The 21st Century is also known as the computer age and computer use implies that you should possess at least, the most basic typing skills. Do you know typing? Are you afraid to use email or Internet because you do not know typing? Here is some great news for you. You can learn typing fast and effortlessly, without any instructor or a structured tutorial.
Why it is imperative for you to learn typing?
Before I tell how to learn typing, you should be convinced that this is an important skill, which will bring you both joy and prosperity. Enumerated below are some of the top reasons that would keep you motivated until you master this skill:
1. Communicate better – what is faster and better than staying in touch through email? You receive the message in real time and you can, if you so wish see the person you are corresponding with as well as chat with him or her. Gone are the days when you needed to watch out for the time you are spending on long-distance calls as these would cost you an arm and a leg. Now email has revolutionized the communication process and without knowing typing you will be left out from this amazing experience. The advantage of making instant contact with anyone you wish, no matter where they live, anytime you wish is not something that you should or could ignore. Today, time means money and communication through email can ensure value for your time and money..
2. Organize your life better – whether you are the President/ CEO of a company, manager, supervisor, salesperson, homemaker or student the use of computer would help you organize your work better. You would be able to not only plan and deliver better on the tasks you set out to complete, but also you would be able to record and analyze such tasks, which would help you to use your time more effectively.
3. Better organization means higher profits – it is obvious that the direct outcome from proper use of time and effort is the ability to do more and better. In return, you would earn more for the time used and your profits would grow exponentially.
4. Enough opportunity to take rest – there is a beautiful adage that I want quoted here: “Call no person really successful until they have time to do nothing.” In this competitive world, you are required to wear many hats. Unfortunately, this leaves us with little or no time for ourselves, for relaxation, for social and family life. Typing and computers can simplify your life to a great extent, so you would be able to pay attention to your relaxation and inter and intra relationships.
5. Ready for change – typing not only helps you achieve more with less effort, it also keeps you ready for change by keeping you connected to the Internet and today’s technology. There is a slow but steady and sure transition from paper printing (media) to e-media. Whether we talk about newspapers, advertisements, even Presidential campaigns the Internet seems to be the first choice. Don’t you want to be on the highway of change when this happens?
Freestyle typing - what is this?
Behind any major achievement, you will find that there is a burning desire to succeed. Typing is a skill that can be indeed learned by practice without having to go through formal training and still do a great job. Practice would make you proficient at typing in less than one month, provided you really mean to learn this incredible skill. Personally, I know people who type as many as 50 words per minute free style typing.
What is free style typing? This is a style that you adopt while you do not concentrate on typing but on what you are achieving through it; for example, sending an email, making a presentation, surfing the Net while researching on a topic, shopping online among others. All these tasks would have you use the keyboard whether or not you have been trained in typing.
Initially, you will have trouble finding the letters you need but gradually as you grow familiar with the keyboard, this problem will reduce and you will find yourself typing without thinking about the placement of the letters. Here are some activities that would raise your interest level sufficiently to force you type even if you have no idea about how to do it; and this forced typing practice would be your best teacher.
1. Enroll in one or more chat rooms – chatting with strangers under an assumed name (also known as handle) is an amazing experience. Beware that this is known to be addictive. There have been instances where divorces were filed because one of the spouses spent too much time chatting on the Net. Start making friends and chat. “Chatting” here means typing dialogue in a little box that reaches instantly on the screen of the person you are communicating with, which is very similar to a conversation. Once the chatting bug hits you, you would want to type faster and better so you could communicate better with your chat friends and while you are practicing thus, you would be learning to type. Sneaky, eh?
2. Use only email for communication – for about one month switch off your cell phone and concentrate in making contact with all formal and informal acquaintances. Ensure that you check your emails at least every 3-4 hours and make it a habit to reply immediately as you open the email. This is another wonderful way to motivate you to learn typing.
3. Use the computer in everything you do - you work in the office, use the computer to keep track of the tasks at hand and your daily to-do list. If you are a homemaker, feed in your weekly, monthly, or yearly budget and keep track of your expenses with the help of Excel. Store your favorite recipes, mail list of family and friends, data about your finances, and many such matters in your computer. Each of these tasks would need that you type, type and type.
4. Synch your laptop or PC and you will find your emails re-directed to it – you will need to type to see them and reply to these communications on the cell phone.
5. Play typing games – there are plenty of games on the Net that are meant especially for people who want to learn typing fast, but hate the formal system of teaching this skill. These games help the beginner identify and remember the keys faster while the typing would be more accurate and faster.
6. There is more - there are plenty of activities more such as online dating, online shopping, downloading music, movies and games, learning stuff on the Net, earning through the Internet, among others. Start today, take the plunge and you will find that typing is a skill that you can master in no time.
Helpful online resources:
- www.typingtestweb.net - test your typing speed with timed online typing tests.
- http://www.goodtyping.com/ - free online typing course that contains 27 easy to follow, highly effective lessons
- http://www.typingweb.com/ - learn how to type software that you can use without the need to download it. You will also find here an interesting game that will help you increase the speed of your typing while playing. The site is free for individuals.
