Productivity tip – increase your typing speed !
Whatever your job description is, you will find that more and more work remotely jobs have one thing in common – usage of computer and when it comes to it, you will find that your typing skills using a keyboard can be absolutely vital!
Knowing the placement of all keys on your keyboard is becoming a standard skill nowadays. People in careers such as information technology, to give one example, must be absolutely efficient typists in order to write the code for all software projects they may have. Accuracy here is equally as important as speed, as simple typo would result in a failure of entire project, if not caught early enough.
In today’s technology driven world, even children are getting familiar with computers and other smart devices, technology is helping us on daily basis in every single profession or part of life. Even some schools have stopped lessons teaching typing, assuming all students already possess the necessary skills to be successful in the modern workplace.
It must be said however, that without a proper training and practice, your skills will be often of a poor quality with below average typing speed, sadly you might be a perfect typist on the tablet or phone where you operate using mainly your thumbs and rely on hunt and peck strategies, the actual keyboard experience might be neglected.
The most common typing method is known as touch type strategy, it is basically a typing technique where you do not follow the actual keys with your eyes. This is much more efficient than hunt and peck with smart phones and tablets as once you memorise the given set of keys you will be able to quickly adjust to average person’s speed which is about 40 words per minute. Improving that technique only by practise can get you exceed even 75 words per minute, allowing you to complete given task with double the expected speed. Of course you can also master the skill and achieve 140-150 words per minute, but let’s focus on walking before all start running marathons.
When you are preparing to enter any workforce, I would like you to take a look on these 5 little pointers which may help achieving the goal for you:
1. Most important would be a correct starting position.
When you are practising your keyboard typing skills, it is absolutely crucial to use proper hand placement. To begin with, please keep your fingers of the left hand, positioned over the following keys: A, S, D and F, and make sure your right hand is over the J, K, L and ;/: keys. Your both thumbs should be hovering over the space bar. From this position you can easily adjust your hand to touch any keys within a reach. Remember that your hands should always return to the starting point described above.
Once you master this technique which is pretty much a good base to start typing properly, you will familiarise yourself with the all keys available on the keyboard. When you become more experienced, you can play with other combinations, adjusting the known starting pattern to the most comfortable and/or natural to you.
2. Try not to look down on your hands
Instead of picking on your hands and keyboard, try to focus with what you see on the screen. This surely will be quite difficult to begin with, especially if you don’t know entire placement of each key, however, looking at the screen will definitely improve your accuracy as you will be able to see all the typos you make and you will learn on how they have occurred in the first place as well as how to correct them. It will also help you automatically memorising the placement of all keys so you will be able to type more quickly as you practice.
3. Don’t forget to maintain your good posture
When you sitting in an upright position, it will be naturally easier to type faster as keyboard will be properly within your reach. If you are sitting on a sofa or in slouching position, try moving to a desk or table setup instead.
4. Try to find comfortable position for your both hands
The incorrect hand placement will make it very uncomfortable to type for extended period of time. It may even cause stress and anxiety as well as pain and problem with muscles or nerves in your hands. It is crucial to make sure you are sitting comfortably and your hands are reaching the keys properly.
The space bar should be in the centre of your body, so that you are not reading the screen from any odd angle. When you type, make sure your elbows rest on the table or on the chair elbow supporters, keep your wrists slightly elevated, never bed or angle your writs in any dramatic position. Try to use some pad for the wrists if you spend hours typing.
5. The most important tip here is to just practise in order to master the skill!
Nothing can be mastered overnight, to get the typing speeds and accuracy to the level you will be happy with, you really need to practise on daily basis. There are even many websites that offer free skills tests and practice. Just use google and type: “typing on keyboard fast”, of course you will find some results offering you courses but if you stick to what I wrote above in this article you will be able to achieve the satisfactory levels of typing by your own for free, only spending time to practise really and that time will result in you working faster, more productive and saving time in the future. Treat it as an investment in yourself which will really pay in the long term.
It is important to take your time with all these typing exercises and assessments. Trust me and do not give up, your speed will naturally improve as you will become more familiar and “integrated” with your keyboard layout. Don’t be terrified by constant errors, take your time to adjust and try again until you reach satisfactory levels.
Once you master the technique of typing fast you will not only save time, this skill may benefit you in your future career as well. Never give up, chin up and look at the screen when you comment this article in the section below. You will become a pro-typist in no time !
All the best,
Lucas
