Sometimes there’s nothing more frustrating than typing. Whether it’s hitting the wrong key during an online game, constantly messing up that one piece of coding, or even taking for-ev-er to finish that presentation due tomorrow, you wish there was an easy way to get better at typing. Well, simply put, there is. Typing is a skill that can be improved the more you practice; you just have to make sure you fit that practice into your day. This doesn’t have to be as hard as you think, either. Below are 5 simple and quick fixes to help you improve your typing one click at a time.
Fix Your Posture
A lot of times, typing errors stem from bad typing habits, including the way you sit at your computer. Ergonomics are often overlooked in favor of “cooler” ways to get better at typing. But don’t underestimate their power to correct your typing mistakes (and make you have a more comfortable computer experience) with just a few small tweaks. Always keep your elbows bent so they form a 90-degree angle to your keyboard, and your wrists resting in as straight a line with the rest of your forearm as possible (i.e. don’t bend them too far up or down).You can read about more ways to sit properly in this post.
Correct Bad Habits
In addition to your posture, you can have bad habits that come from the way you’ve used your fingers for typing in the past. For example, if you’re used to using just one hand to type or game, it’s time to break that habit. This can be done in a quick way: just learn where your fingers are actually supposed to go on the keyboard. You’ll have to keep practicing with this hand layout for it to become familiar to you, but learning proper placement won’t take you long at all and is one more step on the road to improved typing
Play Typing Games
That’s right — learning to improve your typing doesn’t have to be all work. Playing typing games can help you improve your typing speed and efficiency in a way that’s more fun than just practicing on a text document. Additionally, many of these games can be downloaded as apps for your phone so you can keep practicing on the go. Check out some of the most fun online typing games you can use to start practicing those keystrokes.
Use Keyboard Shortcuts
While it’s all well and good to improve your typing as a whole, sometimes it’s beneficial to know other ways around your device. Keyboard shortcuts, for example, are one way to use your keyboard that helps you get things done faster and more efficiently. And yet most people don’t know how to use them (a recent study showed that most people don’t even know how to search a web page or document using keyboard shortcut). Obviously, learning some simple shortcuts doesn’t take much time, and can have a massive impact on the way you use your computer and how much time you spend on it.
Your Turn…
While improving your typing can take more time than you have, a little bit of practice each day goes a long way. Using any of the methods above, you’ll find that in a few weeks’ time you’ll be typing faster and better than you ever have before. What’s one thing you can do today to improve your typing?