Introduction

A few days back, when I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, I noticed that threads about increasing typing speed get a lot of engagement, meaning that they resonate very well with the people. If you're reading this, you probably just proved me right lol. Being someone who cay type fast, I thought hey why don't I present my version of this hot topic. Well, here I am, doing exactly that! I'm sure you too will be able to increase your speed if you do what I did.

How It Started

I always wanted to be a fast typist. Even as a kid, I would try to write words on my keyboard very quickly and was fascinated with speed. Back then, we had the trial version of a software called "Typing Master". I would mostly play the games it had instead of doing the drills and after some time, I left it completely. However my will to type faster lived on and I continued my efforts. Cut to around two years ago, I could not type without looking at my keyboard and I did not consider it a necessity at that time. I took a lot of typing tests on websites in order to increase my speed. I had reached around 70 WPM just by moving my fingers very fast on my keyboard. However, I slowly started realising that typing without looking is indeed a very beneficial skill. I re-downloaded Typing Master. This time I had the premium version (there are many free alternatives though eg. Typing.com.

The Process

I did the drills that were in their touch typing course. The rule was to never look down on your keyboard and for the most part, I followed it. By default, your fingers should be resting on the asdf (left hand) jkl; (right hand) keys. Your thumbs should be hovering over or lightly touching the spacebar. This method of typing is called touch typing. I saw my typing speed dwindle down to 28 WPM. This was quite disappointing really and I felt like going back to my previous ways. However, I knew that in the long run what I was learning was going to be very helpful and would end up bringing better results. So, I continued grinding and learning touch typing. Below is the correct method of placing your fingers on the keyboard.

Benefits of Touch Typing

• Increases your speed in the long run
• Allows you to directly take down text from somewhere without glancing back and forth
• Gets literally everything done faster (duh)
• Is a massive flex
• Looks insanely cool and gets people awestruck

Reaping the Fruits

Slowly but surely, I started noticing improvements. I could use my pinkies and my ring fingers better and was effectively using 9 fingers to type ( I rarely ever use my right thumb). Soon enough, I had reached my previous highest speed: 72 WPM. This time around without looking, of course. I kept on taking typing tests from websites like MonkeyType, 10FastFingers. I also participated in 10FastFinger's real-time typing competitions, putting typists around the world in a race for the crown. That proved to be very helpful. You can access it here.

How It's Going

My current average WPM is around 100. My record WPM is 111. I still practice on MonkeyType, though not as actively as I used to. All my friends praise me for my typing speed. Achieving 100 WPM was a very big deal for me. It's just such a perfect number! However, I'm not done yet!

How It's Gonna Be

Haardik from LearnWeb3DAO was (and still is) a major source of inspiration of mine, both in the fields of development and typing speed. Sahil Aujla, another great developer and a fast typist, too motivated me and told me I'd be able to improve my speed well within 2 years. My next goal is 150 WPM, and I'm sure I'm gonna achieve it in the coming months. Haardik and Sahil, you are on my 'hitlist' so better watch out! I'm gonna zoom past you two 😆😆

Thank You

Thank you so much for reading this blog to the end! I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to check out the aforementioned links if you want to improve your typing speed too! I'll take your leave now. See you in the next blog 🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️