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Time spent on Word

How much time do we spend on Word?

Many of us use word processing software to write documents.

The use of word processing is changing

Be it Word or an open source equivalent, even one that must be purchased, they are part of our office automation "toolkit". It's become natural to use a word processor to write an appealing document. However, it's true that with the growth of the Internet, email has replaced word processing for writing short documents and sending them directly to our contacts. It's faster and simpler! It has the key word processing functions that are so familiar to us, and which are often all we need to write a note or a brief report... But what about when we must write a more complex text, a company document. This includes all departments in the company; management, legal, financial, marketing, technical...

Time spent on word processing for a company document

One must have a good knowledge of Word or other software. Newly-hired executives are often asked to supply certificates attesting to their mastery of this software. Knowledge of these tools is often dispensed as part of a program of higher education. The company document must be well-written so that many people can read and understand it. Of course, the writer will take great care with the content and include creativity and his knowledge in its presentation. Very often, he will be required to respect the company's graphic charter. The direction will require a quality of presentation. It will not take into account the time it will take.

50% of the time spent is spent on page layout

A complex document is often large, with an indexed table of contents, numbered pages, other information at the top and bottom of the page. It contains tables, diagrams or drawings that must be adapted, and so on. The writers involved in this article are familiar with all of these requirements. They are also aware of the time it represents.

Structured writing has the advantage of separating substance from form. It is easier to measure the time spent and compare it to the time spent on word processing for the same text.

Have you calculated the time spent on word processing by all the company writers that are involved in this process? It's enormous!

Tools to measure the time spent on Word

How much time do you spend on Word to write a document?

Here's how Word gives you this information. There is a timer in all versions of Word to know the time spent writing a document. But watch out! It is activated when the file is created for the first time. What about counting the time spent when you leave Word to work on another task.

  1. Open your document and click on the Filetab.

    Word processor : How much time spent in Word. Step 1 File tab

  2. Click on the Propertiesheading.

    Word processor : How much time spent in Word. Step 2 Left Column Information Topic.

  3. In the column below, the Total editing timeinformation shows you how much time you spent writing your document.

In this example: 187 min. for 1325 words

Total editing time

Word processor : How much time spent in Word. Step 3 Right Column "Total Edit Time"

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