Six weeks in the life of a well-educated, professional adult learning to touch-type

by Dr. Stephanie A. Burns

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CHALLENGE YOURSELF, YOU CAN SEE WHAT I SAW WHEN ANALYSING THE REPORTS.

1. Make a list of all the emotion terms used in the reports

2. Count the number of incidents for each emotion type.

3. Look for sign of emotions in which there is not an emotion term used (i.e. feeling down in the dumps)

4. If it is available, to what does the writer attribute the emotional response (i.e. what is the antecedent)

5. In what way are the writers actions affected by the emotional state he is in.

6. Identify all of the internal dialogue and thoughts. If you want to send me your analysis I will be happy to check it and give you feedback.

Thank you 'rmp' for allowing me to use your reports in this way to educate others.

Incident 1
Friday morning 25 August 1995

Woke up 6:15 very tired. Intended to do lesson 1 before children got up. Rolled over, stayed awake and didn't get up. Guilt.

Why can't you do a simple thing like get out of bed and do a typing lesson?

Got typing tutor on screen about 8:45 after children off to school.
Phone rang and I had to do something else (actually quite non-urgent, but it was a request from somebody for information). Relief.

I can justify not doing this now because the time I've allocated is gone and I've got something else legitimate to do.

Kept typing tutor on screen all day (in the background) and never started the lesson.
Guilt.
 

"If I go any slower ... "

There has got to be an easier way

Incident 2
Sunday evening, 27 August 1995

Borrowed notebook computer to take away with me and had to check it out to make sure it worked and batteries are charged up etc. Set it up in the kitchen because no spare power outlets in office.

Computer working fine, so I decided I might as well do lesson 1.
Mild excitement.
Very ergonomically unsound place to work on bench top, so I had to stand.
Why don't you sit at your desk and use the other computer stupid.
You'll be more comfortable there.

I didn't, and continued to pack car, food etc for trip in between sections of the typing lesson.
Typing gives me the shits. It's so easy, I shouldn't have to waste all this time learning how to do it. Shut up and concentrate, otherwise you'll never learn.
Sequence 20, lesson 1.
Impatient.

When is this lesson going to end so that I can say that I've done it and get on with something useful?
I'm not concentrating because my mind is on other things and speed goes down to 12 wpm and accuracy to 83 %. Computer suggests that I go slower to increase my accuracy.

Slow down! Piss off! If I go any slower I'll never finish this lesson.
How much slower can I go?
When is this lesson going to end?
I'm sick of this already.
I wonder how my speed and accuracy would be if I did the test now without learning to do this properly.
I don't need to know how to type.
I'll pay someone else to do it for me.
Sequence 29 lesson 1.
Tension in shoulders from holding my arms up at bench height. Exasperation.

How many bloody sequences in a lesson?
How many bloody lessons?
This is going to take forever to get through this lot.

End of sequence 30 - lesson 1 complete. Computer suggests more practice.
Pigs arse! I've got much better things to do with my time, like sleep. Tired, irritated.

I haven't finished a whole bunch of important things that I need to have done by 7 the next morning. Apathetic, tired, couldn't care less.
I feel as though I've wasted about an hour on typing practice and now something else has to suffer because of it.

No action .. all week!

Incident 3
Tuesday evening, 29 August 1999

Set up notebook on lap in passenger seat of vehicle.
Very little elbow room.
Too many insects outside to do it there.
Computer on - can't see screen properly.
Maybe I can justify not doing this until I get home next week because colour on a black and white screen doesn't show up.
Guilt, irritation.

No, you've gone to all this trouble to borrow a notebook etc. - get on with it. Next part of the program-good contrast, can see screen well. Satisfaction, almost excitement
Good. This will work after all.
Working steadily through sequences, completely focused until the "a".
I keep hitting the caps lock instead which makes the next couple of key strokes wrong because they are capitalised.
Concentration is broken.
Irritation.

Looking better all the time!

Wow, this is actually working.
I might be able to type after all.
Finished lesson feeling very satisfied and glad I'd made the effort to bring the computer with me.

Incident 4
Sunday evening, 9 September 1995

Haven't done any lessons at all this week.
Have decided not to take notebook out in the field tomorrow, and will put practice schedule on hold until I return to sanity and civilisation week after next.
This has come from a realisation that the goal is still OK and achievable, but to force a difficult practice regime into a schedule which is already full is merely sabotaging the results and setting myself up to feel guilty all the time. Relief.
You are just avoiding it and pretending that you will do it properly in 2 weeks time.
No I am just allocating it to a more reasonable time slot so that I can actually give it my best shot.
That's all right then.
Make sure you do it.

Internal conflict

Incident 6
Sunday 10:30 am, 1 October 1995

It's Sunday morning 10.30 and I am redoing lesson 1 because it is so long since I did lesson 2 that I feel as though I should start again. Everything else seems so much more important, and I'm still behind on other tasks which are certainly more important.

I've been writing appointments in my diary to do the lessons and then not keeping them.

Sequence 5 lesson - Boredom and Irritation.
This is stupid - fry space fry space fry space yawn.
My mind wanders and I have to consciously drag it back to the task.
I am having trouble relocating keys after I have moved my hands, and the "incorrect beeps" are really irritating, because I refuse to look at the keyboard to position them and sometimes the fumbling is a bit random.

Anger and Impatience. I just want to get this over with so that I can get on with something useful.
I take a break to go to the gym for a workout.
On my return, much to my dismay, the program appears to have terminated and I have to begin again at sequence 1.

More anger and impatience which leads to hurrying and not concentrating adequately.
 

GUM space GUM

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Slow down and focus on what you are doing -
It seems like my father's voice.
Sequence 26 and I am concentrating hard and having to consciously remember key positions, which makes me very slow. This is no easier than the first time.
I notice my wrists are hurting and the pain is making me frown.
I adjust my seat and keyboard position, which helps only a little.

Sequence 30 and lesson 1 is finished again.
Relief and apathy with some irritation.
I have the feeling that my typing prowess has not progressed one iota over the last 4 weeks.

RSI

=

REPETITIVE -STUPIDITY
-INJURY

Incident 7
Tuesday 6:30am, 3 October 1995

Instead of going to gym first thing in the morning, I decide to do my typing practice.
I sit down at my desk and prepare to begin.

As soon as my hands are on the keyboard, my wrists begin to ache so I roll up a towel to use as a forearm rest.

This helps a little, but seems to restrict my hand movement.

This sparks a train of mainly negative thoughts about how anybody could do this sort of thing all day.

RSI stand for repetitive stupidity injury maybe.

My fingers seem to be fitting the keyboard a bit better, though some key combinations are very clumsy and my poor finger mobility makes them difficult.
I should find some finger exercises to help my fingers work better.

The constant beeping of the computer is really beginning to irritate me.
Message that the last set was 89% accuracy @ 10 wpm, and a suggestion that I should go more slowly. Instant anger and a mixture of thoughts ranging from abuse to "I might as well give up now".

Whenever the give up/quit thoughts come into my mind, it immediately follows on to feelings of obligation and being trapped by a commitment. The feeling is also there that if I quit, I'd be letting someone down who is relying on me. Being let down, lied to, betrayed has always brought up extreme anger in me when others do it to me. So maybe I'm afraid of making others feel that way towards me when I let them down.

It seems a very self righteous and negative sort of a pattern to me. What about letting myself down? Who is important here? I have a sudden flash of insight. I almost always rebel against being told to do something. This presumably means that when I order myself to do something (inside my head), particularly whilst being critical, that is the automatic reaction.

How can I reframe it so that it does not feel like an order.
I must do something to make typing seem exciting.
What does actually motivate me?

Conflict is happening inside my head about whether I should be following these thought processes around until there is some sort of resolution or getting on with the typing.

Typing wins, but there is a lack of concentration because a whole range of thoughts about other things keep breaking in.
I finish the session feeling a bit drained and confused, frowning a bit.

Incident 8
Thursday, October 5, 1995

I am in bed and had planned to get up and do some typing before an 8.30 appointment.
I feel very tired and unmotivated to do anything.
My mind is full of thoughts about other work as well as social and family things.

Get up and do it you lazy bastard.
Why are you so tired?
You know that is just a cop-out, an avoidance trick.
I'll do it later when I've woken up properly.
I stay in bed dozing and going over hundreds of other things in my head.

I feel guilty, but justify it by promising myself that I will do it later during the day when my head is clearer.

Incident 9
Thursday 1pm, 5 October 1995

Midday, after an early lunch, I sit at the computer to do lesson 3.
I am satisfied that I have actually kept the promise I made earlier to myself to do another lesson today.

My head is fuzzy and I am having trouble concentrating.
This is not helped by the radio and circular saw noise from the building site next door.
As I start, I notice that my left wrist in particular begins to ache, and my little finger on my left hand does not have the mobility and control of the others. I am frowning as I struggle to concentrate.

Gum space gum space gum space.
This is really boring.
To make it more interesting, I move my hands away from the keyboard and replace them with my eyes closed and start typing again.
Beep beep beep!
They were one row too far over.
Tension and anger at getting it wrong.
I must compensate by consciously keeping my hands close together.

Sequence 25, and both wrists are aching, my shoulders are raised and very tense.
Impatience.
I find myself wanting to be finished this lesson, and have already decided that I will not do the extra practice at the end. Get your mind back to the present.
You haven't finished yet.
Why space fix space why space fix.
I just cannot find the right keys at the moment.
Anger. I control the urge to curse and thump something and continue to miss the w then the h then the I almost every time. My conscious mind is trying to remember these key positions each time and it is too slow.

It's infuriatingly slow.
Message comes up - 8 wpm @ 88 % accuracy - try typing slower. Anger.
I abuse the software writer yet again.

I breathe a sigh of relief as sequence 35 and lesson 3 is over.
I don't feel as though I am getting anywhere.
It all feels like a waste of time.
Disappointment and Irritation along with a sense of failure.
Negative vs. positive arguments are flying around inside my head. I feel quite tired and my arms ache.

PS: THESE REPORTS WERE SUBMITTED IN HANDWRITTEN FORM AND I HAD TO TYPE THEM INTO THE COMPUTER FOR ANALYSIS!

Stef

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