After my post about keyboards I thought it would be a great follow up to talk about some ways to improve your typing speed and accuracy!

 

Posture

Proper posture is key to fast, accurate, and comfortable typing. Make sure you are sitting straight and your keyboard is at a proper height.

 

Relax

If you concentrate too much on typing quickly, you will tense up and start making mistakes and causing pain in your hands. Instead of focusing on speed, focus on accuracy and eventually speed will come naturally

 

Alternative Layouts

If you type a lot, this might be something to consider. QWERTY is not the only available keyboard layout. Choosing a different layout may improve typing speed (this remains debatable) however the biggest benefit is accuracy and comfort. QWERTY was not built with these things in mind while others such as Dvorak and Colemak were. I use Colemak and find it much more comfortable.

 

Practice

This one should be obvious but I will state it anyways. The only way to improve your speed and accuracy is to practice. You can do this simply by paying attention to what you are typing while you work. Again, don’t worry so much about speed. Try to type each character correctly and the speed will follow. To help out with your practicing needs, below are several free online resources which can be fun diversions and that can give you some great practice time.

 

Resources

Other than just typing at work or at home, you can use one of many different online resources to hone in your typing skills

 

Zombie Typocalypse

This is a typing game where zombies start making their way accross the screen towards you. type the words above their heads to shoot them. You can also type the words above health packs and other bonuses to pick them up. This fun typing game has 3 different dificulties.

 

TypingTest

This site has a collection of different typing tests as well as typing games. This is a great place to check out.

 

Type Racer

This is my personal favorite. This is a multiplayer game where you race other typers. Be the first to type out the passage shown to win the race. If you register, the site will keep track of your average speed and pair you up with people in that range so that you always have a fighting chance. The thing I love most about this game is that you get to type out passages from different books and songs rather that just random words or letters. Highly recommended.

 

Typefaster

If you are interested in giving Colemak or Dvorak a try, this is a great program to get you started. It’s a free typing tutor with multiple keyboad layouts to choose from. It even has a built in typing game!

 

Keybr

This is another great online typing tool. Keybr generates random english and “english-like” words. This gives the advantage of learning to type without getting stuck learning key patterns. If you want, you can also paste in your own text to type out or choose a website and type its text!