A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Staying on task? - anon

Posted: Dec 12, 2013

Hello everyone. If anyone has any tips on how to stay on task it would be appreciated. I know this topic has been discussed before, but I wanted some different ideas. Thanks!

What helps me....... - Mom22dogs

[ In Reply To ..]
....is to keep track of how many jobs there are to type (usually there are just a few) and tell myself that I can take a mini-break to check Facebook for a minute after those jobs are typed. For instance, right now I have 9 jobs that need to be typed. When those run out I will take another mini-break.

What also helps me...... - Mom22dogs

[ In Reply To ..]
....is playing music quietly in the background (believe it or not, this helps me concentrate). I listen to a variety from oldies to christian to country, among others.

Ultimately - What helped me

[ In Reply To ..]
...I had a plan of action to get out of the business, and I was much better able to focus until then.

If you have chosen to stay in the business, then I guess it depends on what is getting you off track, but maybe my comments below will help.

Even when MT was good, I could get off-track, so I did have very soft, easy listening music (no vocal, as to me that is competing noise) on in the background. Just instrumental. Elevator music, if you will. Sometimes soft classical, though that can put one to sleep.

I had a TV in a room across the hall and we had cable TV, so I would just flip on a good music channel that suited my needs.

I also had another strategy. I live in SW Florida, and I would simply put my bathing suit before my shift, and it would help me know that my reward was a loll or swim in the pool afterwards. I even sometimes did that during a break, but it took more time than I cared to take---get out of the suit, dry off, rinse off, get dressed...

I do think that a little reward at the end of the shift is helpful, but not a fattening one.

Why didn't my paragraphs show? - hmm

[ In Reply To ..]
Why is it that sometimes the new paragraphs don't show up? I always, always paragraph, because I know it's an easier read. In fact, I sometimes feel I need to skip over notes that go on and on w/out a paragraph---just tiring on my eyes and brain.

Hmmm,

I always add an extra space or two - otherwise same thing happens to me nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

What helps me most - Ayn

[ In Reply To ..]
is treating it like any other job -- I think to myself, if I were working in an office, would I stop and do this? If the answer is no, then I don't do it when working from home either. IE: Shut off the personal computer - no personal emails, no Facebook, no MT Stars, no phone calls, etc. I log on to my personal computer before my shift and get my "surfing" done. Then, if I want a productive day, I turn that machine off until lunch break. I keep a notepad on my desk - if I think of something I really "need to look up," something I "need" to do, etc. - I jot it down and do it on my lunch break or after my shift.

NOW - that said, some days I just don't give 2 hoots and I don't follow my own rule. It is extremely difficult to stay focused, sit still, and do what we do without some breaks. IMO, if you try you will go bat*#@% crazy real fast. You need breaks. You need days where you just don't push yourself quite as hard. It can be very intense and stressful to be fully focused on work, work, work, produce, produce, produce for 40 hours a week and then you add in all the other worries and stress of this job - is there enough work to do, etc. on top of dealing with speech wreck - it's hard to stay focused and to stay positive about the job.

BUT, if I want to really focus and have a good, high-producing day that is what helps me most - turn off the personal computer, phones, etc. and just WORK as I would in an office.

Of course - I realise there are many who do all that personal stuff in an office. My husband works with an office full of people who constantly use the company computer for personal things - shoe shopping online, browsing Amazon, streaming videos, Facebook, gambling, playing solitaire, etc., etc. To me that is unethical, lazy, unprofessional, and, in our case, pretty unwise as it directly eats into our pay. Every "quick look" at something on the computer is stealing time and $ from your employer and, in our case of production-based pay, from yourself. It is also extremely unwise to do any of that on a company-provided computer!

All that talk about employee ethics SM - JustMe

[ In Reply To ..]
is wonderful, in theory, and I would/could not work any other way.

But no mention is made of the ethics of what the MTSOs have been stealing from US, our time, tons of unpaid work, our pay, NJA, time with our families, our health and last but not least, our self-respect.

I'm sure we'd all LUV to hear some ethics rhetoric on that.

Adderall - ADHDMT

[ In Reply To ..]
I have ADHD so staying on task is verrrry difficult for me. So my doc gave me Adderall and I've doubled my income. LOL. Not to be a drug pusher or anything...I wouldn't want anyone to start abusing stimulants because of my bad advice. But seriously, that really helped me in not just work but all areas of my daily life.

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