Advanced Steno Techniques

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Issue 11

The Legend of the Lazy Girl

How to Succeed Without Really Tiring

If you have ever attended my class, there is a good chance that you have heard of the Lazy Girl.  I drag out this story every few months.  It's a good tale about what happens when you don't beat yourself silly chasing after dictation that is clearly above your abilities.

The Lazy Girl was a former classmate of mine.  Although she attended school regularly, she had little interest in being a court reporter.  Her goal in life at that time was simply to stay off of academic probation.  Nothing more; nothing less.

Her logic was flawless and beautifully thought out.  If she graduated, she would have to get a job.  If she flunked out, she would have to get a job.  But as long as she was actively enrolled in school, her mother would pay her rent, her car payment, her tuition, her food, etc.  It was a sweet deal.  She didn't want to fail, but she didn't want to graduate too fast either.

And so she became a professional student. 

The rest of us practiced like crazy.  We followed the prevailing philosophy at the time.  We drilled for extremely long periods of time.  We carried too many words.  We wrote too sloppy.  We wrote way too many speed drills.

And we floundered.

The Lazy Girl, on the other hand, never practiced.  She hit the bars every night.  She took trips on the weekend.  Her steno case was never opened up outside of the classroom.  All she ever did was show up at school, set up her machine, and write at a comfortable level.

I swear to St. Eno that she easily outpaced those of us who diligently practiced.  She didn't care enough to chase the dictation.  And so she didn't.  Instead, she happily wrote as much of each drill as she could and just as happily dropped the rest. 

Her method had an extra bonus that really appealed to her.  Because she wrote at a controlled pace, she found it easy to stroke great outlines.  This meant that she could type her transcript quickly.  She never had to "pull" a transcription from fractured notes.  She was out the door, down the road, and enjoying her first beer before the rest of us put away our typewriters.

The kicker was when she broke her wrist.  Her left arm was in a cast from her fingers to her elbow.  Her thumb was immobilized, but the very tip of it did peek out.  Her fingers were pretty much unrestricted by the cast, but she could only write an A or O by twisting her forearm and pointing her thumb downward.

She didn't care.  She wrote at her normal slow pace.  I'm sure her notes got a little sloppy due to the cast, but it didn't stop her.  She passed several tests with that cast.

I tried hard.  I was on academic probation for portions of my schooling.

She never tried.  She moved slowly and steadily through school.

I abused myself by drilling so hard and so long that I was often noticeably worse after intense practice sessions.

She wrote comfortably and calmly and clearly with every stroke of every drill.

I wrote hour after hour of drills at school and at home, but virtually nothing was worthwhile.  I was too sloppy, and I carried tons of words. 

The Lazy Girl only practiced at school, but all of her work was high quality.

Eventually, we both graduated.  I embarked on my steno career.  The last I heard, the Lazy Girl had taken a job as a bartender.  We were both fairly happy.

I struggled much more than I had to.  I should have focused on solid strokes, rhythm, clarity.  I didn't.  I wrote as fast as I could at all times.  As a result, I was always writing sloppy and out of control.

She didn't care to rush.  She wrote at her level.  As a result, her notes were beautiful, and she was under control at all times.

Her method was far superior to mine.

It still makes me mad.

    Clarity

don't leave home without it. 

Have a great steno day.

As a reader of the Advanced Steno Techniques, you are entitled to a 30% discount at BuySteno.com.  Please use this coupon code:  AST  (AST stands for Advanced Steno Techniques).