Are you tired of taking notes by hand and wish you could capture your thoughts more quickly and accurately? Improving your typing speed might be just the solution you need! In this guide, we'll walk you through the steps to improve your typing speed for more efficient and effective note-taking.
If you want to read about my experience learning touch-typing, see this post.
If you're not comfortable with your typing technique, start by learning touch typing. Touch typing is a method of typing without looking at the keyboard, allowing you to type faster and with more accuracy. You can use online resources like Typing.com to learn the proper technique by practicing for just 15 minutes every day for a month.
Once you're comfortable with touch typing, it's time to train for accuracy and speed. Use apps like key.br to practice accuracy and technique. This app uses machine learning to guide you through your slowest and sloppiest keys. You can also use typingtest.com as a warm-up and cool-down exercise for key.br.
Now that you've improved your typing speed, you'll notice increased efficiency in small areas of your work, like typing search phrases into a search engine, typing quick email replies, or writing small marginal notes in something you're reading. You'll also be able to capture more thoughts quickly, jotting down ideas for articles or projects as they come to mind.
With your increased typing speed, you'll find it easier to transition from analog to digital. You'll be able to take notes on physical books, quote a phrase or passage, or turn a piece of writing you originally kept in your notebook into a digital document for safekeeping or to publish. More importantly, practicing the mindset of symbol replication as opposed to thinking makes this job enjoyable and relaxing.
It's important to remember that typing speed isn't everything. Writing as thinking may benefit from slowing down the mind and using pen and paper. Speed can also impede the accuracy of word use, so it's important to take your time when writing a first draft.
In conclusion, improving your typing speed can be a rewarding and valuable skill that can increase your efficiency, productivity, and creativity. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you'll be on your way to more effective note-taking in no time.
