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January 14, 2011 8:04 PM Subscribe
How can I hone my attention to detail and what can I use this skill for?
I think I am naturally more conscientious and detail-oriented than others. How do I improve this further? What can I use it for, career-wise?
Part of my job involves managing data, and I will often (and sometimes without even trying too hard) spot inconsistencies and errors, sometimes only seeing them because I've noticed other little things along the way that help me realize there's a problem. (I hope that makes sense. I won't bore you with a mundane example.) The people working under me and sometimes around me don't tend to notice these things.
In school people liked for me to edit their papers, not only because I caught errors but also because I applied a discriminating eye toward the writing style as well.
But I'm certainly no savant, and I'm terribly selective and lazy about this, it seems. For example, I've lived in the same neighborhood for years, and there are many nearby streets I don't even know the name of. If I'm on vacation and with someone who knows their way around better than I do, I basically pay so little attention to my surroundings that I couldn't find my way around alone. (Bad habit I'm trying to break!) I don't necessarily do better on those little logic puzzles than anyone else.
So how do I improve? I recently fell into a few episodes of the show Monk and really enjoyed it. Is it possible to hone your attention to detail and your logic skills to do things like that? (It's a detective show, sort of modern Sherlock Holmes.)
And what kinds of jobs would use this type of skill? I've fall into a bit of a rut job-wise lately and am looking for something fresh. And how do you even prove you have this kind of skill to employers? I mean, who doesn't write "detail oriented" on their resume these days?
And I'm betting that a bunch of errors in this escaped my attention before I posted so I'll just point out the irony in advance...
I think I am naturally more conscientious and detail-oriented than others. How do I improve this further? What can I use it for, career-wise?
Part of my job involves managing data, and I will often (and sometimes without even trying too hard) spot inconsistencies and errors, sometimes only seeing them because I've noticed other little things along the way that help me realize there's a problem. (I hope that makes sense. I won't bore you with a mundane example.) The people working under me and sometimes around me don't tend to notice these things.
In school people liked for me to edit their papers, not only because I caught errors but also because I applied a discriminating eye toward the writing style as well.
But I'm certainly no savant, and I'm terribly selective and lazy about this, it seems. For example, I've lived in the same neighborhood for years, and there are many nearby streets I don't even know the name of. If I'm on vacation and with someone who knows their way around better than I do, I basically pay so little attention to my surroundings that I couldn't find my way around alone. (Bad habit I'm trying to break!) I don't necessarily do better on those little logic puzzles than anyone else.
So how do I improve? I recently fell into a few episodes of the show Monk and really enjoyed it. Is it possible to hone your attention to detail and your logic skills to do things like that? (It's a detective show, sort of modern Sherlock Holmes.)
And what kinds of jobs would use this type of skill? I've fall into a bit of a rut job-wise lately and am looking for something fresh. And how do you even prove you have this kind of skill to employers? I mean, who doesn't write "detail oriented" on their resume these days?
And I'm betting that a bunch of errors in this escaped my attention before I posted so I'll just point out the irony in advance...
One possibility would be freelance proofreading. It actually exists and is a thing.
A caveat: I also find myself giving minor details a lot of attention — improving formatting, cleaning data, and so on. I found proofreading unbearable, largely because most of the job is making sure the text conforms to an arbitrary and often unpredictable style guide. My "meticulousness" is attracted to things that are systematic, rational, and reasonable, and proofreading proved to be none of these.
Also, you're paid commodity rates for what is ultimately a commodity service.
posted by Nomyte at 8:55 PM on January 14, 2011
A caveat: I also find myself giving minor details a lot of attention — improving formatting, cleaning data, and so on. I found proofreading unbearable, largely because most of the job is making sure the text conforms to an arbitrary and often unpredictable style guide. My "meticulousness" is attracted to things that are systematic, rational, and reasonable, and proofreading proved to be none of these.
Also, you're paid commodity rates for what is ultimately a commodity service.
posted by Nomyte at 8:55 PM on January 14, 2011
Part of Monk's "charm" is that he points out what is obvious to him; everyone is amazed that he connects A with B to get to C. ("The Mentalist" and "Psych" are similar, each of the three pawn off their acute observations as the essence of their characters.)
The tough nut to crack is being able to discern that which is obvious to you but not to your audience. If Monk happened across a victim and thinks, "he's wearing bicycle shorts and a helmet, and has a bag is over his shoulder," and then says, "well, he's a messenger," one could expect the rest of the room to roll their collective eyes.
My suggestion:spend a week observing wedding rings/tan lines, then move on to higher/lower sideburns (left vs. right handed). After much practice, you might be able to "read" somebody based on a few subtle characteristics. Do what doublehappy suggests.
I suspect that his compulsion to clean, organize and sort everything are probably helpful - he observes so much because he wants to fix it. One of the later episodes sort of refers to this - when the city garbage workers go on strike, Monk is overwhelmed and accuses Alice Cooper (!!) of murder.
posted by panmunjom at 10:01 PM on January 14, 2011
The tough nut to crack is being able to discern that which is obvious to you but not to your audience. If Monk happened across a victim and thinks, "he's wearing bicycle shorts and a helmet, and has a bag is over his shoulder," and then says, "well, he's a messenger," one could expect the rest of the room to roll their collective eyes.
My suggestion:
I suspect that his compulsion to clean, organize and sort everything are probably helpful - he observes so much because he wants to fix it. One of the later episodes sort of refers to this - when the city garbage workers go on strike, Monk is overwhelmed and accuses Alice Cooper (!!) of murder.
posted by panmunjom at 10:01 PM on January 14, 2011
I'm very similar (even with regards to the selective application). This is a great skill to have as a technical writer or as an editor working for a technology company.
It's true that everyone claims to be "detail-oriented". (Obviously, most technical writers do, and in my experience, most are not!) If you can prove it, you'll be way ahead of the pack. Try gathering some statistics about your own work, so you can provide examples like "I reduced the number of errors in our weekly report by 75%". Also, if a colleague or client makes a remark about your error-catching skills, remember it; then you can say something like "after I found and corrected inconsistencies in our annual report, the board of directors praised the report for its improved quality and clarity".
posted by neushoorn at 3:28 AM on January 15, 2011
It's true that everyone claims to be "detail-oriented". (Obviously, most technical writers do, and in my experience, most are not!) If you can prove it, you'll be way ahead of the pack. Try gathering some statistics about your own work, so you can provide examples like "I reduced the number of errors in our weekly report by 75%". Also, if a colleague or client makes a remark about your error-catching skills, remember it; then you can say something like "after I found and corrected inconsistencies in our annual report, the board of directors praised the report for its improved quality and clarity".
posted by neushoorn at 3:28 AM on January 15, 2011
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