7 Essential Tools and Tips for Improving your Typing Speed
Type Fast at 100+ Words Per Minutes
In this article, I will take you through my journey of improving my typing speed from as low as 30 Words per Minute (WPM) to an impressive 110 WPM. I will share with you the tools and techniques that I used to accomplish this feat, in the hopes that they may be helpful to others looking to improve their own typing speed.
Why should I even learn to type fast ?
This was the first question that I asked myself. But after knowing the pros I thought to give it a shot.
Typing at a speed of 70 WPM instead of 50 WPM can save you 12.5 minutes per hour, according to a study by the University of Chicago
If we calculate it turns out to be about 15 days and 16 hours per year. After all time is important right ? More importantly, you will be able to write as fast as you think. If not, then it just looks cool to type at high WPM without looking at the keyboard . So, here is what I did not to look at the keyboard and type fast 👇
1. Technique: Touch Typing
Just learn to touch type. I am not going to explain touch typing here. You can look up on your own. There is concept of muscle memory behind the touch typing which seems interesting. Touch typing is crucial step which takes a little time to master. Master means to know where exactly the keys are. Don’t stress about the speed right now ! You will speed up gradually, just be able to type without looking at your keyboard by using all the fingers. Remember that at learning phase of you touch typing, your speed will decrease than your normal WPM and then again increase. It depends on person to person, once you are able to locate all the keys without looking, you may be around 30 — 40 WPM.
2. Technique : Keyboard Short Cuts
This saves way more time then it looks. When I found out that we could remove whole word with opt+delete on mac or ctrl+Backspace on windows instead of pressing the delete key couple of times to remove each letter individually, I was surprised. You can know more about short cuts on computerhope.com
3. Technique: Type like a Pianist
If you’ve ever watched a professional pianist play, you’ll notice that their fingers move with precision and efficiency. They don’t waste any unnecessary movement, and each keystroke is deliberate and intentional. The same principle applies to typing — you want to use only the necessary movements to get the job done efficiently. By placing your fingers on the home row and minimizing excess finger movements, you can increase your typing speed and accuracy. With practice, typing can become as effortless and graceful as playing a beautiful melody on a piano.
4. Technique: Good posture
Positioning your keyboard at the correct height can also make a difference. Your posture can have a significant impact on your typing speed. Sitting up straight with your feet flat on the ground and your arms at a comfortable angle can improve blood flow and reduce physical strain, allowing you to type more quickly and comfortably.
5. Tool : KeyBr.com
This website is the best when it comes to learning touch typing technique mentioned at first step. Website learns through the pattern of our typing and adjust the words to appear more of that we are making errors. Starting with most common letters E, N, I, T, R and L this website will cover all the letters while keeping track of your mistakes and adopting the pattern in same way. After you make all the letters turn to green, again depending on the person you speed may be around 40 — 60 WPM.
6. Tool : MonkeyType
After learning to touch type, now is the time for practice. To do it , the most customisable website is monkeytype including many themes, typing times, difficulty levels and much more. While keeping the above mentioned this in mind, practicing consistently can get you ove 100+ WPM. But remember time and effort is necessary.
7. Tools : Type Racer
This website includes on feature to make is fun learning to type that is to play a race against other people who are at your level. This is where you will learn accuracy is important over speed. There is another website like bubble sooting game, to soot the array of words, Zt.ype.com
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If you’re still reading, it’s clear that you’re committed to improving your typing speed. In addition to the tips mentioned above, here are some bonus tips for you that can help you through out the journey.
i) Accuracy > Speed
It’s important to remember that speed isn’t everything when it comes to typing — accuracy and efficiency are also important factors to consider.It is always faster to type without errors than to delete the wrong word or letter by typing fast.
ii) Progress is not linear
You might have noticed while learning, every time you encounter new letter your speed goes down again, once you are familiar with that word your speed will gradually match your previous speed and and goes on up. Overall your speed will be increasing over time if you stick to the above mentioned techniques.
iii) Try Different Keyboards:
Trying different keyboards can make a big difference. There are various types of keyboards available, including mechanical and membrane keyboards. Mechanical keyboards are highly customizable and offer different key switch options like linear, tactile, and more. These switches are named after their feedback, with options such as red, brown, and blue.
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To learn more about how different keyboards can impact your typing performance, read this article 👇
