Creating custom keyboard shortcuts
If you don't have time to mess around creating a bunch of exceptions for AutoCorrect and AutoFormat (or you simply don't currently have the patience to deal with the logic required to create and master the puzzle that is Word's AutoCorrect rules and exceptions), you can simply turn off all your AutoFormat options and use simple keyboard shortcuts for your most-used punctuation and symbols that you need in Word. You can even create your own custom keyboard shortcuts if they do not exist already or if the ones that do exist are difficult to use or remember.
I'm not sure whether this is quicker, as it does require more memorization, but if you have a good memory and like keyboard shortcuts, this might be a good option. It does keep your fingers on the keyboard. However, in this method, we will be inserting symbols using keyboard shortcuts and learning how to customize those keyboard shortcuts from within Word.
