Watch The Hands...

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

I've got a question for you: how fast can you touch-type? I'm talking typing on a computer or typewriter keyboard without looking at your hands, and with reasonable accuracy? I haven't checked my times in YEARS, but last time I was tested I was around 80-words-per-minute (wpm).

You think that's impressive? Well, don't. I had an uncle who could type 100 wpm. Yes, you read that right. One-hundred words-per-minute. During the Vietnam War, there was a doctor who told the people who were sending my uncle's unit over to Vietnam not to send him because he needed him to type out prescriptions. Later it was found out that the majority of those in his unit had been killed.  My uncle lived because he could type fast and the doctor needed him. Crazy, huh? I figure it's God's grace there.

Now, touch-typing didn't save my physical life, but it did save me academically. When I was in the sixth grade I was diagnosed with learning disabilities. This was back when learning disabilities were just starting really emerge as a real disability and we hadn't ever really heard of them.

The person in charge of the learning clinic where I went for remediation told my mother to have me learn how to touch-type on the computer (this was in the days of Word Perfect, yes, I'm not kidding. I didn't grow up with Microsoft Word or the internet or cell phones). So, my mother had me learn (in spite of the fact that I hated doing the exercises).

Through typing my handwriting improved. My spelling improved. And some other stuff improved and I started writing.

When I got to high school, I took a Keyboarding class my Freshmen year. I was probably one of the fastest, if not the fastest typist in the class. People would stare and ask how I was so fast. Well, I typed pretty much every day and I didn't have to look at my hands since I had learned where everything was on the keyboard.

I remember people watching my hands and trying to figure out how I did it. Well, it wasn't some magic trick. I learned how to type and to type without looking and typed every day so I got faster and faster. Now, I don't have 100 percent accuracy. I know very few people who do that (in fact, I think my uncle is the only one I know who had either perfect or near perfect accuracy) but it's not bad.

When I went to business school, we had another typing course and I got faster and better because of it. It also helped when I worked in the corporate world.

Nowadays, typing assists with my writing because my fingers can keep up with my brain a lot faster than I can when I'm writing by hand. So when I really have an idea going, I can get it out quickly before I forget if I type it out.

If you're learning how to type and you get frustrated with being slow or making mistakes, remember that even the fastest typists had to learn and it takes time. P.S. I still hate typing courses, even though I know they're a good thing to have around, especially these days. So, despite how they annoy me, I do recommend typing courses if you don't know how to touch-type. It's worth the annoyance and time.

Have A Terrifically Timeless Tuesday!