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#9882 - 09/29/05 11:36 AM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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Linda Andrews CMT
Moderator-Andrews School
Registered: 12/31/69
Posts: 5446
Loc: Oklahoma City, OK US
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I believe the Andrews School private message board required her attention on this subject earlier this week. She'll probably be back here when time allows though. If you have specific questions and you are an Andrews student/graduate, go over to her section on the private board. If you are not an Andrews student/graduate, post your question here so it will be here next time she drops by. I think it's a great topic for a thread!
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#9883 - 10/01/05 12:35 AM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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Redpen
Member
Registered: 12/31/69
Posts: 1008
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Quote:
Hi - I am a new MT and have been trying to follow the thread for the productivity exercises provided by Redpen. I can never get past page 4 in the thread, though, and I really need "the rest of the story."  I am so frustrated! I just spent 11 hours doing 758 lines! I type 80 wpm, so I don't think it is my typing speed... There was a hint of something to do with exercise, but I cannot find it... HELP!! Can someone hook me up with page 5 and following? When I read page 4, then click next I get a thread for financial aid at Andrews. While I am sure that is great for those who need it, where did the productivity thread go?? 
The thread is still here. I'm able to read all of it.
But, before you get ahead of yourself, it's important to take this one step at a time.
Do you see that I gave everyone an exercise and then left them alone for oh, gee, hmmm, several months to work on it?
Waaay up at the top, I believe I mentioned that nobody ever believes what I was going to tell them, so I was going to let everyone discover it for themselves. I think I also mentioned that nobody ever wanted to do the initial exercise to discover their problems--they'd rush to the end to get those "Redpen hints" which would save them.
The Hint for the Day is to go back to page 1, read my posts there, see what the initial exercise is, and then do it. It'll take you several days.
You don't even need to read beyond those first posts. In fact, you shouldn't. Just do the exercise.
Then, when you've completed it, come back and share what you discovered.
I'll bet that you suddenly start seeing why it is taking you 11 hours to do 758 lines.
You're doing 69 lines per hour. That is 1/3 of what you should be capable of.
When an MT is transcribing 69 lines per hour, she's not transcribing continuously, but at a stupendously slow rate. No. She's transcribing at a RATE of 200 lines per hour, but she's not transcribing for 2/3 of the hour.
Seriously. That's the problem. You are not actually transcribing for 40 minutes out of every hour. You're doing something else, and it's not transcription. What is it?
If you will go back to page 1 and do the exercise I gave there, it will reveal what you are doing in those 40 minutes. Knowledge is power. You can then begin to control your working life.
Try that and let us know how it's going!
Really, it's a fun exercise. Very informative!
How's everyone else doing with this now? By now . . . and I'm sorry to have had to vanish like that, but duty called . . . you should have had some success. What's your productivity looking like now and how have things changed for you??
_________________________
Redpen
(The Andrews School)
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#9884 - 10/01/05 09:20 PM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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smiling jaguar
Member
Registered: 01/23/03
Posts: 164
Loc: Mississippi
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Hi Peggy,
It's always great to see you posting on this thread. It could be your wonderful personality, but I'm more willing to believe that the pay increases that follow your appearances are what really makes my day. 
I have been pretty much religiously following the results of your exercises and seem to have topped out in the 240 to 270 lph range. I say pretty much because there is only so much sticking to your guns that is possible when working with posthurricane power and phone systems. I started out around 150 lph so I definitely have improved, but you have me wondering what other dumb habits are costing me money.
I really appreciate your time and hints. I have been able to cut down considerably on the time I spend at work and increase my income as well. My family life is better because I have time for my husband and daughter as well as enough sleep. I would say this is a miracle, but it really is just common sense. 
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#9885 - 10/03/05 04:48 PM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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Sandi in Florida
Member
Registered: 04/28/02
Posts: 979
Loc: Florida
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Just had to post a pat on the back for myself. I just did my all-time record for lph. Over the past hour I did 318 lines! Yeah!!
_________________________
Sandi Rhodig, CMT
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#9887 - 10/03/05 08:47 PM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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BarbaraAZ
Member
Registered: 07/25/03
Posts: 179
Loc: Arizona Sonoran Desert
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Nice to see you back, Peggy.
I jumped up 200 lines a day in productivity when the kids went back to school, then added another 100 lines per day merely by using your techniques discussed earlier in this thread. Progress is slow but steady. It is making a wonderful difference in the paycheck! 
_________________________
Barbara
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#9888 - 10/04/05 02:42 AM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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Redpen
Member
Registered: 12/31/69
Posts: 1008
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I see we're making improvements! Anybody else?
What was the single biggest thing you discovered as a result of what we've already explored?
Umm, let's see, another way to say that would be . . . what was the biggest detractor from being productive? Next biggest? Etc.?
Or, another way . . . what did you STOP DOING in order to allow those productivity increases to occur?
Notice that I'm not asking what you DID do in order to get better, but what you STOPPED doing. Slight difference.
_________________________
Redpen
(The Andrews School)
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#9889 - 10/04/05 08:41 AM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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smiling jaguar
Member
Registered: 01/23/03
Posts: 164
Loc: Mississippi
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I think the single biggest thing I learned is that I was not working all of the hours I thought I was working to get a decent line count. I was goofing off at least 2/3 of the time. 
Here is what I have stopped doing so far:
- Staying at the computer during my hourly 10-minute breaks. I go do something simple and mindless like putting a load of clothes in the wash. It gets my body moving and doubles as stretching. The best part is that it has absolutely nothing to do with MT so my mind comes back truly fresh and my body is ready to sit still for another hour. OK, the best part is that my laundry is done at the end of the shift, too.
- Web surfing.
- Allowing family interruptions that do not involve trips to the hospital or possible funeral arrangements.
- Answering the phone during work hours.
- Daydreaming.
- Checking my line count constantly as if it will go up magically based on the number of times I check it on a given shift.
- Running away from difficult dictators or rewarding myself for getting through them.
- Worrying about household chores while working. I get more work and more household stuff done. I used to feel guilty about the house while transcribing and about not transcribing while washing dishes.
- Working when I am mentally not up to the job. I'm an IC, and I also have several chronic medical issues, so if my body and mind are worn out and need a nap, I go take one instead of trying to tough out a few more hours. My line count thanks me.
On top of this, I went from a classification as a level II MT to a level III MT with a QA scores of 99+.
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#9890 - 10/04/05 06:54 PM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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Redpen
Member
Registered: 12/31/69
Posts: 1008
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Excellent, Smiling Jaguar! I especially like the 99+ QA and the increase to level III!
Who would like to share next?
_________________________
Redpen
(The Andrews School)
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#9891 - 10/06/05 06:27 AM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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cambro
Junior Member
Registered: 09/13/05
Posts: 25
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Hello all. I have been lurking for a while now and was so excited with this post and the idea of increasing my productivity, I had to finally come on and introduce myself. I have been working in-office for the last 3 years and just recently took on some sub-contract work on my 2 days off. I have been blown away with how slow I really am! In the office we are paid by the hour and there is no incentive for productivity. In fact, if you type too fast and you run out of work, you are sent home and lose the pay for the lost hours (if you are part-time like me)! That doesn't happen often, but it happens. Doing work at home has been very humbling and I laughed when I read RedPen's original post about focusing on the extras because I have been running around getting the new keyboard, chair, expanders, etc! But I am all set with that now and am ready to sit down and work on my productivity! I am looking forward to your other tips, RedPen, because I can definitely use all the help I can get. I am currently only doing about 133 lph and, believe it or not, I'm the fastest MT at my office!!!. At that rate I won't make any money working at home - or spend all my time working for peanuts!! And I would really like to make 'at home' my permanent job!! So I'd better get to work! Thanks again RedPen!
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#9892 - 10/06/05 09:26 AM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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sueskittles
New Member
Registered: 06/04/05
Posts: 19
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Hey Peggy,
It's so good to see you back! We missed you. I just wanted to update my productivity as well. My record is now 260 lines per hour, and my average is now around 220. It is slowly edging up. I work only when the kids are either sleeping (I get up at 5 a.m. every morning) or when they are busy in the other room and I can devote my entire attention to work. I absolutely do not get up from my chair until my timer goes off. Something seemed to "click" a few weeks ago, and I have noticed that I can just type along now without backspacing so much like I was doing. I can also keep up with the doctors more often, even when they are doing lab values and vitals. My number keys are finally getting familiar to my fingers. In a few more months, I think I will be at or at least very much closer to 300 lph.
Susan
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#9893 - 10/07/05 10:42 AM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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Quilter913
Junior Member
Registered: 10/07/04
Posts: 81
Loc: Montana
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Thanks, Redpen, for calling my bluff! Saying I transcribed 200 lph but only 1/2 (in my case) of the time really hit home!
I now put the dogs in their crate for the hour I'm typing (my major source of interruptions) and type for the hour and then let them out for 30 minutes, and then repeat for all 5 hours.
*for anyone who thinks I'm being mean to my dogs, they LIKE their crate 
Cara
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#9894 - 10/11/05 12:21 PM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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TxMommy1030
Member
Registered: 01/11/05
Posts: 1107
Loc: Texas
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Quote:
Web surfing.
Allowing family interruptions that do not involve trips to the hospital or possible funeral arrangements.
Answering the phone during work hours.
Daydreaming.
Checking my line count constantly as if it will go up magically based on the number of times I check it on a given shift.
Worrying about household chores while working. I get more work and more household stuff done. I used to feel guilty about the house while transcribing and about not transcribing while washing dishes.
Working when I am ... not up to the job. I'm an IC, and I also have [severe asthma and migraines], so if my body and mind are worn out and need a nap, I go take one instead of trying to tough out a few more hours. My line count thanks me.
Uh, these are how I was wasting time too. But you said it SO much better!
Sunday night one of the hours I was working blissfully uninterrupted I hit, I kid you not, 452 lines. I will concede (1) he was English speaking (2) they were some very easy SSI exams but still, WOOHOO! 
_________________________
Motherhood .... now that is a foreign country. ~Lionel Shriver
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#9895 - 10/12/05 09:48 PM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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Redpen
Member
Registered: 12/31/69
Posts: 1008
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Quote:
Hello all. I have been lurking for a while now and was so excited with this post and the idea of increasing my productivity, I had to finally come on and introduce myself. I have been working in-office for the last 3 years and just recently took on some sub-contract work on my 2 days off. I have been blown away with how slow I really am! In the office we are paid by the hour and there is no incentive for productivity. In fact, if you type too fast and you run out of work, you are sent home and lose the pay for the lost hours (if you are part-time like me)! That doesn't happen often, but it happens. Doing work at home has been very humbling and I laughed when I read RedPen's original post about focusing on the extras because I have been running around getting the new keyboard, chair, expanders, etc! But I am all set with that now and am ready to sit down and work on my productivity! I am looking forward to your other tips, RedPen, because I can definitely use all the help I can get. I am currently only doing about 133 lph and, believe it or not, I'm the fastest MT at my office!!!. At that rate I won't make any money working at home - or spend all my time working for peanuts!! And I would really like to make 'at home' my permanent job!! So I'd better get to work! Thanks again RedPen!
We're glad you found us, Cambro. Going from hourly pay to production is a shocker, for sure. Especially for you! Few hourly employees have to work slowly to avoid being sent home! You have a double whammy.
We can help you, I think.
However . . . I notice the first thing you said was that you are waiting for my further tips. Everyone wants the rest of the story. What's really important, though, is the BEGINNING of the story.
Most of your production increase is going to come from identifying and eliminating time-wasting activities and non-activities. You've seen 12 pages of people here confessing their sins.
My "further tip" for you now is that you should return to page 1 and do the initial exercise we discussed there. THAT is what is going to help you the most.
You should be able to work very productively at home and get a lot of rest at work.
For now, try doing the initial exercise. Let us know what you discover, won't you? We all learn from each other. Very often, what one person discovers helps many others realize they had the same problem.
No additional tips I can give you will help one bit if you are working inefficiently to begin with. Try the initial exercise for a few days, then let us know what you found.
_________________________
Redpen
(The Andrews School)
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#9896 - 10/12/05 10:07 PM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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TxCPC
Junior Member
Registered: 10/22/02
Posts: 12
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Hello Redpen :-)
I have been following this thread and have done the first exercise. Discovered several time-wasting habits in myself and am working on eliminating those. I have a question for you and also for those transcriptionists who have chimed in to this thread: what constitutes a line for you? 65 characters per line? 75 characters per line including spaces? 10-five character words? 10 characters/inch with 1" margin X 4 sides of page? If each of you would also post that info, I think it would be helpful. It would be especially interesting to know what Redpen calls 'one line' as that would be our baseline.
Thanks for taking the time to help us all, and now that we have (hopefully) done your first exercise, do you have another exercise in store for us soon? I am ready!
Thanks, TxCPC
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#9897 - 10/12/05 10:15 PM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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Redpen
Member
Registered: 12/31/69
Posts: 1008
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Quote:
Hey Peggy,
It's so good to see you back! We missed you. I just wanted to update my productivity as well. My record is now 260 lines per hour, and my average is now around 220. It is slowly edging up. I work only when the kids are either sleeping (I get up at 5 a.m. every morning) or when they are busy in the other room and I can devote my entire attention to work. I absolutely do not get up from my chair until my timer goes off.
OK, good. Everybody should be working with a timer by now. And you absolutely do not get up until it goes off. Set it again for a break and get back in that chair the minute it dings.
Quote:
Something seemed to "click" a few weeks ago, and I have noticed that I can just type along now without backspacing so much like I was doing. I can also keep up with the doctors more often, even when they are doing lab values and vitals. My number keys are finally getting familiar to my fingers. In a few more months, I think I will be at or at least very much closer to 300 lph.
Lovely! This is very good. I'm glad you mentioned this, because it gave me a perfect introduction for the next steps.
I've posted my next couple of tips based on what you said above. If you'll step over to that thread, please . . . see you there.
(Those still working on the initial exercises can continue to do so on this thread. Just switch to the next thread for the next exercises.)
_________________________
Redpen
(The Andrews School)
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#9898 - 10/12/05 10:24 PM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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Redpen
Member
Registered: 12/31/69
Posts: 1008
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Quote:
Hello Redpen :-)
I have been following this thread and have done the first exercise. Discovered several time-wasting habits in myself and am working on eliminating those. I have a question for you and also for those transcriptionists who have chimed in to this thread: what constitutes a line for you? 65 characters per line? 75 characters per line including spaces? 10-five character words? 10 characters/inch with 1" margin X 4 sides of page? If each of you would also post that info, I think it would be helpful. It would be especially interesting to know what Redpen calls 'one line' as that would be our baseline.
Thanks for taking the time to help us all, and now that we have (hopefully) done your first exercise, do you have another exercise in store for us soon? I am ready!
Thanks, TxCPC
Line lengths vary greatly, so I never look at them. I only look at the relative proportion of before and after.
Most people are working in the same ballpark. When you see someone saying she made it to 300 lph, it didn't happen because she's calling a line 30 keystrokes. She's using 65 or 70 or something like that--the usual. She might not even know how her company software calculates it--she may just have a "line" count or she may have a total characters count which she's converting for ease in understanding.
What's important, though, is seeing her go from 120 to 300 over time by doing x, y, and z.
Maybe if people would post their line definitions, that would help, though. I doubt if anyone is using linear inches.
I think of it, most often, as 65 or 70 characters.
_________________________
Redpen
(The Andrews School)
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#9899 - 10/13/05 03:52 PM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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TxMommy1030
Member
Registered: 01/11/05
Posts: 1107
Loc: Texas
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Hi, Peggy. A "line" around here is 65 characters including spaces. HTH Tracy
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#9900 - 10/13/05 06:03 PM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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cambro
Junior Member
Registered: 09/13/05
Posts: 25
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You're right Redpen, I will do the first task and mark down my wasted time - though most of it right now is researching new terms/doctors I don't know for this new job and adding new words to my shorthand dictionaries! I will use a timer, but I find right now, especially with the kids in school, that I sit down and don't look up for several hours! Do I need to make myself take breaks?
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#9901 - 10/13/05 11:03 PM
Re: Exploring Productivity-Redpen's Exercises
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Redpen
Member
Registered: 12/31/69
Posts: 1008
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Quote:
You're right Redpen, I will do the first task and mark down my wasted time - though most of it right now is researching new terms/doctors I don't know for this new job and adding new words to my shorthand dictionaries! I will use a timer, but I find right now, especially with the kids in school, that I sit down and don't look up for several hours! Do I need to make myself take breaks?
Yes, you need to make yourself take breaks. You will get progressively slower and slower and s l o w e r if you do not. You'll never notice it happening.
Take a minimum of 10 minutes every hour, whether you think you need it or not. Get out of your chair and do vigorous exercise of some sort. Even vacuuming.
You'll be very sorry soon if you do not. Not taking breaks is the first step toward repetitive strain injury, too.
_________________________
Redpen
(The Andrews School)
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Moderator: Linda Andrews CMT
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I'm just tiptoeing around the 200-lph mark right now when all synapses are firing and the wind is blowing just the right direction. 
