Ask HN: Best way to be able to touch type | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Best way to be able to touch type

2 pointsvihsmo6 comments

I am a programmer and feel very bad that I cannot touch type. The reason probably is that I never picked it up as a kid and in my initial days of programming I got by with looking at the keyboard and typing.

I can type decently fast while looking at the keyboard - but the bad part is that I only use my index fingers and the thumb. I want to move away from this and be able to touch type using all my fingers.

Any suggestions from someone who has faced a similar problem.

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Look at the screen and don't look down. It'll feel awkward at first, but it's supervised learning: you'll make mistakes at first, which your eyes will detect, and the keep trying keys until you get it right. Touch typing requires proprioception (knowing where your body is without looking), and vision completely overwhelms that if you're looking at your hands.

Give it a week, and don't get discouraged if you don't seem to make any progress inside typing sessions: most improvement happens in the off time after you've practiced for a while (sleep is especially good here).

I learned it by switching to Dvorak. I put little stickers on my keyboard indicating the letters. So I started typing with hunt-and-peck. After some time, some stickers came loose. The keys I used the most, lost their adhesion the first. These were also the characters I remembered the first. The reminders let go in perfect order and never too soon. The rest was just a matter of putting your fingers in the right spot. Everything else came naturally.

Probably not the answer you're looking for though, but I like telling the story :)

Practice, practice and more practice...

There are plenty of apps that will teach you the techniques and give specific drills for improving your speed and preciseness.

get a cardboard box or something, and use it to cover up your keyboard. make sure to cut a hole or area for your hands to go in. put an image of a keyboard next to your monitor, so that if you need to look at something, you look at that instead of the keyboard itself.

type away.

Spray paint your keyboard black.

thanks guys. I am going to use these tips :-)

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