Enhance Your Keyboard Skills: A Professional’s Guide to Typing Fast

​In the modern world we live in, your keyboard is more than just an input method – it’s a key for unlocking productivity. Whether you are a writer, programmer, student, or business professional, being able to type quickly and accurately can improve your efficiency by saving you time and keeping frustration to a minimum. So how do you go from two-finger tapper to a skilled touch-typist? It’s easier than you think, and it all comes down to structure and practice.​Here is a professional’s guide on how to learn fast typing and elevate a mundane activity into an effortless life skill.

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1. Forget the bad habits: Develop a foundation for speed. ​

You need to build a foundation before you can build speed. Most people pick up their own habits that usually include just a few fingers or an inclination to look down at the keyboard. Therefore, the biggest step is breaking those habits. ​Sit up straight with your feet flat on the floor. Posture is important.

Your wrists should be straight and raised slightly above the keyboard (not resting on the desktop). This way your forearms are in line with your fingers and you reduce strain, and your fingers can move freely away from the keyboard.

The “Home Row” is Your Anchor: The home row is the for all fingers. For QWERTY the home row keys are ASDF and JKL;. Your left and right index fingers will rest on the F and J keys, both of these keys have little bumps so you can find them without looking. Embrace Touch Typing:

Touch typing is to type without looking at the keyboard. This is the single biggest indicator for speed: Using all ten fingers and assigning each finger a specific group of keys to type. For instance, your left pinky is responsible for A, Q, Z, 1, Tab and Shift. Your right index finger is responsible for J, U, M, 7, Y and H.

2. Practice with the Right Tools:

You do not just “get faster” by typing haphazardly, you need opportunities for deliberate practice organized into structured lessons. Lucky for you the internet is rife with great, often free resources. Typing Tutors and Games: Typing.com, Keybr.com or 10FastFingers.com are websites that offer guided lessons starting with simple key combinations and eventually building to typing complete random words and sentences.

The gamified method makes learning fun and not frustrating.​Start Slow, Worry About Accuracy: When starting, don’t try to go fast. Your goal is to build muscle memory. Focus on hitting the correct key with the correct finger, even if you feel you are going at a tortoise pace. Speed will come as a side-effect of accuracy, not the other way around. A much higher accuracy rate (98% or greater) means more when you are measuring progress than just counting WPM (Words Per Minute).​

3. Consistency is Your Best Friend​Like all skills, ability in touch typing comes with consistent practice.

You’ll not become an expert overnight.​Make Practice Time Dedicated: You should be aiming to practice typing for 15-20 minutes every day. Use a lunch hour, a few minutes before starting your work day, or a very short (evening) session. Consistent practice is more valuable than long, infrequent sessions

Use Your Learning in Actual Work: The value comes when you start using your learned skills on actual work. When you write an email, a report, or a code snippet, consciously, try and use touch typing. It will feel strange at first, and you will be tempted to look down. Don’t! Wait! Forcing yourself to type correctly through real-world experiences is how muscle memory will start to build.​

4. Track Your progress and set targets​ Being motivated is essential to stick to this process.

Starting to see real improvements is a great way to keep yourself motivated.​Keep Track of Your WPM and Accuracy: Most typing tutor websites track your progress and keep good records of your WPM and accuracy for you.​

Set Goals: Start with a set of comfortable WPM, maybe 40-50, with accuracy.

Then once you reach it, set a new goal. Don’t forget that a professional typist can easily type faster than 60 WPM, and many professionals can type 80+ WPM.​The Professional Benefits​In a world with barely enough hours in the day, being a fast typist is more than just a party trick, it’s an asset to your work. Typing fast allows you to:

​Communicate Efficiently

: Write emails,

reports, and replies without getting caught up in the act of typing.

​Stay in the Flow: You can keep your eyes on the screen instead of on the keyboard, keeping thoughts coming and focus on what you’re doing.​Prevent Physical Strain: The correct typing technique and posture will lower your chances of repetitive strain injuries (RSI) like carpal tunnel syndrome.​Being fast at typing is a journey, not a destination.

It will take patience and persistence. But if you can concentrate on the correct technique, use the right equipment, practice consistently and track your performance, you will reach a new level of efficiencies and professionalism. So what are you waiting for? Find you home row and starting typing your way to success.

​5. Advanced Methods for the Committed Typist learning

the basics and developing the skills to touch type with a good speed, you might be asking yourself how you can increase your abilities even more. You will be happy to know that you don’t need to stop at the home row. Here are some advanced ideas if you want to optimize your work and reach a level of proficiency worthy of a professional typist.​Learn Keyboard Shortcuts: Fast typing isn’t about WPM just as much as it is about reducing the usage of your mouse. You can significantly increase your productivity and efficiency by just memorizing and utilizing the keyboard shortcuts for frequent actions in your applications (e.g., Ctrl+C for copy, Ctrl+V for paste, Ctrl+S for save, Alt+Tab to switch windows), the fewer times you actually lift one of your hands off the keyboard, the more efficient you will be. ​Consider Switching to Other Keyboard Layouts: The QWERTY keyboard was designed to prevent jammed mechanical typewriters, so it wasn’t designed to be the fastest keyboard for typing. Other keyboard layouts such as Dvorak or Colemak were designed to optimize finger strength with less movement, which results in faster typing for some users, and less strain on the fingers for others. While a switch would be a significant time commitment, it is an option out there if you truly want to maximize your typing. Many typing tutors will also provide lessons in these layouts.

So you can play with them before you go all-in.​Incorporate Voice-to-text Technology: Typing quickly is great, but it’s not the only tool in your toolkit. When drafting long-form content, or brainstorming, voice-to-text software (such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking, or Google Docs Voice Typing) can be even faster than typing. The most productive/well-performing professionals know when to tell a story by typing, and when to tell it by talking. They leverage both tools for what each work best for.​Ergonomics Beyond Posture: You may be interested in a good quality ergonomic keyboard. Whether you go with a split keyboard, tactile-based mechanical keyboard, or keypads that are customizable in full, they can contribute to your comfort by enhancing the typing experience and enhancing your efficiency. A good keyboard is an investment in your productivity and your long-term wellbeing!