3 Hacks to Speed Up Your Typing

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up with others in the industry. The average typing speed of a typical person, though, falls below that at an average 38 to 40 words per minute. If this is you, or even if you type slower, there are options to help. Here’s what you can do to speed up.</p><h2 id="930c">1. Play Typing Games</h2><p id="9b7f">The first thing to do is to download a typing game to your computer. A quick search on the net will bring up several typing games that you can use to practice. Take an hour or two a day to practice, and you’ll soon see yourself improving. Why? You can’t win if you don’t get faster.</p><h2 id="1685">2. Get a Different Keyboard</h2><p id="d939">Another thing to consider is trying different keyboards. I currently have a mechanical gaming keyboard as well as a soft-touch laptop keyboard. There are also several other kinds, such as:</p><ul><li>Ergonomic keyboards</li><li>Virtual keyboards</li><li>Wireless keyboards</li><li>Flexible keyboards</li></ul><p id="3049">Most people use the QWERTY keyboard, which is a standard keyboard layout, but there are also layouts such as the Dvorak, which the fastest English typist in the world, Barbara Blackburn, uses, the QWERTZ, and the Colemak. The layouts of the keys are different, so some make more sense to one person than another.</p><h2 id="22d7">3. Take Care of Your Hands (and Nails)</h2><p id="d19e">I find that I cannot type nearly as quickly when my nails are long. Shorter nails don’t catch

Options

on the keys, and that means fewer mistakes.</p><p id="471c">My test result with my nails long came back at 79 words per minute. That seemed slow to me, so I cut them. Just a few minutes, I took the same test again and had an adjusted speed of 84 words per minute.</p><figure id="f6ed"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*rme-fn3mJxq0Kt3nEYuewQ.jpeg"><figcaption>TypingTest.com short nails test</figcaption></figure><p id="4f7c">It may not seem to be a significant difference, but adding five additional words to your typing speed <i>per minute</i> means that you have the potential to write 300 additional words per hour (when paid $0.06 per word, that’s an extra$ 18 per hour, at $0.10, it’s$ 30 extra per hour). Keep in mind that this test requires you to write what the program puts in front of you; typing your own thoughts should be faster.</p><h1 id="c09f">Combine These Hacks to Improve Your Typing Speed</h1><p id="39bb">Combine all of these hacks to improve your speed and ability to earn more than a writer. We will never be able to type as fast as we think, but the closer you get, the better it is for brainstorming and getting your content into a word processor.</p><p id="ad89">If this article gave you new ideas or insight, consider <a href="https://catrinac.medium.com/membership">signing up for Medium</a> to read more. Your monthly subscription fee helps support authors like myself.</p></article></body>

Get to 75, 90, or even 100 words per minute

Have you worked for an hour or two with only a paragraph to show for it? Or, maybe you used the pecking technique to pummel out your content in a few hours?

Stop. That isn’t working.

Good writing is about having a goal in your content, but that content still has to make it to the page. Your typing speed does impact how much you can write as well as how much you earn.

Now’s the Time to Speed Up

I’m going to give you three actionable steps to improve your typing speed as soon as today, but first, find and take a typing test online. Find out your average typing speed by taking the test. You’ll want to know this starting speed so that you see improvements over time.

A professional typist types at around 50 to 80 words per minute. If you fall in that range, you’re doing great and can keep up with others in the industry. The average typing speed of a typical person, though, falls below that at an average 38 to 40 words per minute. If this is you, or even if you type slower, there are options to help. Here’s what you can do to speed up.

2. Get a Different Keyboard

Another thing to consider is trying different keyboards. I currently have a mechanical gaming keyboard as well as a soft-touch laptop keyboard. There are also several other kinds, such as:

Ergonomic keyboards

Virtual keyboards

Wireless keyboards

Flexible keyboards

Most people use the QWERTY keyboard, which is a standard keyboard layout, but there are also layouts such as the Dvorak, which the fastest English typist in the world, Barbara Blackburn, uses, the QWERTZ, and the Colemak. The layouts of the keys are different, so some make more sense to one person than another.

3. Take Care of Your Hands (and Nails)

I find that I cannot type nearly as quickly when my nails are long. Shorter nails don’t catch on the keys, and that means fewer mistakes.

My test result with my nails long came back at 79 words per minute. That seemed slow to me, so I cut them. Just a few minutes, I took the same test again and had an adjusted speed of 84 words per minute.

TypingTest.com short nails test

It may not seem to be a significant difference, but adding five additional words to your typing speed per minute means that you have the potential to write 300 additional words per hour (when paid $0.06 per word, that’s an extra $18 per hour, at $0.10, it’s $30 extra per hour). Keep in mind that this test requires you to write what the program puts in front of you; typing your own thoughts should be faster.

Combine These Hacks to Improve Your Typing Speed

Combine all of these hacks to improve your speed and ability to earn more than a writer. We will never be able to type as fast as we think, but the closer you get, the better it is for brainstorming and getting your content into a word processor.

If this article gave you new ideas or insight, consider signing up for Medium to read more. Your monthly subscription fee helps support authors like myself.