For a woman like me, time is a precious commodity. Between family and social obligations, impending work deadlines and piles of housework, my cup runneth over. Tasks get prioritized and pushed back another day so I can afford the luxury of pitching, researching, reading, proofing, editing and submitting articles as fast as my fingers can type. I, more often than not, fall short in this area and have found myself longing for the type of program that increases efficiency, boosts confidence, and gives me better control of my schedule.

Nuance’s Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 offers the type of relief that I am looking for by giving harried professionals, serious students and freelancers the opportunity to take back their day by increasing the quality and quantity of their written documents with easy-to-use speech recognition software. Rather than spend an entire afternoon plugging away at tasks that require immediate attention, users of the software talk directly into a microphone, and the words spoken appear on their computer screen with rapid speed. Compatible with Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer, America Online, Mozilla Firefox, Corel WordPerfect and more, Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 cuts back on time-consuming tasks by allowing a person to speak three times faster than they type.

Easy to install and execute, the Professional version of the software also works with hand-held devices like a Pocket PC, Palm Tungsten or digital hand-held recorder and can be used with a Nuance-approved Bluetooth wireless microphone so you are free to roam around your home or business. Trained to the sound of your voice, you can command the software to access programs on your desktop in a matter of seconds.

The downfall to Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 is its inability to tune out background noise. With the TV turned down low, the program spit out random words and phrases before I could even speak a sentence. Although it appeared to be just jibberish, it reminded me of my youth and the time that I messed around with a Ouija Board. I quickly turned off the set and the problem fixed itself. A quiet environment is the best place to use the software, unless you feel like decoding hidden messages and deleting unnecessary text.

A time-deprived person’s goldmine, Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 takes the guesswork out of multi-tasking by reducing the time necessary to fill in forms, type meaningful prose, and complete the laundry list of tasks given to you in a day. User-friendly and affordable, the software makes sense for anyone who appreciates having a little time left in their day to do the things they enjoy most.