Typing Speed and a Keyboard-First Setup

Programming is mostly thinking, not typing. But typing is the interface between your thinking and the machine, and a slow or uncomfortable interface adds friction to everything: writing code, writing notes, writing to people.

Why bother with wpm?

Average typing speed sits somewhere around 30–40 words per minute, reachable by hunting for keys. Around 60+ is comfortable for programming. The real benefit of going faster isn’t output; it’s that typing stops being something you think about. You can get thoughts down at the speed you have them, then refine.

How I got faster

I was self-taught and stuck at about 60–65 wpm on QWERTY, with poor technique. Practising proper technique for a bit and then slipping back into old habits for the rest of the day got me nowhere. I learnt that I had to go cold turkey.

So I switched layout. Programmer Dvorak didn’t stick — awkward to install everywhere and it scrambled all my shortcuts. I moved to Colemak, which keeps most common shortcuts where they were and puts the most frequent letters under the strongest fingers. Over a holiday I went from nothing to about 30 wpm in three weeks, then committed to it full time. A couple of months later I was back to my old speed — but now touch typing with all ten fingers. Within about eighteen months I was hitting 99 wpm.

Training resources I used: a touch-typing course to learn the technique properly, then little and often on typing race sites. Improvement at higher speeds is slow and gradual — very much progressive overload.

Then I went back to QWERTY

Here’s the twist. As I paired more and started leading teams, Colemak became a small but real cost: pair programming on someone else’s machine, or them on mine, meant one of us fumbling. I switched back to QWERTY — and the touch-typing technique carried over. The next time I measured, I was at 108 wpm on QWERTY.

The lesson: technique transfers, layout doesn’t matter much. If you’re going to invest, invest in touch typing.

My setup now

The goal is keyboard-first, mostly mouse-free. It’s more comfortable over long days and it keeps me in flow.

• A split keyboard at my desk (a ZSA Voyager). Splitting the halves lets your shoulders open up and your wrists stay straight. Less ideal for carrying around an office, so I’ve cycled through smaller boards for commuting.
• The same layout on every keyboard. I use a small 36-key layout built around home-row modifiers (Miryoku), so shortcuts are piano chords under resting fingers. Same keymap everywhere means no relearning.
• Neovim for code, Obsidian in Vim mode for notes. One set of motions for everything I write.
• A super-ultrawide monitor and a tiling setup so windows go where I expect without reaching for the mouse. A trackball for the occasional mouse-heavy tool.

The dream board

A solid, single-piece, extra-wide ortholinear board with split-width spacing, hot-swappable parts, and reliable wireless with per-device profiles. Someone build it, please.

Takeaways

• Learn to touch type properly; it’s a one-off investment that pays back daily.
• Change all at once or not at all — half-adopting a new technique wastes the practice.
• Optimise for comfort and consistency (same layout everywhere) before raw speed.
• If you pair a lot, the standard layout has value of its own.

---

Originally written in 2021 → Typing speed, what is your WPM?