I Have RSI and Can't Type — Here's How Voice Dictation Saved My Career
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Two years ago, I woke up and couldn't straighten my fingers. The pain in my wrists had been building for months — I'd ignored the tingling, pushed through the aching, and told myself it would get better. It didn't. My doctor's diagnosis was blunt: repetitive strain injury in both wrists, with early signs of carpal tunnel syndrome. His advice was equally blunt: stop typing so much, or it's going to get worse.
For someone who writes code and content for a living, "stop typing" might as well be "stop earning money."
This is the story of how I rebuilt my entire workflow around voice dictation — and how it not only saved my career but actually made me more productive than I was before the injury.
The Moment Everything Changed
I'm a software developer and technical writer. On a typical day, I type somewhere between 8,000 and 12,000 words — code, documentation, emails, Slack messages, articles. My hands were on a keyboard for 10+ hours a day.
The RSI didn't arrive suddenly. It crept in:
I tried everything the internet suggested: ergonomic keyboards, vertical mice, wrist braces, standing desks, regular breaks. Some helped temporarily. None solved the problem. The fundamental issue was volume — I was asking my hands to do too much, and no amount of ergonomic optimization could change that.
When my doctor told me I needed to reduce my typing by at least 70%, I panicked. I couldn't afford to reduce my output by 70%. I had deadlines, clients, and a mortgage.
Discovering Voice Dictation (And Failing at First)
My first attempt at voice dictation was macOS's built-in dictation. I turned it on, started talking, and immediately hated it. Every "um" and "uh" appeared in the text. Punctuation required me to say "period" and "comma" constantly, which broke my train of thought. The accuracy was okay for simple sentences but fell apart with technical content.
I lasted two days before going back to typing — and paying for it with a week of wrist pain.
My second attempt was with Windows Speech Recognition on my work laptop. Slightly better, but the same core problems: no intelligence about filler words, clunky punctuation, and accuracy that couldn't handle my workflow.
I was starting to think voice dictation was a gimmick — something that worked in demos but not in real life.
Finding What Actually Works
A friend with a similar RSI story pointed me to Typeless. She'd been using it for six months and swore by it. I was skeptical, but desperate enough to try one more time.
The difference was immediate.
Typeless for Daily Writing and Coding
The first thing I noticed was the filler word removal. I speak with a lot of "ums" and "uhs" — most people do when they're thinking out loud. With macOS dictation, my text was littered with them. With Typeless, they just disappeared. The output read like I'd carefully typed every word.
The second thing was smart punctuation. I could speak in natural sentences and Typeless would add commas, periods, and question marks in the right places. No more breaking my flow to say "comma" every few words.
Here's what my daily workflow looks like now:
For writing (articles, documentation, emails):
For coding: I still type some code — short bursts with an ergonomic keyboard. But for comments, documentation, commit messages, PR descriptions, and Slack messages, I use voice dictation exclusively. This alone cut my typing by about 60%.
For longer documents: I dictate the first draft entirely by voice, then do one editing pass with minimal typing. My first drafts are actually better now because speaking forces me to think in complete, coherent thoughts rather than typing fragments and rearranging them.
Fireflies.ai for Meetings
The other piece of my voice-first workflow is Fireflies.ai for meetings. Before RSI, I'd type notes furiously during every call. Now, Fireflies joins my meetings automatically and handles everything:
This eliminated another huge chunk of my typing. Instead of writing meeting notes, I just review the AI summary and make minor edits. What used to take 20 minutes of typing after each meeting now takes 2 minutes of reading.
Between Typeless for daily work and Fireflies for meetings, I've reduced my typing by roughly 80% — well beyond my doctor's 70% recommendation.
The Unexpected Benefits
Here's what surprised me: going voice-first didn't just save my wrists. It made me better at my job.
I write faster
My typing speed was around 80 WPM. Speaking, I comfortably hit 150+ WPM. Even accounting for editing time, my total output per hour increased significantly. Articles that took me 3 hours to type now take about 90 minutes to dictate and edit.
My first drafts are cleaner
When you type, it's easy to write fragmented thoughts and plan to fix them later. When you speak, you naturally form complete sentences and logical progressions. My first drafts require less editing now than they did when I typed them.
I think more clearly
There's something about articulating ideas out loud that forces clarity. If I can't explain something verbally, I probably don't understand it well enough. Voice dictation has become a thinking tool, not just an input method.
Less fatigue overall
Typing for 10 hours is exhausting — not just for your hands, but for your whole body. The tension in your shoulders, neck, and back from hunching over a keyboard adds up. Speaking is physically easier, and I end my workdays with more energy.
Practical Tips for RSI Sufferers Starting with Voice Dictation
If you're dealing with RSI and considering voice dictation, here's what I wish someone had told me:
1. Start with the right tool
Don't begin with built-in OS dictation — the frustration might turn you off voice input entirely. Start with something like Typeless that handles filler words and punctuation intelligently. The free tier is enough to test whether voice dictation works for your workflow.
2. Give yourself two weeks
The first few days feel awkward. You'll speak too fast, mumble, lose your train of thought. By day five, it starts feeling natural. By week two, you won't want to go back.
3. Create a quiet space
Voice dictation works best in a reasonably quiet environment. I use a decent USB microphone at my desk — nothing expensive, just a basic condenser mic. It makes a noticeable difference in accuracy compared to a laptop's built-in mic.
4. Don't try to replace 100% of typing immediately
I still type for short things — quick Slack replies, terminal commands, small code edits. The goal is to eliminate the high-volume typing that causes damage, not to never touch a keyboard again.
5. Combine tools for different needs
Use a dictation tool like Typeless for writing and a meeting tool like Fireflies.ai for calls. No single tool does everything perfectly, but two tools can cover 90% of your needs.
6. Talk to your doctor
Voice dictation is a tool, not a medical treatment. Keep doing your physical therapy, take breaks, and follow your doctor's advice. Voice input reduces strain, but it doesn't heal existing damage.
Two Years Later
My wrists are significantly better. The pain is manageable, the tingling is rare, and I can grip my coffee mug every morning. I still have RSI — it doesn't fully go away — but it's under control because I'm not aggravating it with 10 hours of daily typing.
More importantly, my career didn't just survive. My output has actually increased. I write more words per day, produce more content, and spend less time on mechanical input. The injury forced me to find a better way to work, and voice dictation was that better way.
If you're dealing with RSI, carpal tunnel, or any condition that makes typing painful — don't wait as long as I did. The tools exist today, many of them are free, and they work far better than you probably expect.
Start with Typeless for your daily writing. Add Fireflies.ai if you're in a lot of meetings. Give it two weeks. Your wrists will thank you.
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