We are all looking for productivity hacks, and the QWERTY keyboard has been a major productivity obstacle, at least for me. Now I suppose you could say, "Well, hold on just a minute. Greg, you've written three books. How could the QWERTY keyboard be an obstacle?"
Where would we be without the QWERTY keyboard? It's hard to imagine, but technology moves on even after 150 years of innovation and evolution.
Well, you see, I'm not a very good typist. In fact, I would say I'd probably be a shitty typist. I can maybe use 2-3 fingers, sometimes 4, but I never learned touch typing. I have no desire to learn touch typing. I get used to a certain keyboard. If the keyboard changes or I get a new computer, it's very difficult for me to adapt.
It's taken me three decades and three books to realize that writing is not typing. Typing is transcription. Writing is a thoughtful approach to communicating something important.
So what were my options? I just powered through; it was excruciating and extremely time-consuming. But I was willing to endure the pain and amount of time, being able to see the final product made it worthwhile.
After writing more than a thousand pages over a 13-month period, I promised myself I would “never write another book”. Fighting the QWERTY keyboard. Dealing with incredibly short timelines and a needy and demanding editor - killed by motivation.
But that's all changed. Because now, there's an actual speech-to-text application that works really, really well. Utilizing some sort of machine learning and AI it learns my style. It's pretty phenomenal.
I cannot imagine using a computer to write anything of substance without Wispr Flow. Why is that?
I could never have imagined what a significant boost in productivity I would have by simply speaking to a computer. All I do to get well-formatted text is to speak what is on my mind and my heart. Sometimes I pause to gather my thoughts and Flow handles it, effortlessly and elegantly.
Sometimes I repeat and correct myself, and amazingly Flow handles it.
In another example, if I'm trying to think of what I want to say, I always have time to gather my thoughts without being interrupted by the keyboard, nasty auto-correct suggestions, the app keeps recording and best of all, no autocorrect or needing to edit SIRI errors and mistakes.
Like I shared I've published 3 books (totalling more than a thousand pages), and as a rule of thumb, I used to allow for 4-6 hours per 2000 words including draft, editing, and final edits.
Using Wispr Flow I can produce those 2000 words. In a fraction of the time. Time I can use to either dictate further thoughts or making a few edits to fine tune.
This has been a game-changer for me, as I can now focus on the creative aspects of writing rather than getting bogged down in the process. I've been able to experiment with different styles and genres, and even collaborate with others on projects. The possibilities are endless, and I'm excited to see how this will continue to evolve my writing process.
Let me know if you have any questions, and feel free to follow this link and get a 14-day free trial.