing, the faster I can get back to typing.

eschluntz 3y ago

My main motivation was very fast slack conversations (Can you post a screenshot?) and a bunch of email responses that are pretty formulaic (sending my calendly link, etc). For longer writing I'm often frustrated that I can think faster than I can type, so it does help with that too!

MobiusHorizons 3y ago
Very interesting. It sounds like you do a lot more repetitive communication than I do. Thanks for explaining.
passion__desire 3y ago
For longer writing, why not write anchor words on the scratch notes and then flesh out details? Or do you think, that in the flow of ideas, all sentence details need to be jotted down too? Because you feel they come out perfect the first time?
- eschluntz 3y ago
  I certainly write outlines first, but when I do sit down to write a full draft I really like to get to something that's "complete" even if it's really bad. Then I can switch into "editing" mode mentally.
  - passion__desire 3y ago
    Some people write in a "white-heat" fashion. [0] "The Last Question" ranks with "Nightfall" (1941) as one of Asimov's best-known and most acclaimed short stories. He wrote in 1973:[3] Why is it my favorite? For one thing I got the idea all at once and didn't have to fiddle with it; and I wrote it in white-heat and scarcely had to change a word. This sort of thing endears any story to any writer. Then, too, it has had the strangest effect on my readers. Frequently someone writes to ask me if I can give them the name of a story, which they think I may have written, and tell them where to find it. They don't remember the title but when they describe the story it is invariably 'The Last Question'. This has reached the point where I recently received a long-distance phone call from a desperate man who began, "Dr. Asimov, there's a story I think you wrote, whose title I can't remember—" at which point I interrupted to tell him it was 'The Last Question' and when I described the plot it proved to be indeed the story he was after. I left him convinced I could read minds at a distance of a thousand miles. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Question https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Question

fsckboy 3y ago

i wonder if touch typing figures in?

xps 3y ago

Saving time may be one aspect of it but I can also see it being useful for people suffering from repetitive strain injury / carpal tunnel syndrome.

LinXitoW 3y ago

For me, faster typing isn't about saving time in total, it's about reducing the time between thoughts. Typing is a manual process that hinders my thinking, so the faster I can dip into and out of typing, the faster I can get back to typing.