How can you stay focused when proofreading?

No se puede corregir textos durante más de dos horas seguidas (a veces incluso menos) sin hacer una pausa de al menos quince minutos. Obviarlo es arriesgarse a no detectar errores. En dicha pausa, hay que levantarse, andar, estirar la espalda y centrar la vista en objetos lejanos. Por eso, en una jornada de 8-9 horas, solo corriges 6. Lo ideal es estar corrigiendo dos proyectos a la vez, uno por las ma?anas y otro por las tardes. Y no dedicarse a lo mismo durante toda la jornada, porque llega un momento en que pierdes la capacidad de duda, importantísima. También, como en todo trabajo que se realiza sentado, recomiendo la práctica de natación, yoga o pilates. La espalda es tan importante para un corrector como sus ojos o sus dedos.

I've been proofreading professionally for thirty years. Very early on - back when it was all on paper - I started holding a pen (or a non-transparent ruler or a bookmark) under the line of text I'm reading, to stop my eye from jumping ahead. I still proofread that way onscreen - and after three decades it switches my brain instantly into work-mode and tells me that I'm reading for accuracy, not for enjoyment or information or for the broader plot.

Think in terms of how many hours you have in a day and how much of that time you can give to proofreading. Breaking work done into half-hour intervals is helpful.

Proofreading: no one's favorite activity. I try to make sure that I will not be interrupted, so all of my focus is on the doc in front of me. If I find I'm starting to go metaphorically (usually) cross eyed, then it's time for a break and whatever that entails. Then I come back to the doc at the spot where I left it.

Being a legal tech enthusiast, I recommend integrating AI into your workflow for proofreading purposes. However, it's crucial to ensure that this integration is conducted with a strong ethical foundation. Given the current state of AI technology, I advise including a review process rather than placing complete reliance on the AI's output.

If you're in the office, going into a closed-door room to focus allows you to give all your attention. If you're working from home, put your phone in another room.

Choosing the right type of music helps me keep my focus and improve productivity. Classical music by Mozart and Bach are my favorites, especially when proofreading long documents. I prefer mellow lo-fi beats when I need to proofread creative copy.

As Ben mentioned, noise-cancelling headphones are worth investing in. Music with lyrics is not at all ideal because you have to be able to "listen" to the text in your own head, and the human brain can only attend to one voice at a time. Binaural beats, on the other hand, sharpen your focus and are ideal for this kind of work.

For me, it's about eliminating distractions. I leave my phone in another room and I turn off all desktop notifications. I make sure my office is a little on the cool side and there's lots of natural light. No music, unfortunately, as it breaks my concentration.

Most times, headphones are not even an option for me. However, a quiet environment is the best option to ensure full concentration while proofreading content.

Whether it's an email or a 200 page legal document, proofreading is tedious. I always try to put myself in the perspective of the reader by pretending I don't know what the document contains. Read slowly each word and take it section by section. I always proof more than once, and have even read portions back to front as a way to catch errors.

I'm quite traditional and a little bit the jurassic-leaning type (a.k.a. analog era) so I prefer hard copy. Why? Less strain to my eyes, no worries about intermittent internet connection, and losing battery power right in the middle of it all.

As far as possible, I always proofread a printed copy, even for publications that will be released digitally and even when proof corrections must be returned digitally. No matter how careful I am, I find I spot more textual errors and typographical/design flaws in print than I do on screen. Also, it's easier to stay focused proofreading a printed publication. I also prefer, where possible, to return (and receive as a designer) corrections as standard proofreading marks on a printed copy, which I scan: it's a much more efficient, precise and compact way of conveying corrections than verbalising corrections in digital comments. (These comments relate to proofreading. Editing –?structural or copyediting – is another story.)

Also Reading the text aloud. This can help us catch errors we might not notice when reading silently. Our ears may pick up inconsistencies and awkward phrasing.

Sometimes, when proofreading for long hours I feel fatigued. That's the reason taking rest is important in order not to make grievous mistakes. When my body informs me that I am tired. I do stop working and take rest in between. I stretch my arms and legs and walk around or do anything that will relax my nerves. Proofreading is not easy because it demands energy. You should have regular rest when you work for long periods.

Also make sure to eat during your breaks. Little snacks help if you're not massively hungry. You have to be fueled! Chatting with friends or family during your breaks can also be a beneficial temporary distraction.

Having been an English major assigned to read a lot of early literature, I learned to read and walk or even sit on the floor to refresh my concentration. An uncomfortable chair works sometimes also.

Proofreading can become absorbing when you really get into it, so making sure you're taking care of yourself can be challenging. Set a reminder to prompt yourself to take breaks, eat, get something to drink, and move a bit. It sharpens the saw and helps you to stay fresh for longer, ultimately allowing you to do the best job you can in the least draining way.

I focus solely on scientific and engineering research papers. As such I have to read them multiple times before I truly understand. Sometimes it's hard. When my attention lags, the only thing that I can do is to step away from my computer for an hour or so.

This not a bad idea but whomsoever you use as your 'foil' needs to be as bright, interested and well-educated as yourself! Leaning on a dullard is equal to planning to fail.

Make professional friends with other editors at your company, or even with an outside circle of professional editor friends who like to bounce ideas off one another. If you're having a difficult time with a sentence or paragraph, it's so helpful to be able to ask for perspective from a professional that you trust. Even if you don't take their suggestion as is, simply hearing the outside point of view can shake your brain out of the way it's been reading the copy and allow you room for new conclusions.

Get feedback from people. Not just people but someone who is quite knowledgeable in the aspect of writing and proofreading. However, you must be very open to criticism from whoever cross-checks your work, no matter how that criticism comes. I mean, that is the only way you would become better at your craft.

Don't treat proofreading as a chore. If you are good at playacting, become your favourite newsreader and read the piece with similar vigour.

Keep a running document of words and idioms you've ever caught yourself misspelling or misusing. Know that even the best proofreader or copy editor makes an occasional mistake. The reason having experience is so valuable in this field is that it has offered you the opportunity to always be noting and learning from yourself.

Learning from the mistake is the best thing one could implement further. But one should also consider that the consistency of good work is maintained. Skills and confidence are the factors that contribute to the efficiency of the quality work one should have.

The single most effective way to become a better proofreader is to read. Avoid mass-market proofreading guides and go for the specialist stuff instead. Read The Chicago Manual of Style, Garner's Modern English Usage, New Hart's Rules, and Butcher's Copy-Editing. If you absorb the contents of those four books, you'll be in the 99th percentile of proofreaders.

Coming from the place of playfulness, joy and gratitude changes perspective to everything we do! Be grateful for what there is, because everything is FOR you, so you can grow and evolve - even if you don’t see it at the given moment. Give thanks, smile to yourself and approach the task with child like mind - be curious and don’t take it too serious. You now have all the tools you need for this (or anything else) to be a great adventure with the back up of the Universe and Nature! Create Sacred Space, breathe and ground yourself, set the Intention, grab a glass of water and go for the adventure of your task! Enjoy whatever you do!

When proofreading, I have a checklist that I follow and take breaks between each step (checking page numbers, headers and footers, content read-through, checking images, etc.). Most important, at the very end, I do a read-aloud.

As a general rule, editing is easier when you niche down. While not feasible in all scenarios, choosing work that you are more familiar with and that brings you enjoyment will help you hit your deadlines. Copyediting a technical document when you'd rather be developmental editing a fantasy novel is a quick way to get editing burnout and struggle to get your tasks done on time.

A method I use to stay focused when proofreading is pointing my pen at each word as I read through the document. This helps me focus and give each word my full attention, thereby making it easier for me to ferret out mistakes.

I feel that using good line spacing and clear fonts (like Arial, Calibri) make it easier to read and stress your eyes less. Also, zooming in the screen adequately makes you focus on a specific/smaller text section and your brain does not worry about what’s coming next.

If I start to lose focus, the most helpful thing is to step away. Take a break. Go and do something completely different for 10 minutes. Then my next favourite tricks: - change the font (when this is possible) - work on a hard copy (not eco-friendly but a useful way to spot errors) - use a screen reader, like the one in Microsoft Office, to identify problems of punctuation and syntax - use tools like Antidote, PerfectIt, Microsoft's spelling and grammar checker, and Grammarly (powerful tools for catching missed errors, especially problems of consistency and spelling variations between GB and US English. - read it backwards, start in the middle, read only the headings... to refresh my perspective.