I can’t stand how awesome this typewriter is.
Though she lies quietly on my desk, her metal curves, blue gloss finish, and chrome accents scream elegance.
This is my Ferrari, my Aston Martin.
Not because she’s fast, but because she’s slow.
I’m certain her first owner bought her to save time. Compared to writing with a charred stick (or whatever they wrote with 52 years ago), typing on this Olympia Splendid 66 must have been like bringing a fighter jet to a horse race.
But today, in the age of phones and computers and instant coffee, using a typewriter is audaciously antiquated.
I just don’t care.
Slowness gives me time to think. It guards me against straying down the wrong path. It inhibits me from rethinking what I’ve written. It prevents me from editing while I create.
And so, in effect, the act of moving slow is ultimately faster.
Most of the time we try to move fast. We try to get as much done as possible in the shortest amount of time. We seek tips and tricks and hacks to make business and life relentlessly efficient.
But there are times, creative times, when we need the time, the space and the lack of distractions to focus—to think.
Neither my computer or my phone (or my instant coffee) give me that.
My typewriter does.
And I can’t stand just how awesome this typewriter is.
About the Author
Michael Mehlberg
HUSBAND, FATHER, ENTREPRENEUR, BUSINESS STRATEGIST, AUTHOR, FITNESS NUT, ORGANIZATION FREAK, PRODUCTIVITY JUNKIE
I help high-achieving entrepreneurs live their passion and achieve their dreams by consistently saving time, getting productive, and being more efficient and organized.
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