How to Improve Your Typing Speed

There are three broad ways to improve your Typing Speed

1. Do half an hour a day typing practice
2. Do an hour a day typing practice and make a very deliberate attempt to not look at the keyboard
3. Switch over to a keyboard that has no lettering on the keys

The first method will improve your typing speed by 50% or more within a few months

The second method will improve your typing speed by 50% to 100% within 1 to 2 months

The third will double to triple your typing speed within 2 to 5 weeks

Let’s dive into each method. However, first, let’s establish your current typing speed and set a Goal

Measure your Typing Speed & Your Accuracy Rate + Set a Goal

1. Take an online typing speed test at TypingTest.com
2. Note down what your typing speed is. Also note down the number of mistakes you made
3. Set a Goal. Set A Target Typing Speed you want to achieve. Aim for at least a 50% increase over your current typing speed. Ideally aim for an 100% to 200% increase

Now you are ready to explore the three different methods to improve your typing speed

The Snail’s Pace Method of Improving Your Typing Speed

1. Download a Typing Speed Tutor software, or use an online Typing Practice software
2. Practice 30 minutes a day, every day, for 2 to 5 months
3. At the end of that time period you should see your typing speed go up by 50% or thereabouts

Please Note: If you are doing less than 30 minutes practice a day, then it is very likely that you will not improve your typing speed. 5 to 10 minutes a day practice is pretty much worthless

The Slow and Steady Wins the Race Method of Improving Your Typing Speed

1. Download or Buy a proper Typing Speed Tutor software. It must have finger placement guides. It must have tests. It must have finger drills for each finger
2. Practice an hour a day, for 1 to 2 months
3. At the end of that time period you should see your typing speed go up for 50% to 100%

Please Note: If you can give more than an hour a day to practice, you really should, as it would greatly improve your gains

The Bullet Train Method of Improving Your Typing Speed

This is the can’t miss method of greatly improving your typing speed

1. Purchase a keyboard that has no lettering on the keys. This forces you to type without looking at the keys. That in turn forces you to learn where the keys are
2. Download or Buy a proper Typing Tutor software. It must have finger placement guides. It must have finger drills for each finger
3. All your typing must be done with this lettering-free keyboard. Initially it will slow you down. Within a week at most, you will be typing faster than earlier
4. Within 2 to 5 weeks you will be typing at two to three times your earlier typing speed

This Das Keyboard is a very good example of what we mean by a Keyboard with No Lettering on the Keys

Serious Authors absolutely MUST get a Keyboard with No Lettering on the Keys

What does increasing your typing speed to double or triple mean?

1.  You write faster and can capture your thoughts better. This makes your writing better
2. Doubling or tripling your typing speed means double to triple the writing output. You can, in theory, write 2 to 3 times the books in the same amount of writing time
3. Everything you do that requires typing (email, work reports, word documents, etc) get done faster. Your productivity in general improves drastically

Please also read our post on Why Authors should improve their typing speed – it discusses why Improving Your Typing Speed is perhaps one of the best ways to greatly improve your productivity, the quality of your writing, and the number of books you write

In summary, improving your typing speed is critically important, and it is relatively straightforward to do