What if everybody knew touch typing?
Bending your neck forward or sitting with your hands hovering mid-air while you search for keys on your keyboard is an avoidable example of awful ergonomics.
Don’t do this
Ironically, it’s often the people whose time is worth the most who don’t know how to type. Once upon a time, you were the ones with secretaries. Now the secretaries are gone and you remain, with sore wrists and a strained neck.
If you are self employed, nobody is going to cover you for the cost of days of work lost to discomfort, pain or injury.
If you don’t know touch typing and are not using dictation software, you are straining your neck, shoulders, arms, wrists and fingers. Looking for keys is costing you money in terms of decreased productivity and eventually lost time due to injury. It’s one of the biggest time wasters around.
My Pet Peeve
Do you wonder how much it’s costing the healthcare system?
I do, every time I watch my doctor arduously hunt and peck for one key at a time. I’ll leave the amount of lost time, which equals lost money, to the economists to figure out.
As an ergonomics consultant, I think about the resulting work-related upper limb disorders.
Even if your boss, or your government, let you get away with it, your neck, shoulders, arms, wrists and hands might not be as forgiving. And what about the self employed? If you are self employed, nobody is going to cover you for the cost of days of work lost to discomfort, pain or injury.
Learning to Type
Often productivity is reduced due to sensitivities and discomfort long before an injury is manifest. Learning to type without looking at the keyboard is a ergonomic improvement with big financial impact. It’s within everybody’s reach and it doesn’t have to cost any money.
Maybe you weren’t fortunate enough to learn touch typing when you were young and learning was easy. Today you can learn from a wide range of typing courses and games online.
If you must type in a second language, familiarize yourself with the keyboard to the best of your ability. Even a partial familiarity with the keyboard goes a long way to prevent the strain of constantly bending your neck. Your neck and shoulders will thank you and so will your employer.
Especially if your employer is you.
I have been helping people to sit and move comfortably since 1998. I am always looking for ways to help people improve their relationships with their bodies.