How to massively improve typing speed

[jbischke]

I was at a David Allen seminar a while back and he asked the audience a question:

"How would you like to get four years of time back over the course of your life?"

His answer? Increase your typing speed.

He said that we'll spend so much of our lives typing (emails, reports, forum posts ) that simply by increasing our typing speed we'll save a tremendous amount of time. I tend to agree with him.

I've been using TypingMaster for a while now (David actually recommended it) and while I like it I'm not sure I'm making all that much progress. I'm still stuck around 50 WPM while my goal is to get up to 80+.

Any suggestions for ways to do this? Any software, books, methods, etc. that I should check out?

[Angela]

Take a class, or get a buddy. A little competition'll spur you on!

[hawkal]

I use this bbc.co.uk schools typing games. It is clearly aimed at young children but I find it challenging for a two finger typer. Also I like how they keep it simple and comical.

[MasterD]

I trained myself to type fast in high school, by practising for 30 minutes a day with a program; probably there are good programs around to learn this skill. I did this for a couple of months in a row. I think my typing speed is around 600-700 beats per minute; don't know how many words per minute that is; but it would be hard to get it even faster.

[Rapid]

>>>>>
He said that we'll spend so much of our lives typing (emails, reports, forum posts ) that simply by increasing our typing speed we'll save a tremendous amount of time. I tend to agree with him.
>>>>>

Good suggestion. On the other hand, increasing my typing speed to accomodate the volume of e-mails, documents, posts, etc., makes me think of carpel tunnel syndrome.

How about: Keep our writings brief - make every word count.

Another solution to save time: Be selective about what you read and reply to.

[Brutha]

"How would you like to get four years of time back over the course of your life?"

His answer? Increase your typing speed.

I not sure that I will be typing anymore in four years, let along in ten or twenty.
There has to be some more effective way to input information with multitouch displays.

If I would think that I would still type in twenty years I would learn Devorak but I don't.

[Kaspian]

Originally Posted by Brutha

I not sure that I will be typing anymore in four years, let along in ten or twenty.
There has to be some more effective way to input information with multitouch displays.

If I would think that I would still type in twenty years I would learn Devorak but I don't.

My motivation to learn Dvorak was that it's easier on your hands, not necessarily because it's faster than the standard layout. However, now that I've been at it for a while, I am faster!

[Syr]

Originally Posted by hawkal

I use this bbc.co.uk schools typing games. It is clearly aimed at young children but I find it challenging for a two finger typer. Also I like how they keep it simple and comical.

Thanks for the link!

I'm actually looking at how I type at the moment and it's pretty odd. I use three fingers on my right hand (the pinky only when hitting the right-shift for capitals), while my left hand mainly uses the index finger with an occasional middle or ring-finger.

I just did this test and had a 180 clicks per minute measured (the test excluded correctional beats, such as backspace or wouldn't go back to erraneous words, so my actual type-speed is a bit above 200 clicks per minute I think). Guess I should look into type-training.

[PerDev]

Originally Posted by jbischke

I was at a David Allen seminar a while back and he asked the audience a question:

"How would you like to get four years of time back over the course of your life?"

His answer? Increase your typing speed.

He said that we'll spend so much of our lives typing (emails, reports, forum posts ) that simply by increasing our typing speed we'll save a tremendous amount of time. I tend to agree with him.

I've been using TypingMaster for a while now (David actually recommended it) and while I like it I'm not sure I'm making all that much progress. I'm still stuck around 50 WPM while my goal is to get up to 80+.

Any suggestions for ways to do this? Any software, books, methods, etc. that I should check out?

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE