The benefits of learning touch typing

Touch typing used to be a skill that was reserved for those working in fields with massive amounts of data or text entry. Nowadays almost everybody spends a large amount of time sitting behind a computer each day. This makes touch typing a useful skill to learn for most grown-ups and kids.

One of the biggest benefits of touch typing is that it allows you to increase your typing speed up to five times. When not using touch typing technique, the fastest one can type text is 27 – 30 words per minute (wpm). When touch typing is employed the average typing speed increases to 50-70 wpm and can even reach over 100 wpm with the right amount of practice (the world record is 150 words per minute!). This increase in speed is beneficial for a variety of reasons.

First of all, it saves valuable time. Even if you only double your typing speed it means that writing a document that would normally take an hour can now be done in half that time. This equates to a large amount of time saved and/or a big increase in productivity.  By learning touch typing movements to find the different keys become automatic. This also allows ideas to flow more naturally and freely because rather than being hung up hunting for letters on a keyboard you will be able to focus all the attention on the text you want to write.

Another benefit you can gain is increased accuracy. Using all ten fingers instead of only a few minimizes the amount of spelling errors. Not having to go back correcting errors helps to further increase speed. In addition, work flow and concentration improve because each time a correction needs to be made focus is broken and distraction can set in.

Finally learning touch typing can help to prevent injuries because use of a proper posture is encouraged. Anyone who has spent long hours at a desk working on a computer knows it can take a toll on back and neck health. With better posture the chances of having a sore back or neck are reduced. The utilization of a correct technique benefits the wrists too. An improper way of typing can put unwanted stress upon the wrists leading to carpal tunnel syndrome.

With all the benefits of touch typing it is easy to see why it is becoming a skill more and more computer users are learning each day. The bottom line is that touch typing increases productivity, the quality of writing and can even help to prevent injuries. This benefits grown-ups and kids alike!