How to Type Fast

If you thought learning how to type was a waste of time, then you should probably know that it is one of the most essential career skills to have.

You will know what we are talking about if you’ve ever noticed someone slouching over their computer trying to find the right keys to hit using one hand. Not only can this make you see red in the company of colleagues, but it also looks downright unprofessional and clumsy.

Now compare that with a scenario where your hands are speedily and gracefully gliding over the keyboard churning word after beautiful word, exuding confidence and poise not to mention improving your productivity .

Well, you can actually make this happen if you invest just a little bit of time into the process. And to help you start, here are some tips on how to type fast:

Assess your speed

Before you start the process of improving your typing skills, it’s important to learn exactly how much work needs to be done. For this, you can take a free typing test offered by many websites. Once you know your average word per minute speed and your desired WPM, you will have a clear goal to work towards.

Learn the right technique

If you want to type like how it should be done, then learn the right technique and by that we mean no looking at the computer screen or punching the keys with one hand. Learn to type by positioning your hands correctly over the home row keys and your eyes steadfastly fixed on the computer screen. Resist the urge of looking at the keyboard. You may make mistakes to start with, but both your speed and accuracy will get better with time if you use the right technique to type.

Accuracy over speed

Before you jump out in joy at getting a score of 75 on a WPM test, look carefully at your accuracy percentage. If your typing is ridden with mistakes, you will have a low accuracy percentage and that means it’s time to take a step back and start over because accuracy is more important than speed. What’s the point of typing at a lightning fast speed when you can’t even get the spellings of simple words right? That’s definitely not going to have a positive impact on your productivity. In fact, it may slow things down as you’ll have to keep reviewing what you type and fixing errors. Aim for 100 percent accuracy when you practice or take a free typing test and you will reap the fruits of your labor later.

Practice makes perfect

Whoever coined that term certainly was a wise old man (or woman) as nothing can be closer to truth than that. Practice your typing skills like a maniac, if you will. Don’t lose any opportunity to have a go at the keyboard. Got a few minutes free in office, type it away! Waiting for friends to join you for coffeeafter work? Instead of staring at your phone, take out that laptop and start typing. The more you practice, the better you will get at it and that’s a guarantee.

Make it fun

Now that’s the hard part. How do you make something so tedious fun? Believe it or not, there are ways to make typing fun. You just have to be creative and think beyond typing on a word processor. Make use of instant messengers like Gtalk, AOL, or Yahoo to sharpen your typing skills. This way, you also get to catch up with friends.

Participate in online discussion forums about things you find interesting or frustrating. Discuss a movie you recently saw or a camera you bought or a city you visited with other Internet junkies and perfect your keyboard skills in the process

And last, but not the least, try your hands out at some fun typing games. There are several websites that offer such games along with WPM tests. You just have to say the word (or in this case type it out on Google) and you’ll be amazed at the number of websites that appear offering free typing test and games to help you reach your WPM goal!