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Two years ago I wrote about benefits of touch typing that go far beyond saving time.
Whether you’re taking notes in class or from a text in front of you, you’ll work better when you can keep your eyes on the thing you’re trying to learn from. Take notes in a meeting while keeping your eyes on the the person speaking, or their presentation slides.
Free your eyes to take in beautiful things, like that picture on your wall or the view out your window, or just to watch your dog sleeping. Words find their way from your brain to your fingers more easily when you’re focused on loveliness.
You’ll be more likely to hold your head, neck and back in healthy ways when you don’t have to keep your eyes on the keyboard. Over time this can positively affect your posture, helping you avoid a permanently curved upper back later in life — and the health issues that come with it.
Check out the full article for more.
Once you have the basics down, here’s a novel way to practice that does double duty. The Entertrained web app lets you read classic novels while practicing your touch typing. It tracks stats and celebrates your wins.
Genius feature: ⇧⏎ (Shift + Return) lets you skip a paragraph, so you can simply read the book while giving your hands a break. Stats are dormant for skipped paragraphs.
Entertrained is a brilliant idea, but there’s room for improvement.
The site is for people who already know the basics of touch typing and are looking to improve their speed, so don’t expect to see instructions for raw beginners. You’ll have to study the basics of hand and finger positioning on your own.
How To Type seems as good a place as any to begin, with exercises that look very much like those Mrs Ursini gave us in typing classes in the 80s. Effective, but far from enthralling! I’d say you’re ready for Entertrained once you can type every letter of the alphabet (plus basic punctuation) with the correct fingers without looking, no matter how slowly.
At 80–90 wpm I’m happy enough with my typing speed, but Entertrained is still a fun place to visit when I’m in the mood for some intellectually productive procrastination.
You may also like to try this site to hear what your favourite word or phrase sounds like as a melody (h/t David Friedman, Ironic Sans)
