Have you ever thought about the way you type?
Most of us have not. But if you find that you are reluctant to use a full keyboard or prefer to take notes on your smartphone, it may be worth thinking about your typing style. The two most common approaches to typing are called touch typing and hunt and peck.
What is Touch Typing?
Touch typing is a style of typing that keeps your hands centered on the keyboard and allows you to type without actually looking at the keys. Bumps on specific keys help your fingers find their place and return to the center. Over time you can memorize the location of keys and which fingers are closest to each key. It creates a fluency of movement that increases comfort and speed.
What is Hunt and Peck Typing?
If you are unfamiliar with touch typing, the chances are that you are a hunt and peck typist. Hunt and peck involve looking at the keyboard to find keys and selecting them with primarily the pointer fingers.
Maybe this is your style, and perhaps this method serves you well. If you rarely come in contact with a full keyboard, you may not see a need to change. But if becoming more comfortable with typing would improve your performance at work or school, it may be worth trying the touch-typing method.
What are the Benefits of Touch Typing?
Improved Comfort
Once you understand the basics, you may find that touch typing feels much better than hunt and peck. When you can leave your hands centered on the keyboard, you distribute the work more evenly among all of your fingers. And with more and more practice, words that involve neighboring keys will begin to feel automatic. Muscle-memory takes over for commonly used words and phrases and saves you an immense amount of time and focus.
Fewer Errors
In addition to being a more efficient use of energy, touch typing produces a lower error rate compared with hunt and peck. Keeping your eyes on the screen instead of the keyboard allows you to focus on the content as you are typing it. You can adjust any errors as you see them instead of waiting until the next time you look up from the keyboard.
Increased Speed
Keeping your eyes off of the keyboard can give you an incredible increase in speed as well. It suddenly becomes much easier to keep up with note-taking during class or meetings. While a focus on speed may make you more error-prone, that may be the approach best suited to keeping up with a fast-talking presenter at the moment. You can go back and correct errors later, confident that you were at least able to capture the bulk of the content.
If note-taking is a significant part of your academic or professional life, you should consider learning touch typing. With a little work, it will improve your ability to focus on content while reducing errors and increasing speed. While typing may currently be a frustrating necessity, touch typing can transform it into a highly valued and valuable skill. After a few weeks of practice, you’ll wonder why you waited so long to start!
