Breaking the double space habit

As someone who reads a lot of author submissions, one habit I'd like to see broken is that of double spacing after each sentence. For anyone born during the personal computer age this is not an issue but for those who learned to type on a typewriter it is a hard habit to break.

To give a little history, double spacing was common during the time when all typefaces were mono spaced. A typewriter did not distinguish between the line width of a period an N or an M. All were tracked at the same width. Users put in two spaces after each sentence because it looked better. During the same era, when printing text was set by a professional typesetter, the typesetting machines only required one space after periods because the machine set type according to width and double spacing left too much space between sentences.

Enter the personal computer and so called desktop publishing. The software used for both design and in word processing use proportional type. This eliminates the need to double space between sentences.

So if you are in the over 40 age group and still double spacing it is time to adapt to modern technology in order to make your documents more readable and more conducive for the Web, communications materials and manuscripts.

Take away points

• Change is difficult and old habits die hard

• Adapting to new technology is important

• Being up to date is crucial in today's tech driven world

Are you keeping up with your new year's resolutions?

Okay, here we are only five days into the new year. By now, according to many studies, most of us have given up on our new year's resolutions. Why is that? Because as people we are habitual and we don't like change. New year's resolutions are all about change. There in is the conundrum.

For myself I have made all the standard resolutions from watching my diet to more exercise to keeping my office straightened. This year I also resolved to be more disciplined in posting my blog. Now here it is the fifth of January and I'm just now getting around to my first post.

I don't know about you but my work life is filled with business writing as part of my daily tasks. Some devices, such as my email inbox, are invasive technologies in that are right there in front of me whenever I log in to my computer. It is next to impossible to avoid checking my email. My phones, both the land line and cell, are also invasive. When my phones ring I answer.

There are other items in my work life are purely elective. If I don't schedule them I may not get around to doing them. My blog, for instance, is purely elective. My world is not going to come apart if I fail to post a new one. Other purely elective tasks include filing paperwork, upgrading my software and checking the toner in my printer.

Between invasive and purely elective are other work tasks which I'll call required tasks. These include doing the work I'm supposed to do in my regular workday. For me these include reviewing submissions from perspective authors, keeping on top of current projects and keeping up with current news so that I can continue providing value to my clients.

Conceptually there are three primary items that make up my work life:

Invasive technologies -- things that interrupt the daily work flow yet are so important they cannot be ignored

Required tasks -- those items I've been hired to do and must complete in order to earn my keep

Purely elective tasks -- those things that can be, and often are, ignored or put aside in the course of my daily work life

Think of your own work life.

What are your required tasks, your purely elective tasks and the invasive technologies that cannot be ignored?

What tricks or tips have you learned through your own experience?

And, as another year begins, what changes are you hoping to make to manage your daily work life?