Step 1: understand that being able to type well is a fundamental skill for a kitten-pawed knowledge worker like myself
Step 2: practice, practice, practice
Step 3: enjoy feeling like a wizard floating across the keys
I first mentioned this almost exactly five years ago when I first started the second act of my working life with Automattic, and I’m still surprised when I say that I went through a large portion of my life not being able to type properly. Not any longer.
I didn’t really think anything of it until recently, as I wasn’t really incentivized to learn to type because Microsoft (where I worked for 14+ years) was (still is?) a heavy PowerPoint culture. I could make some badass slides with crazy custom infographics, but I henpecked all the text, which mostly consisted of three bullets worth of words per slide. No big deal.
I have to admit though, it did kind of bug me in the back of my mind that I couldn’t type without looking at the keyboard often. Who are these people who can just jam out a multiple-paragraph essay without their eyes ever darting down? They seemed like enigmas. Unhuman.
So when I switched my work up to a place that really valued writing and started doing a lot of writing myself, I knew I needed to learn fast, and I would be held back if I didn’t (step 1).
Luckily, I was introduced to a fantastic tool called keybr.com and became addicted to its gamified approach to teaching traditional touch-typing. I spent at least 20-30 minutes per day with that tool for weeks (step 2). I looked forward to my practice sessions. I always had a tab open and at the ready for a typing practice session. In fact, I just tried it again now, and I want to go back to it to see how long it takes me to “get through” all the steps and how I am graded now.
Anyway, at this point, I’m pretty ok at typing, and I really enjoy the “act” of typing now. It makes me feel good to be good at it, and it makes me better at my current work and nearly everything else I do on a computer (step 3).
It’s easily one of the most useful skills I’ve ever learned. I wish I learned it sooner.
🗒 This post was inspired by my colleague’s post Why I love typing ❤️
Comments welcome!