Missing Words

[quirkycanuck]

I'm having a weird problem lately and it's very concerning.

I work in a job which requires a lot of communication by e-mail. Generally I am very accurate when typing and communicating. Lately, however, I've had multiple incidences where I've sent e-mails and then realized later there were entire words missing in the middle of my sentences but I didn't notice they weren't there before sending. If it were once or twice, that's one thing. It's happened many times over the last couple of weeks.

Could this be a sign of a serious issue I should be concerned about or is it a sign I need more sleep?

QC

 

[Daniel E.]

Such writing errors seem very typical to me, with or without time restraints, fatigue, stress, newer priorities, etc. But getting enough sleep wouldn't hurt

Thanks to the "gift" of OCD, I usually proofread my posts, e-mails, etc. at least multiple times. But I can still notice mistakes later on, including extra words or missing words. For example, any text that has been added after the initial proofreading is more likely to have errors (at least since it has been read over less):



That's why writers and school teachers suggest a break before doing a final proofread or reading the page out loud or reading the printed page (on paper).

Are you a perfectionist? Perfectionists can easily be self-critical and self-downing about anything they deem important. (For example, the best lawyers are said to be unhappy introverted pessimists.)

More commonly, most people at work are pressured to multitask, which is far from ideal and leads to task saturation (which can be a factor for anything from minor mistakes to plane crashes).

Something that is very popular to check for grammar mistakes:

Grammarly: Free AI Writing Assistance

Grammarly makes AI writing convenient. Work smarter with personalized AI guidance and text generation on any app or website.

www.grammarly.com

And to supposedly make the process of writing more focused:

iA Writer: The Benchmark of Markdown Writing Apps

Plain text. Total focus. The Industry standard Markdown text editor. Available for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows. Download it now, try it for free

ia.net

10 Best Distraction Free Writing Apps in 2025

In the digital age, basically everyone is a writer of some description - whether it's social media content, company blogs, business proposals or something

www.ventureharbour.com

 

[NicNak]

Hello QuirkyCanuck.

I've had similar where it's like my brain skips. I first noticed it when talking & realized I wrote sometimes as I spoke.

Mine was due to high stress & my mental illness.

I'd run it past your Dr to be sure.

 

[Daniel E.]

From an article that was posted today:

What Introverts Need to Be Happy

I used to feel bad about being an introvert.

introvertdear.com

According to Dr. Marti Olsen Laney in The Introvert Advantage, introverts rely more on long-term memory than working memory (for extroverts, it’s the opposite).

And:

The Memory Problem That Makes Life Difficult for Introverts

New research on social memory shows how being an introvert can lower yours.

www.psychologytoday.com

Extraverts even outperform introverts in tests of prospective memory, which is when you have to remember to perform an upcoming task or get to a meeting or appointment.