It is one of my strongest beliefs that touch typing is the most important computer skill that you can learn and should master. Here are 6 reasons why:
- It can help you become more productive. Time saved typing means more time for more value-added work. I cannot emphasise this enough. I’ve seen countless of my colleagues spend hours crafting an e-mail because they type too slow. By the time they get all their thoughts down, circumstances have changed and their first draft is obsolete.
- It is easy to learn. Free resources on touch typing abound on the internet. For the most part, mastering typing is more grunt work than anything else. Put in the time, and the rewards will inevitably follow.
- It has an instant return on investment. It can take as little as a week to double your typing speed and halve your time spent timing. And you don’t have to wait long to use it.
- It can help you think better. Use typing as an aid to get your thoughts down as soon as you have them. Lose no more ideas because you took too long to get them down. See my point on slow-typing colleagues above.
- It can help you communicate better. When typing comes as naturally to you as breathing, your writing will become more natural, like speech. Believe me, people will notice.
- It is an incredibly transferrable skill. You’ll be making use of this skill whether in school, at work, or even at play. Hardly any other skill is this versatile.
Think there’s anything better?
Donn, fragments 
The great thing about learning to touch type is that it is a muscle-memory skill, like learning to ride a bicycle. Once you “get it”, you’ve got it for life; you can’t forget it! So, it’s well worth spending time, first, learning what finger hits what key and, then, practising until it becomes automatic, whoo hoo!
@georginafarmer absolutely agree. The earlier you start, the longer the time you have to enjoy the fruits of your labour!
Other two benefits are the comfort, making it less strenuous to type for longer sessions, and helps preventing some typing-related repetitive stress injuries.