Touch Typing

After a long break from software development, I decided that coming back I
wanted to unlearn my hunting and pecking skills acquired in middle school typing
class and learn proper touch typing. Yep, that means the home row in all its
glory.

Little did I know how difficult this would actually be. Trying to obtain new
muscle memory whilst forgetting old muscle memory is quite a challenging feat.
With my old typing skills, I was averaging around 40wpm both in normal typing
and in code. And yes, I think those are distinct enough to be determined
separately. So, where does one even begin such a task?

Enter Typing Club. This is where I began my endeavor a few weeks ago.
Overall, I was pleased with the results I got from Typing Club. It has hundreds
of lessons, each one lasting a few minutes, meaning that it is simple to jump in
and complete a few whenever I have a few minutes of free time throughout the
day.

The beginning was interesting, as I struggled through learning the home row and
what fingers go where surrounding it. Over time, I quickly developed the muscle
memory and got back up to my original 40wpm for simple, lowercase paragraphs.
Then the lessons started with capitalization and the shift key. I have ALWAYS
used the left shift key for capitalization, but I could no longer rely on that,
and this took quite an effort, one that I am still working on. It is just not
natural for me to quickly shift my shifts from left and right based on what
letter I need to capitalize, but I am getting there. Numbers are a different
story.

Ultimately, the goal for learning to touch type was not only to become a better
typist, but so that I could effectively use VIM keybindings, which rely on home
row usage. At this point in time, I’d say I’m on equal footing with where I was
prior to learning, and getting better every day.

Was it worth it? Yes. Do I recommend others to follow suit? Absolutely. It is
never too late to learn.