The essentials of touch typing in four short lessons. Each reads like a newspaper column; you'll be back at the keyboard in minutes.
Home row: ASDF — JKL;
Rest your left hand on A, S, D, F and your right hand on J, K, L, ;. Thumbs sit on the space bar.
The small bumps on F and J anchor your hands without looking.
One finger per key. F belongs to the left index finger, J to the right.
Consistent tempo beats short bursts
Speed comes from sustaining a steady tempo, not from sprinting.
Train common chunks like "the", "and", "for" as one motion.
Fifteen minutes a day, five days a week — small doses compound.
An error costs twice the time it saved
Every mistake costs two keystrokes: delete + retype. Accuracy is cheaper than speed.
When you slip, pause for half a beat to feel where the finger drifted. The reflex sharpens over time.
Drop tempo when accuracy falls below 95%. Speed returns; bad habits stay.
Rhythm, muscle memory, eye lead
Read two or three words ahead of where your fingers are; the hand will follow on its own.
Repeated combos ("tion", "ing", "the") become muscle memory; expect a speed jump after a few weeks.
Numbers and symbols are a separate muscle set — give them their own time.
Put what you learned into practice.