Have you ever thought about how many different times throughout a matter you have had to use the same data/information that you have dictated and how best to present it?  

Over the years I have typed a lot of documentation with dates and amounts.  

In the days of manual typewriters and early computer programs, the TAB KEY seemed to be the common way to list numbers and dates under each other for presentation purposes.  However, I believe TABS, when working in a document on the screen, visually look messy, are not user friendly and are difficult to manipulate when copying and pasting.  

So, wherever possible I suggest at the outset the use of TABLES because:

• The visual grouping of data/information in the straight lines of a TABLE clearly directs a reader’s eye to the data/information you want them to see.
• The data/information when dictated can be sorted, by row, either alphabetically or chronologically.
• Data/information can be manipulated by copying and/or moving same by row, column, or the entire TABLE, into other documents or programs.
• It is a way to position images that would otherwise be hard to place in the overall layout of a document.

Some documents that come to mind where grouping of dates and amounts are required are Statements of Loss and Damage, Schedule of Damages, Chronologies of Events and lists of medical expenses etc.  

So, when next you review, for example, a bundle of medical records and/or past claims and WorkCover files, remember to request the use of a TABLE at the outset which means you won’t have to worry about arranging the order of documents while you dictate. Just dictate your documents in the order that they appear and then, at the end of your dictation, ask for the data to be sorted either chronologically or alphabetically.