Many jobs out there today (and not just work at home!) require you to have some skills as a typist – at least decent typing skills. We live in a computer-based society and this is even more true for home-based jobs. Our greater connection to the entire world through personal computers has created many of these opportunities for us to work from home – we just need to learn how to take advantage of them!
So let’s get down to the basics: typing. How to type faster. How to be more accurate.
Happily, there are plenty of methods and (free!) help online to improve your typing skills. I’m going to share something with you today to give you a leg up on the competition.
Get the right equipment – for you
When you’re going to spend a lot of time typing – especially when typing quickly and accurately is important – you need to work with the tools that work best for you. Choose a keyboard you’re comfortable with, with keys big enough for your fingers
If you primarily work on a laptop, this is an important part of your laptop choice. You may wish to choose some Ergonomic. Perhaps consider a mechanical keyboard – hard resistance keyboards make you a more conscious typist. (Not hard keys, but keys with enough resistance that it registers every time you activate the key. Weak resistance keys can lead to accidental activation – that is, mistakes in your text!)
Learn proper finger placement
I’m not going to push it too hard – there’s more than one “right” way to type, and the best one tends to be what works for you and doesn’t strain your hands unnecessarily. However, some people argue that speed and precision keys are aligning your fingers correctly to the keys and using the correct fingers to reach the other keys. Typingclub This is a free site that will teach you correct finger placement while learning touch typing.
Practice, practice, practice.
There is no way to get around this one. The first and best way to improve your typing skills is to do more. Enter email to family members. Join a Facebook group with daily interaction. Choose your favorite passage from the book you are reading and type it into your computer. Whatever you do, do it every day. Pay attention. Learn the keyboard better by using it for fun and train your fingers to move as fast as you think
Here’s an exercise using that favorite book passage I mentioned:
- Choose your favorite passage from a book, magazine, whatever you are reading.
- Open a blank text document to type the paragraph.
- Type the paragraph once while determining how long it will take.
- Press Enter a few times.
- Do it again, and try to do it faster. Give yourself time again.
- Press Enter a few times.
- Do this one last time.
By doing this regularly — say, once a day — you’ll challenge yourself to type faster. As you familiarize yourself with touch typing from a sample text, you’ll be able to see how many mistakes you made from initially focusing on speed. Such focus and practice will lead to improvements in keyboard familiarity, typing speed and typing accuracy.
Warm up and take breaks
Repetitive stress injury (RSI) is one thing – see carpal tunnel syndrome, for example. If your livelihood depends on typing, take care of your hands and wrists! Make sure you stretch before typing for long periods of time and don’t forget to take regular breaks. Healthline Covers some great stretches.”Stretches for wrists and handsYou can even find some ergonomic wrist supports – braces that keep your wrists straight while typing. You can also make sure your posture is correct for typing. Follow this guide from WebMD. By taking care of your hands, you can ensure that you are typing at peak performance!
Don’t look at the keyboard
I’ve mentioned touch typing a couple of times – well, to be a good typist, you need to learn to use your keyboard by touch. Look up, what you’re typing and trained on your computer screen, never on your fingers and keys. If you have the focus and discipline to become a touch typist, your speed and accuracy will strengthen along the way.
Use free online typing tools
There are many free tools that assess your typing and provide activities to help you improve Use them! Here are a few of my favorites:
- TypingTest.com One of the most popular sites to discover your baseline WPM (words per minute) with just a 60-second test. They provide free typist training.
- main hero Another great basic site – if you have an account it stores all your exam performance data so you can look back at your mistakes and improve.
- Typing attack A free game from TypingTest.com that lets you practice typing while training for speed and accuracy – basically, your little spaceship can only shoot enemies that come after you if you correctly type the word associated with them. It’s more fun than it sounds!
- typedown It’s a similar game, except you must correctly type a list of words as quickly as possible so that the word stack doesn’t reach the top of the screen.
- Typing.com – I mentioned TypingClub earlier. Typing.com is another powerful and excellent site that offers free typing lessons for everyone from beginners to advanced typists.
There are even real-world typing classes you can take – just check your local community college’s continuing education catalog – but I hear you. If you want to make money, don’t spend it! That’s okay because with these tips I’ve given you and the resources I’ve shared, you should be well on your way to improvement. With daily practice and a can-do attitude, you’ll have no problem meeting the typing requirements of the next work-at-home job opportunity you discover!
Work at home for fast typists
If you have an enviable WPM, consider getting a job as a transcriptionist at home. These jobs are beginner-friendly, and although they don’t pay very well, their accessibility makes them a popular choice among home workers.
Same goes for data entry. Beware of scams in this industry — here are 12 legitimate data entry jobs from home
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