When I was a child, my mother worked as a word processor for a title insurance company. The first time I witnessed her typing up a record on the computer, I was amazed at how quickly her hands flew over the keys and how she could type without ever needing to look at the keyboard. I wanted to be like her one day. So during my freshman year in high school, I took a keyboarding class (they had us using electronic typewriters back then). Little did I know that this was going to prove to be one of the smartest and most valuable skills I could attain for my future productivity. 

Learning to touch type has helped me through these past decades from completing long reports in graduate school to performing my current job efficiently. In this age of digital communication, the skill to touch type is something I use everyday from entering appointments into my digital calendar to writing up client reports (and even creating this blog post). I don’t have to rely on software to translate memos or assistants to type up my reports so I can get them out the door to clients.  Too often I encounter clients who feel that it is a waste of time to acquire this skill. However, I argue that learning to touch type is an investment in your productivity because it:

• Saves time in the future – you’ll be able to type up your task lists, emails, and reports in less time
• Increases your reliablity – you’ll be communicating more efficiently with your clients
• Increases your profits – you won’t be spending money on voice recognition software, and your administrative assistant won’t be wasting time duplicating efforts on the same task (i.e. typing up written correspondence)

Photo “keyboard ~ blur” by striatic on Flickr