Five #EditingLifeHacks to make you more productive
Productivity. Aren’t you over it? It is no longer enough to sit in front of your computer and stare at the screen for half an hour while you place that comma and then reposition it and then take it out completely. For a start, you need to be standing, because who sits at their desk these days anyway? Standing keeps us on our toes mentally — and physically if you have your desk height set incorrectly. Today’s fast turnarounds mean you have to think smart and work smart to get the job done by the time the client wants it. Here are five things you can do to save yourself time and effort.
- Mindfulness — we must all be mindful these days. Yada, yada, yada! Who’s got time to be mindful? I always fall asleep during my meditation anyway, so what’s the point? Skip mindfulness completely and save yourself tonnes of time. Top tip: Follow mindfulness groups on social media to keep up appearances. You only need to like a few posts once in a while. #selfcare
- Social media — switch on Facebook notifications. You will soon master multitasking as you scan incoming notifications with one eye while you keep reading your document with the other. Facebook editing groups are a deep fount of wisdom and only by keeping up with every single notification can you tap into that knowledge. Top tip: Save the posts you think might be useful in the future. You’ll thank yourself some time (once you’ve sifted through and finally found the post you were looking for). #hashtag #Facebook
- Commas — do a global F&R and delete all those commas. They are going to be placed incorrectly anyway. Authors who can’t seem to commit to a serial comma any more than 50 per cent of the time? Sorted! You’re the expert; you’ll know where they go. And it’ll be so much easier if you aren’t confused by the author’s unusual comma placement. Top tip: Make yourself a keystroke macro to save a heap of time. Just remember to write those keystrokes down somewhere. #amediting
- Quoting — boy, do they ever take a lot of time! Those sample edits can really slow you down, so here’s something exciting. Run the sample through Grammarly or even Word’s editing function and just pick out the suggestions you like. You’ll still need to type them onto the doc, but I guarantee it’ll take hours out of your day. Top tip: If you win the quote this way, why not just use Grammarly for the whole edit? #success #entrepreneur
- Blogging — we know how important blogging is for raising our brand profile on the internet. But writing blogs takes time and research, right? Wrong! If you don’t feel confident writing blogs, then sub this out to a local uni student. They’re always after more money and they are used to researching and writing essays. And using hashtags comes naturally to them. Give them free rein on the subject matter and let them loose! Top tip: Be sure to run it through Turnitin before you post it. #atmydesk #savvybusinessowner
And there you have it. We’d love to hear your hacks so please put them out there on social media with #editinglifehacksthatyoudbecrazytofollow
by Caroline Simpson, a freelance editor, and EdANZ Branch President. Contact her at edanz.president@iped-editors.org.