8 Tips on How to Type Faster

Robert_Stark

Typing fast has a lot of benefits. It allows you to freely convey your thoughts on the screen with little to no interruption. At the same time, it also allows you to be more efficient because it increases your productivity.

Yet, learning how to type faster is easier said than done. It's easy for many beginners to feel overwhelmed by it. If this is your case, you have come to the right place. In this article, you will learn simple yet effective tips on typing fast.

What's a good WPM?

First, you need to know how "fast" is fast when typing. The metric used to determine a person's typing speed is Words Per Minute or WPM.

On average, a person can type between 38 and 40 WPM, around 190 to 200 characters per minute. Meanwhile, professional typists are much quicker. Their average typing speed is between 65 and 75 WPM. The world record for typing is 216 WPM and was set back in 1946 using an electric typewriter.

The main reason you'll want to increase your typing speed is to save time. If you're typing at only 25 WPM, writing ten emails a day will take you approximately 80 minutes.

But, if you could type 50 WPM, you'd be able to complete the same task in only 40 minutes. So, over a week, this would save you over three hours. In a month, it'd add up to almost 15 hours!

8 tips on how to type faster 

Here are some tips that will help you learn how to type fast:

1) Assess your current typing speed 

The first thing you should do if you want to improve your typing skills is to determine your current typing speed. So, you'll have a baseline to see if you are making progress or not quickly.

The good news is that several free online tools allow you to check your typing speed. These tools are straightforward, and you don't require signing up to use them.

Some of these free tools include: 

•  10FastFingers 
• Type.Biz 
• Keybr.com

You must accurately type the words on the screen for these tools within one minute. When you complete the assessment, it will give you a WPM score.

2) Correct bad habits 

You may not have noticed it, but you probably have several bad typing habits. Some of the everyday undesirable habits when typing include the following:

• Looking at the keyboard while typing 
• Prioritizing speed over accuracy 
• Lack of hand-eye coordination 
• Fingers on the wrong keys

Being mindful and working on correcting these habits will improve your accuracy and speed.

3) Learn how to touch type 

If you hunt and peck type with two fingers, this method takes more thought and attention than touch typing. You’re thinking about pressing the keys not the words you’re writing.

Touch typing refers to the strategy of typing without needing to look at the keyboard. It focuses more on your ability to feel the keys.

To do this, you must be familiar with the different keys on your keyboard. Yes, this involves needing to memorize where the letters and the symbols are. 

When learning how to do the touch-type strategy, it's best to use one keyboard as practice. Doing so will make developing a more accurate muscle memory much easier since many keyboards have different shapes and sizes.

To begin: 

1. Place your fingers on the “ASDF” and “JKL;” keys, which are in the middle row. This row is the HOME ROW as you always start from these keys and return to them. 
2. The F and J keys have a raised bump to help you find them without looking. 
3. When typing, imagine the location of the letter on the keyboard. 
4. Establish and maintain a rhythm while typing. Your keystrokes should come at equal intervals. 
5. Use the thumb of whichever hand is easier for you to hit the Space bar. 
6. Your pinky finger opposite always presses the SHIFT key to the one hitting the other key. 

4) Focus on your posture 

Bad typing posture can cause a lot of problems. It can result in a misalignment of your upper body, adding strain which makes you feel sore and uncomfortable. So, this can also affect the accuracy and speed of your typing. 

To maintain proper posture while typing, do the following: 

• Use a chair that supports the natural curvature of the spine. 
• Ensure that the keyboard tray and keyboard are at a height that allows your elbows to be at 90 degrees at your sides. 
• Your feet should be flat on the ground. If they don't touch the ground, use a small stool. 

Learning to touch type improves your posture as you'll look straight ahead at your display rather than down at your keyboard. 

5) Start by typing slowly to avoid mistakes 

As mentioned above, one of the commonly made mistakes by people is prioritizing speed over accuracy. If you're a beginner, you should start typing slowly. Although having quick typing skills is excellent, it will be all for nothing if the way you are typing is wrong. 

As your keyboard skills improve, you can gradually increase your speed. Of course, accuracy is still your main priority. 

6) Navigate the basic keyboard shortcuts 

Another effective method of learning how to type fast is familiarizing yourself with keyboard shortcuts. Some examples of useful keyboard shortcuts include the following: 

• Ctrl + W Close 
• Ctrl + C = Copy 
• Ctrl + V = Paste 
• Ctrl + Z = Undo 
• Ctrl + A = Select all 

7) Play typing games 

Learning or improving a skill can be pretty challenging, especially when a person feels pressure with the need to excel. You can practice typing games to improve your speed. 

With this in mind, here are some typing games that you'll not only enjoy but will also improve your typing skills:

TypeRacer 

TypeRacer is an online game that lets you race against others worldwide in real-time. You can join public races or play on your own. If you become a member, it can track your progress. 

The Typing of the Ghosts 

The game's objective is to type words that appear on the screen as fast as possible so that the ghosts don't reach you. The game gives you five lives, and you lose a life when you don't type fast enough. 

Zombie Defender 

The game's goal is to point your weapon at zombies and type the word each zombie has before the horde can attack you. It also helps train you with using the arrow keys.

Typing Attack 

Typing Attack is an educational game where you learn to type words quickly. Your mission is to type words that display next to the alien ships before they destroy you.

You might feel that most of the games on this list are for kids. However, typing is now an essential skill. Learning how to type this way is more fun and engaging. 

8) Practice, practice, practice 

Knowing what you are doing wrong and what you should do right won't matter if you don't put it into practice. So, it's essential to improve your typing skills by putting everything you learn into action.

There are a lot of benefits to improving your typing skills. Even if it's hard, you should continue to preserve and master it. Besides, it will only be not easy in the beginning. Once you master the basics, you'll be a typing master. 

hyuk

I hover around 80 WPM. I used a tool like Type.Biz to learn how to type properly and it improved my typing speed but more importantly my fingers don't hurt like they used to when I didn't use the home row to center my hands.