http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/what-makes-a-faster-typist
The largest-ever dataset on typing speeds and styles, based on 136 million keystrokes from 168,000 volunteers, finds that the fastest typists not only make fewer errors, but they often type the next key before the previous one has been released.
Want to type faster?
- Pay attention to errors, as they are costly to correct. Slow down to avoid them and you will be faster in the long run.
- Learn to type without looking at fingers; your motor system will automatically pick up very fast ‘’trills’’ for frequently occurring letter combinations (“the”), which will speed up your typing. Being able to look at the screen while typing also allows you to quickly detect mistakes.
- Practice rollover: use different fingers for successive letter keys instead of moving a single finger from one key to another. Then, when typing a letter with one finger, press the next one with the other finger.
- Take an online typing test to track performance and identify weaknesses such as high error rates. Make sure that the test requires you to type new sentences so you do not over-practice the same text.
- Dedicate time to practice deliberately. People may forget the good habits and relapse to less efficient ways of typing.
Typing test used: http://typingmaster.research.netlab.hut.fi/