What Typing Speed is Good?

In today’s world, everything is typed. When was the last time you picked up a pen or pencil? You’re probably racking your brain to work it out. Knowing what typing speed is good is a way of determining whether you’re hitting a good words-per-minute ratio or if you need to improve. A good typing speed can take practice. Those who have mastered the art of typing can often do it from memory without even looking at a keyboard. Whether you’re remote working or in an office setting, your typing speed can make or break your productivity.

Why Do I Need a Good Typing Speed?

Your typing speed determines how efficiently and quickly you can complete your work. It might be typing up an original piece of content or typing up notes from a meeting. Everything we do involves typing – from text messages to portfolio proposals. You want to make sure you have a good typing speed to help you smash your work goals.

What is a Good Typing Speed?

Typing speeds vary, with every speed being subjective. It’s difficult to say which target speed you should be aiming for. Even the scientists are divided on this one.

Usually, your target typing speed will depend on your age and what you’re hoping to achieve. Someone who wants to write a 1,000-word article in an hour will want a higher typing speed than another person who typically writes short emails.

Typing speed is measured in words per minute. For an adult, the above-average speed is 45 or more words per minute. By comparison, a competitive speed for an adult is 120 words per minute or more. 65 words per minute will put you in the ‘productive’ category.

Did you know that the world record for typing speed is 955 characters (around 191 words) per minute? It was set in 2003 by Czech typist Helena Matouskova.

How Can I Improve My Typing Speed?

Before you set off training to improve your typing speed, you want to set an achievable goal. The best way to approach the task is to test your typing speed first and then aim to improve by 10 words per minute to start, before going up to 20 extra words per minute.

Start by copying a passage of text to see how quickly you can type it. Re-use this passage multiple times until you hit your goals. Once you’ve mastered that piece of text, choose another one with more complex words and special characters. Once you’ve hit the goal, start writing organically instead of using a passage to copy.

Your typing speed is only half the issue. You want to consider your typing accuracy as well. It’s no use if you can type 100 words per minute if half of them are spelled wrong. While you’re working to improve your typing speed, keep an eye on how accurate your spelling is.

Accuracy and speed go hand in hand. If you can master both, you’ll be on your way to smashing your work goals.