Touch Typing Number Keys

I learnt touch typing about two decades ago when I was still at university. Although I took some typewriter lessons as a child, those lessons did not stick with me. It was at university, when I found a Java applet-based touch typing tutor on the web, that I really learnt to touch type. Since then, touch typing has been an important part of my computing life. I've sometimes read arguments on the web downplaying touch typing as a skill, with claims like 'typing isn't the bottleneck, thinking is'. While that may be true, I still consider touch typing a useful skill, since it makes writing documents, code and email feel much more fluid and pleasant. It's like playing a musical instrument with the correct technique, rather than simply getting by without it. One feels smooth and expressive and the other feels raw and laboured.

Later in life, I also wrote a tool named QuickQWERTY so that I could share the joy of touch typing with my friends. The tool teaches typing only with the QWERTY layout. I wrote it at a time when I did not know much about the computing world, so I was not even aware that other keyboard layouts existed. As a result, only QWERTY is supported. The tool is free and open source, so motivated individuals can modify the lessons to support other keyboard layouts. Some people have indeed done so over the years. Several of my friends used this tool. I know at least a few who benefitted from it and shared similar sentiments about how touch typing made their computing experience smoother.

Back in my university days, I had learnt a method in which the digits 1 and 2 are typed with the left little finger, 3 with the left ring finger and so on. In this approach, the digits 1 to 6 are typed with the left hand and 7 to 0 with the right.

There is an alternative method in which only 1 is typed with the left little finger, 2 with the left ring finger and so on. In this approach, the digits 1 to 5 are typed with the left hand and 6 to 0 with the right.

Both methods require typing 1 with the left little finger. I have often felt that this may not be the most efficient way to type 1. The little finger is shorter than the others and reaching 1 often requires shifting the whole hand slightly diagonally upwards. I have therefore felt that using the left ring finger for 1 might be more comfortable.

Last month, I trained myself to use the left ring finger to type both 1 and 2. This goes against almost every typing guide out there, but I decided to forgo established practices and explore on my own to find what feels right. At first, I was sceptical about whether I would be able to learn this method, since it meant overcoming 20 years of muscle memory that I have relied on almost every day. However, developing the new muscle memory has been surprisingly easy.

In fact, both the old and the new muscle memories now coexist and I can switch between them at will without much trouble. It is remarkable how the brain can store conflicting muscle memories so effortlessly. So far, I am finding this new way of typing 1 and 2 more comfortable than either of the two popular methods I described above. I will continue typing this way for the rest of this month and see how it feels.