Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

I feel like i could never get to this level, but just doing a typing run at the beginning of the day feels like a really refreshing thing to do.

> Plot twist: I don't type "correctly" at all. My fingers just go wherever they want. It's like anarchist typing. My left pinky probably hasn't touched the 'A' key in months, but somehow I'm still in the 99.5 percentile. Turns out the "proper way" is just a suggestion. Like following PEP 8 or using semicolons in JavaScript. Sure, it's nice, but if your way works better, who cares?

This is super interesting - I have typed "wrong" since the time I first picked up a keyboard, 6 or 7 years old, back in an age where typing was not taught in school or an expected skill everyone was just automatically meant to know. As such, I developed my own "style" which looks a lot like "pecking" a lot of beginners will do, but has adapted over the decades to something that is my own.

I typically just use the index/middle finger on my left hand that covers most of the left hand side of the keyboard, depending on word (index might reach for the 'y' key sometimes) and the pinky for shift key. Right hand uses mostly the index, ring (for hitting backspace and enter) and thumb (for spacebar). I've often wondered if I was ever able to retrain myself to do it "properly" whether I'd type even faster than I do. now I am not sure.

I have "peaked" at 125+ wpm in 1 minute tests, and in casual conversation with familiar words, probably can maintain easily around 110-120. I think for most things I typically cruise around 100 without trying too much. It is a nice skill but I've never been able to figure out why I type so much faster than most people I meet, especially given being self-taught and the unorthodox way in which I type. Often when I am showing something on a terminal, for instance, which includes a lot of auto complete and muscle memory, I need to slow down by about 10-20x for people to follow what I am doing.

I'm no expert typist and I can't speak to the OP's claims that a bump in typing speed translates to a corresponding increase in productivity, but I can attest to the fact that simple time spent practicing will improve your skills in almost anything, typing included. If you included a typing run at the beginning of your day and made sure you were using proper form, I think you might be surprised at how quickly and how drastically your typing speed might improve.

The key is simply sticking with it over the long term. A general rule I find rings true is that people tend to overestimate their improvement over a month, but underestimate improvement over a year.

The site he uses, https://www.keybr.com/typing-test, has such lovely design.

I am a big fan.

Monkeytype is better than keybr imo. More options (eg coding modes), actual zen mode, and doesn’t break above 149.5 wpm like keybr does (or did, haven’t been there in 2 years).