Mechanical keyboards are all the rage right now in the keyboard industry. They’re famed for their customizability and their acoustics. What about their productivity boost? Keyboards, after all, are primarily tools for white-collar work.
If you’re considering buying a mechanical keyboard but are more concerned with the productivity boost it may or may not offer, then let’s explore that aspect of mechanical keyboards.
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Whether they will increase your productivity or not depends on a couple of factors such as the nature of your work and the keyboard’s specifications..
What Jobs Can Benefit From a Mechanical Keyboard?
The most obvious profession, of course, would be anything that involves typing. Be it emails, articles, Excel sheets, transcription, or even programming, etc., most jobs that require heavy usage of the keyboard would benefit a lot from the mechanical keyboard upgrade.
The usual praise that mechanical keyboards receive is that their typing feel is more responsive, more tactile, or “poppier” compared to traditional membrane keyboards. Subjectively, they’re more satisfying to type on.
Such a quality can lead to more comfort when it comes to using the mechanical keyboard for typing.
Professional gamers can also take advantage of a mechanical keyboards’ tactility. There are mechanical keyboard switches with adjustable actuation points to help activate controls easier and faster. So in a sense, mechanical keyboards can make professional gamers more productive.
Better Durability Helps More Than You Think
Mechanical keyboards also tend to be significantly more durable compared to their cheaper membrane keyboard counterparts.
On average, a mechanical keyboard key or switch has a rated durability of 50 to 100 million strokes while the typical membrane keyboard key has a lifespan of around one to 10 million strokes.
Also, a lot of mechanical keyboards that are “hot-swappable” have individual switches that you can remove and replace in case one of the keys breaks or is no longer functioning.
On a traditional membrane keyboard, if one key breaks, then you’re doomed to replace the whole keyboard; the switches or keys in a membrane keyboard are just one connected layer of rubber domes that wear out faster compared to individual mechanical keyboard switches.
Having to worry less about durability or the accuracy of the keys means you can focus more on work or even save more money in the long run, assuming the mechanical keyboard you have is “hot-swappable.”
Certain Mechanical Keyboard Specs & Layouts Can Boost Productivity
Mechanical keyboard switches (essentially the keys) come in three different main classifications. Those would be tactile, linear, or clicky.
Those three are up to preference. However, if your work requires a lot of typing and you want to minimize mistakes and typographical errors, then tactile or even clicky switches can considerably help.
That’s because these switches give off a unique tactile or “clicky” feedback upon pressing them to notify their users if they have activated the key. Linear switches, on the other hand, don’t give any feedback upon key presses until they “bottom out.”
With tactile or clicky switches, you can get distinct mechanical feedback upon a key press, meaning you can easily keep tabs on which keys or switches you have pressed whether accidentally or not.
More Layout Options Also Help
Another keyboard quality that can boost productivity would be the layout. A full layout (100+ keys) will almost always be handier compared to other layouts. Still, certain layouts such as the TKL (80 percent) or even the 75 percent offer better space savings at the cost of the Numpad.
But on average, there are more layout options available for mechanical keyboards; having multiple keyboards for every situation or even for travel is easier to achieve.
For people who are suffering from posture issues or joint issues such as carpal tunnel syndrome, there’s also the Alice layout which puts the hands and the wrists in a neutral and more relaxed position. You can actually boost your productivity if you worry less about pain from a health condition.
While membrane keyboards with Alice layouts exist, it might be difficult to find one. Meanwhile, there are plenty of mechanical keyboards with the Alice layout, just waiting for people with joint conditions to take them home.
But Membrane Keyboards Also Have Most of Those Specs
In hindsight, membrane keyboards also come in a wide range of layouts and their rubber dome switches also give off a tactile “bump.” Still, their tactile “bump” can feel rather mushy or less distinct so that’s up to preference.
Where mechanical keyboards have a clear advantage over membrane keyboards in their durability and to some extent, the typing feel.
While mechanical keyboards can increase productivity if you type a lot, don’t expect your productivity to skyrocket. Treat mechanical keyboards as a piece of a puzzle that, if completed, can help you see a bigger picture; hopefully, that “bigger picture” is a more commendable image of your work output.
Objectively, there’s really no quantifiable productivity boost that you can experience with mechanical keyboards which is absent in traditional membrane keyboards.
Mechanical keyboards can make any typing experience more fun or at the very least, more interesting. Moreover, using mechanical keyboards for prolonged periods of time can make it hard to go back to membrane keyboards with all their rattling and durability issues.
It’s all subjective. At the end of the day, you’ll be the one determining your productivity and not a tool that’s sturdier than the one you’re using, especially for white-collar work. So whether mechanical keyboards can increase your productivity or not depends on your taste and sensitivity.
Your mileage may vary.
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