Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Embarrassed but harangued, I reveal how I do some things on the computer so darn fast.

I am not enjoying writing this post. It is about how I manage to do things quickly on the computer. As odd as it sounds (to me at least), people accuse me of working too quickly on the computer. Silly me, I thought accomplishing work quickly was a good thing. It seems that many people disagree with me.

So here it is: my tip for working quickly on the computer:

Keep both hands on the keyboard

Not impressed? Me neither, so let’s delve deeper into this subject. When I have repetitive tasks on the computer that I cannot program, i.e., they have 10% thinking mixed in at inconvenient times, I learn a series of keyboard strokes.

For example,

• command-L
• command-V
• Return
• command-C
• arrow
• arrow
• Return
• control-Tab
• N command-V
• Return

and so on. I memorize the string of keystrokes and, as mindlessly as I can, punch them one after another as quickly as my 50+ year-old hands allow.

When I have to perform a computer task, I learn the sequence of keystrokes, keep my hands off the mouse (mouse movements take far too much time), and go go go. I finish my task and …

People complain that I finish too fast.

They are embarrassed because I finished in a third of the time they required. Hence, I must have done a very poor job of it and at heart I am a goof off.

Oh well, sometimes, many times, it is not a good idea to work quickly.