My most valuable skill
Back in 2000 when my illustrious time in academia culminated in a degree in music, sending me ignominiously into the world of work with barely a saleable skill to my name, my parents very kindly paid for me to take a summer computing course with Pitman Training. The course was designed to teach me the ropes: Windows 98, Word, Excel and…(yawn)…touch-typing.
Since that summer, I’ve frequently reflected on just what a valuable asset touch-typing is to me. But rarely do I consider that the vast majority of my friends and colleagues are without that particular skill — and what effect that has on them.
Two things got me thinking about this. Firstly, a tie-in piece I’m writing for Flux which touches on the same subject (and will appear in the next day or two) but secondly, seeing the time it took a colleague simply to type a URL (web address) into their browser.
What went through my head was: How long would it take this dude to write me an email or a report?
How long would it take this dude to write me an email?
With the emphasis on computer time in most workplaces (and our personal lives I suppose) I begin to wonder whether touch-typing should be taught in schools (if it isn’t already – anyone?) and be made a highly desirable skill for any office-based job advert.
Some reading around the topic of the “touch-typing edge” convinces me further. Take Web Design from Scratch‘s article on touch-typing. As he points out, “Unless you are made of wood, your brain can think a heck of a lot faster than your fingers can type. So your typing is certainly the bottleneck to your productivity.”
your brain can think faster than your fingers can type. So your typing is certainly the bottleneck to your productivity
Of course. Like a bottleneck in the road might make you battle on at the slower pace it might just as equally make you turn around and go home. Now I understand why so many of my long, chatty emails to friends go unanswered. Maybe it’s just a hint. But, also, maybe the thought process goes something like: “I can’t reply in 2 lines to this 10-paragrapher but I haven’t got time to write any more. I know — I’ll do it tomorrow. Or maybe the day after…”
The advantages of learning to touch-type are manifold:
- You can do things in less time, saving dozens of hours across a year
- It’s less mentally fatiguing
- It’s easier on your fingers
- It boosts your productivity
Taking all this into account:
- I probably gain at least 1 hour a week (maybe many hours) over my colleagues
- I’m more inclined to contact my friends, sharing news and writing back without procrastination
- When I write documents, reports, I can take more care over getting the right words and communicating the meaning. Because the initial write-up hasn’t been so arduous, I can devote more time to the edit (how many pidgin typists can bare to even read over their work for fear of finding a mistake and having to put it right?).
- I can code faster making me a more employable web designer :-)
- Less chance of RSI
So all I need to do is get my iphone typing up to the same speed and I’ll be laughing.
Categories: Technology, working
Spot on!