I had always been a below average typist compared to other programmers that I know, my typing speed was around 65 WPM (Words Per Minute) and I felt that I could not get any better because of my physique, my height is 164 cm and my fingers are rather short, this fact alone made me lose confidence and felt that I can not get any better no matter how hard I try.
One day, I came across a youtube video that shows a typing competition, the contestants was typing at speed around 150 or more, I wondered how nice it would be if I could type that fast, it would significantly increase my productivity as a programmer. So I test myself again hoping that somehow my typing speed has been improved, but alas, it was not, it was still the same, around 65.
I did not remember why but on that day I wanted to be faster at typing, maybe because my position as lead programmer (albeit just an acting one) made me write reports and e-mails alot and felt that I had less time coding, so I want to remove the jinx that I had in my mind and said to myself that maybe if I learn the correct way I will actually get better.
So I browse the internet for typing guides and best practices, they were mostly teaching the same thing such as the proper way of sitting, placing fingers at home row, striking the key swiftly, etc. I followed these guides and you know what? my typing speed actually got worse! it dropped to below 60 and at some point I got as low as 49, but I kept on going believing that it will gradually improve.
It takes more than a month for my typing speed to get back to normal at 65, after that I reduced the typing exercise so that I can focus on working on the job that had been a bit behind because of my decreased productivity, but I did not lose hope and still believing in myself that I could be more that what I currently was.
After some months, I began to see improvement in my typing speed, I was averaging at 75, and some months later, I was thrilled that I achieved something that I never thought I could, I was averaging at 80 and sometimes got above 100.
Currently, I am still practicing a couple of minutes a day and kinda find my own style of typing by breaking some of the standard rules, one of them is that I am now also using my right index finger instead of only my left to type the character B, my speed is now averaging around 85 and even though it is not fast at all compared to others but I am pretty happy with it and felt that I can code much faster than I was last year.
If you are like what I had been, believing that you can not get any faster at typing, then please don’t, here are my tips:
- Practice doesn’t make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect, learn the standard way of typing and only then create styles that suits you.
- Improve your language, the better you know the language you are typing in, the faster you would be.
- Practice everyday even though it’s only for a couple of minutes.
- Be patient, fast typing speed can not be achieved in one night, it may takes hours of practice to see any improvement at all.
- Be clear on the goal that you want to achieve, and refine it along the way, you may at first create a goal of getting 150 WPM but after a month finds out that it’s very hard to even get to 75, so refine your goal to 80, achieving mini goals creates fulfillment and fills you with motivation to achieve your next goal.
I hope these tips can help you as it has helped me in my never ending quest to increase my productivity.
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