The clever reason you miss your own typos

Do you suffer from cognitive filtering? Imagine your horror when after posting an article you realise you referred to the principals of business as the basic tenants of business, or perhaps to your boss’s recent speech as a pubic address. You spared no efforts to make it a stand-out piece. And you certainly succeeded - for all the wrong reasons.

It’s not that you were careless or inattentive, likely far from it, it’s that when you're so focussed on a task, your brain does something rather clever to conserve energy and manage cognitive load.

The brain's energy conservation mechanism

Although they only make up about 2% of your body weight, your brain consumes a staggering 20% of your total energy. This high energy demand means you’re constantly looking for ways to save energy while still performing essential tasks. To do this, the brain uses what we call cognitive filtering. It’s the same mechanism you use when driving home after a long day, you can barely remember the details of the trip. You feel like you’ve checked out, but your mind has essentially switched to autopilot.

Cognitive filtering: ignoring the unimportant

When it comes to writing, the brain is similarly engaged in a form of energy conservation where it naturally filters out information it deems unimportant or redundant. It’s too busy processing ideas to get the overall meaning across rather than scrutinising every single letter or word and expects the sentence to make sense in context. This is especially true in "flow" states, where we're so immersed in the job at hand, the details get pushed into the background. When this happens, your brain dedicates fewer resources to precision and more on productivity and overall coherence. The fact that you miss a typo or forget the details of your commute isn’t a flaw of your brain—it’s a feature. These shortcuts make room for more important tasks like critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving.

Mental fatigue and overload – sharpen your focus

As we get tired, our mental resources become stretched and we’re more likely to make mistakes. At Wessex Translations, our linguists can translate several thousand words a day, processing an enormous amount of information to ensure we faithfully replicate the meaning of a text in the target language. This is why we insist that our translations be reviewed by a second or even third linguist, depending on the project. It’s also why it’s important to sharpen your focus, which you can do by using the following simple tips:

1. Take breaks

Mental fatigue is a key factor in why these shortcuts occur. Taking regular breaks to rest and recharge can help ensure that your brain stays sharp.

2. Proofread with fresh eyes

After writing something, take a break before returning to it. This allows your brain to reset, and you're more likely to spot errors when you're not on autopilot.

3. Don’t rely on grammar and spell checkers

Grammar and spell checkers are essential tools for spotting high-level mistakes but are limited. They don’t always spot misspelled words or grammatical mistakes in context.

4. Change the font or background colour

Defamiliarising yourself with a text will tell your brain it needs to pay closer attention.

5. Read out loud

OK, so not ideal in a busy office or on the train but reading a text out loud forces you to slow down and engages your auditory senses, making it easier to spot mistakes.

6. Read backwards

Reading a text one sentence at a time, from the end to the start, prevents you from homing in on meaning and instead keeps your focus on form. This is particularly helpful with spelling.

7. Check for one item at a time

Create a punctuation and grammar checklist and tick off one item at a time: full stops, commas, articles, spelling etc. to make sure you let nothing escape you.

8. Ask someone else to proofread the text for you

Someone who’s not familiar with a text is far more likely to spot errors than the author is. Ask a colleague to review your work or outsource it to a professional.

Written by

David Howard