3 Essential Tips to Double Your Typing Speed
- You spend multiple hours a day typing. It could be writing emails, DMs, slack messages, or study notes.
- Everybody can type, but most people type slowly, with many backspaces and inaccuracies.
- Taking just 10 minutes daily to practice typing will put you ahead of everyone. Your typing speed will increase, and the quality of your writing will noticeably improve.
- Using the tips below, I doubled my typing speed and accuracy in a matter of a few weeks.
Touch Typing
It might be hard at first, but stick to the four principles below for a week, and it will become second nature.
- Use the base position shown in the picture below — thumbs on Space, the right pointer finger on J, and the left pointer finger on F. Re-position yourself to this spot after each click.
2. Type with the right finger — Each color represents a different finger. For example, E should only be typed by the left middle finger. Make sure only to type letters with the appropriate fingers.
3. Don’t look at the keyboard — focus on the words on the screen.
4. Type slow — focus on accuracy, and the speed will come.
Look at the screen, type with the right finger, and reposition your fingers to the base spot.
Shortcuts
- Delete words/lines — don’t use the backspace button more than twice. Use option+backspace to delete a word or Cmd+backspace to delete an entire row.
- Move faster between words — alternatively, use Option+right/left to jump between words in a row or press Cmd+right/left to move to the start or the end of the road.
- Use text expanders — these tools can replace a simple command like “:em” with your full email address. The same thing applies to your cold sales messages, email replies, and personal info. Basically, everything that you write every single day can become a template for quick reuse.
Examples of such tools are Alfred (MacOS) and TextExpander (Chrome). - Use the keyboard to do everything — use Cmd+tab to move between apps, Cmd+W to close windows, and Cmd+Option+left/right to move between tabs. If you want to, you can reduce your mouse use by 80% — but that can be the subject of a future post.
10 Minutes with MonkeyType
MonkeyType is the best site to practice your typing.
With a minimalist appearance, you can start typing right away and see an analysis after every try.
But you can also fully customize your experience! Which is something very unique for MonkeyType.
- Add numbers or punctuation.
- Change the time or word limit.
- Change the theme, sounds, or appearance of everything.
- Track your mistakes and progress.
- And all for free.
Conclusion
- Take just 10 minutes a day, and you will save a lot of time every day.
- Make sure you have a good posture and find time to practice first thing in the morning.
- Many more tips can help your type faster, I mentioned only the best ones. If you wish to know more, let me know.
