The Value of Touch Typing
Most people who work in an office do their job on a computer. Computers were originally designed to assist office workers by automating certain tasks. Today, it is rare that anyone goes a single day without being assisted by a computer. Whether for work, entertainment, or social activities, the personal computer is here to stay for a long time.
In this blog post, I'm going to talk about the primary way that we as people have interacted with computers: Typing. I'm going to give a short history of typing. I also will give some of the reasons why learning how to properly use the keyboard is incredibly beneficial both personally and professionally.
History of Typing
The first modern commercial typewriters were manufactured by a company named Remington in the mid 19th century. The typewriter was designed and patented by Christopher Sholes and Carlos Glidden partnered with Remington. Remington was originally formed in 1816 as a company that manufactured and sold gun barrels. They still are a highly acclaimed manufacturer of various firearms today. In the mid 19th century, Remington started to expand their business from gun barrels to producing sewing machines. In 1873, they began production on what would be called the Sholes and Gildden Typewriter.
While the typewriters made by Remington were not the first typewriters to exist, they were the first to be mass-produced on a large scale. Additionally, they were also the first to use what is now called the QWERTY keyboard layout. Future typewriter manufacturers followed suit with Remington and also used the QWERTY layout. Soon it was the de facto standard of typewriters.
The QWERTY design was named after the arrangement of the first lettered keys on the keyboard from top-left to right. It may seem like an abstract layout since we often view letters in alphabetical order. However, the QWERTY layout was consciously designed with a very specific goal in mind.
In old typewriters, the keys that were directly next to one another would have a tendency to jam if a typist would press them in quick succession. This would cause the typist to have to stop and unjam the levers of the keyboard before continuing to write. In order to solve this problem, Sholes and Glidden designed the QWERTY key arrangement with the purpose of minimizing the number of times adjacent keys would need to be pressed when typing typical English words and phrases. This would limit jamming and therefore allow typists to type faster and more efficiently.
QWERTY has progressed with the invention of the personal computer and the keyboard design is not exactly the same as it was back then, but the basic arrangement has remained intact within the computing industry.
Other Keyboard Layouts
Other keyboards have been designed and conceptualized over the years as modern technology no longer has the limitations that the old typewriters. QWERTY remains the most popular, however other layouts have caught on in certain groups of typing enthusiasts for special applications. These designs can be used by running software that modifies the layout of the keyboard input. For example, typing "L" on the keyboard will result in "N" being typed into the computer. Physical keyboards with different layouts have also been produced, however, they are much less common because of their limited use.
Some of these alternative keyboard designs include Dvorak and Colemak. The Dvorak layout was designed with the purpose of minimizing how much the typist would need to shift their fingers between rows on the keyboard. All of the most common letters and letter combinations are found in the "home row" or the row of keys that starts with "A" and "S" in the typical QWERTY layout. Colemak also was designed with more efficiency in mind, however, it remains closer in similarity to the QWERTY layout than the Dvorak does.
What is Touch Typing?
Touch typing is the ability to type on the computer without having to look at the keyboard. Instead of having to look for the next keys, you need to press, you form muscle memory for your fingers to actually feel the next letters to type.
As a result, touch typing allows you to type much faster than using the alternative "hunt and peck" method...
The Advantage in the Workplace
I believe the skill of touch typing is under-appreciated in today's world. While not all of our jobs involve working on a computer for 40 hours a week, most of our jobs do require some period of time in front of a screen. The more time you find yourself working on a computer, the more valuable your ability to type quickly and efficiently.
The advantage of touch typing in the workplace cannot be overstated. The amount of time you have the opportunity to save by learning and practicing touch typing is considerably high! If you are in front of a computer for any amount of time at your job, you will benefit from the ability to touch-type.
For professions that require you to work on the computer, writing emails, searching web pages, or writing documents. The benefits of touch typing while, subtle at first, can multiply quickly.
Typing speed is typically measured in Words Per Minute (WPM) The average person can type between 37 and 44 WPM. A typical "great" typing speed would be about 70 WPM. It's not uncommon for professional typists to be anywhere from 90 to 150 WPM or even faster.
Consider an office worker. Let's name him Jim. Jim works at an online newspaper company. His job is to write and edit articles for the website. Say he is working on a short article that has a target length of 2,500 words. If he is able to type at 45 WPM it would take him an hour of non-stop typing to finish the paper. Obviously, people rarely are able to write in a constant stream. Writing involves research, planning, and the occasional snack break and coffee run! Let's say, Jim averages writing in a constant stream for about 10 minutes over the course of an hour.
Using this factor, we could say that Jim would be able to complete the rough draft of the article in about 6 hours (the greater part of a working day)
Now say Jim has a coworker named Lindy. She is a veteran writer and is able to type significantly faster than Jim. She is able to write at an average of 95 WPM. Using the same efficiency of 16% that Jim has, Lindy would be able to complete the 2,500-word article in under 3 hours. That's fast enough to start and finish another longer article before Jim had even finished his first one!
Another good example that we can all relate to is emails. The average office worker writes 40 emails a day. The average email is about 435 words long. That's the equivalent of writing 17,400 words a day! Typing at 45 WPM would take you 6 hours of constant writing. Apply an efficiency factor to that and you are easily beyond 8 hours. (No wonder some people feel like all they are doing is responding to emails!)
If you are able to type at 80 or 90 WPM, the time it takes to respond to all of your emails throughout the day can drop to 3 hours! That's 5 hours of an average workday available for productive work, instead of only 2 for our buddy Jim.
Obviously, this is just me speculating, using some average data, but the point is: Touch typing saves us a significant amount of time. Typing doesn't need to be a chore that you dread. It can be just a blip on the outline of your day.
Why I Enjoy Touch Typing
If you don't have to look at what your fingers are doing, you can be looking at something else while your typing. A book, a video, a script, anything! This is one of the reasons I enjoy touch typing. I can multitask while writing down information.
A particular advantage to writers who are able to type fast is the ability to type as fast as you think. Even having the ability to type at a speed close to the speed at which thoughts are coming into your head is so beneficial for writing because it allows you to get into a state of flow. Instead of having to concentrate on writing your last thought, you can let your mind travel to the next thought with your fingers only a few steps behind. This allows you to stay in the subconscious state where the act of typing fades into the background while your mind is enveloped in the process of creation.
I'm nowhere close to the speed of being able to type as fast as I think. However, I've noticed even over my year or two of regular typing practice, I don't have to wait as long for my thoughts to manifest onto the screen. It feels like less effort to write down my thoughts than before. The keyboard feels more like an extension of my body and brain.
How to Learn Touch Typing
I first got motivated to learn touch typing by watching videos of people online typing very fast. To hear about some of these advantages of touch typing and seeing the blinding speed that some people are able to do it felt so inspiring to me.
There are plenty of courses online that can teach you the basics of touch typing. Learning the technique is the easy part. The hard part is practicing. Practicing is where you start to see your speed really increase. Some websites that I use to practice are below.
10FastFingers is a great website to use when you have a few short minutes to burn and need to get in some practice time. Just a quick 1-minute sprint to see how many common English words you can type before the timer runs out.
Keybr is probably the best website to use after nailing down the basics of finger position and proper technique. Keybr actually works by analyzing your performance and modifying the lesson schedule to give you practice on words and key combinations that are difficult for you.
TypeRacer is good practice for full paragraph-length typing. My opinion is this is the best website to practice on to get real-world results. People submit snippets of text from books, articles, and quotes to the website. Then you race along with other users to see how fast you can complete the paragraph.
*Expensive Keyboards not Required
Finally, I have also learned that investing in an expensive keyboard will probably not make a significant difference in how fast you type.
As I've practiced typing, I've realized how irrelevant different keyboards are as it relates to my ability to type faster. In fact, I'll often use different keyboards as a way to improve my typing. Every so often, I'll mix it up a little and do some typing tests using a different keyboard. I'll see a drop in my performance at first, but then I'll see it pick right back up after a few rounds of practice.
It can be hard to think that you shouldn't invest in an expensive keyboard to be able to type faster. It is true that having a decent keyboard is beneficial. Better ergonomics, improved functionality through macro key programming, and better aesthetics are all good reasons to upgrade. However, you probably won't see a noticeable increase in typing speed.
There are some principles that will help you maximize your speed with certain keyboards. The amount of pressure it takes to press a key, or how far the key has to travel before registering in the computer both make a difference. But nothing improves your speed and accuracy as quickly and drastically as learning and practicing touch typing - regardless of the keyboard you use.
If you practice touch typing or want to start learning it. Feel free to reach out on Telegram or Twitter and share your experience. I'd enjoy hearing about it!