One of my greatest struggles lies in tearing myself away from my practical responsibilities to spend time on my writing. Work and family can eat up every spare second. How can I carve out enough time for my personal passions?
This quest has led me to read a number of books designed to help me manage my time. The latest is Bit Literacy by Mark Hurtz. The book promises to show readers how to increase productivity in the age of information overload. Some of the recommendations are great; others oversimplify things for my tastes. But one of Hurtz’s recommendations completely blew my mind.
I’ve decided to switch from QWERTY touch-typing to the Dvorak method, which offers increased efficiency and reduced risk of repetitive stress injuries.
My husband thinks I’m crazy, partly because I already type 95 words per minute. Why would a sane, high-performing person decide to lose a month or so of productivity for a potential 5 or 10% increase in speed?*
My response: “I don’t plan to die in the next month. Even a modest productivity improvement would add up quickly.”
So much of my life takes place in front of a computer that I believe I can pick up an hour or two a week by cutting down the time it takes to draft emails and blog posts.
More importantly, making the switch will likely extend my years productivity and reduce my chances of requiring surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome. I’ve felt twinges in my wrists for nearly two decades, dating back to my college years as a medical transcriptionist.
So now, here I am, preparing to reprogram my fingers after 20 years of flying over traditional QWERTY layouts. This experiment will certainly cut into my writing, blogging and running time, but I believe it will pay off in the end.
Of course, I also realize that man – and woman – is not a rational, but a rationalizing, creature, so I ask you: do you think this is a smart move that will ultimately improve my productivity, or does it seem like an overly complex form of procrastination?
Stay tuned, kids, and I’ll let you know how it goes.
*Actually, those estimates are conservative. Some typists have shown improvement of 200%-300%, but they probably weren’t typing 100 wpm when they started.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Since you are training for a marathon and finishing a book I think that this is a terrific way to add to your stress level, ha,ha..
But the non sarcastic part of me thinks that you should try new things. Only you know how much you can do without imploding. (sorry, sarcasm again,ha,ha..)
If you do this do you have to carry your own keyboard everywhere?
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
No, most operating systems make it easy to toggle back and forth between the two layouts. But it would definitely mess someone up if they tried to use my computer when it was set for Dvorak. (Heck, it messes me up if I forget to switch it back and then try to do an Internet search.)
You can’t cut into your running time because you need that time to train for the marathon. And if training for a marathon is anything like training for distance rides on a bike it involves increasing amounts of time (miles) leading up to the event.
And you need to finish your book. Since you have already been published you already know how important that is.
But you can likely schedule time to also learn the Dvorak keyboard.
You’ve already started that project.
And since you aren’t planning to die in the next month you have time to learn the Dvorak keyboard without giving up the other things.
I know all about high achievers. I am one.
Do you ever wonder why you need to constantly push yourself to do more than the people around you?
I do. I often wonder what I’m running to. Or from..
Wow. Deep thoughts. Serious questions. And yes, I’ve filled more than a dozen journals musing on such subjects. I’ve also concluded that I’m not the type of person to run from things; I run to things. Such was the case when I packed my bags and left the South to settle in a studio apartment in Manhattan.
What have you concluded about yourself? And does your writing help you figure things out?
Wait. Did someone take over Glen’s computer? Because it sure doesn’t sound like him.
I often wonder what I’m running from when another part of me wants so much to run towards it. Maybe the better question is why.
So, how long do you think it’ll take you to train your fingers on the Dvorak keyboard, at least to the point that they are going as fast as they are on the QWERTY keyboard? I don’t know that I could switch at this point. QWERTY is so ingrained, so much so that sometimes, my fingers type words on their own that weren’t even the ones my brain was trying to get them to type.
You could switch if you wanted to. It appears to be a painful and frustrating process, but you could definitely do it.
I’ve heard that it takes about a month – if you go cold turkey. I haven’t quite committed to that method. Plus, I’m hoping to cultivate the ability to switch back and forth. Other estimates say to figure one hour for every word per minute. That would be just over three months if I tackle it for an hour per day.
I’ve already noticed during practice that my fingers are learning the new positions faster than my brain. When I don’t think so hard and let my fingers move on their own, they often know where to go. But my brain keeps trying to mess things up.
I’m running from..
And it would only take me a month to learn the keyboard and get to my current pace. Unless I tried to learn it in February, ha,ha..
Cute. I’m actually trying to type more with a keyboard map in Dvorak. Strange. The home keys are going well, and it’s amazing how much you can type with that very important row.
It could definitely hinder my blogging efforts, though…