How to Type Faster: A 4-Week Practice Plan
Last updated: 2026-11-01
Most people who want to type faster just type more, and stay at the same speed for years. Speed comes from habits: using all your fingers, not looking at the keys, and practising in short, focused sessions. This four-week plan asks for about 15 minutes a day. You do not need any special tools: a keyboard, a timer and the typing test on TypeLemon are enough.
Before you start: measure your speed
Type one sentence on the TypeLemon home page and write down two numbers: your speed in words per minute (WPM) and your accuracy. A "word" in a speed test is five characters, spaces included, so the number does not depend on how long the words are. TypeLemon counts only the letters you typed correctly, so a typo lowers your speed. That is the number to improve.
Do this three times and keep the middle result. This is your starting point. If you sign in, the My progress page keeps these numbers for you and shows them by day and by week, so you can see the trend without a notebook.
Week 1: accuracy and the home row
Do not try to go fast this week. Place your fingers on the home row (A S D F for the left hand, J K L ; for the right) and use the correct finger for every key you can. Our guide to the home row explains the finger positions. Slow, correct typing builds the movement patterns that fast typing later relies on.
- Practise 15 minutes a day, in one session or two.
- Keep your eyes on the screen. If you must look, look at the keyboard briefly and look back.
- Aim for 95 percent accuracy or better. If you fall below it, slow down.
- Stop a session when you feel tired. Tired fingers practise mistakes.
Week 2: all three rows
Add the top row (Q W E R T Y U I O P) and the bottom row (Z X C V B N M). Most people have one or two keys they always reach for with the wrong finger, such as B, Y or the comma. Find yours by watching which letters you mistype most, then practise words that contain them. The My progress page lists the keys you miss most, which saves you the guessing.
Keep your accuracy above 95 percent. Your speed will probably dip a little when you change a habit. That is normal and it comes back.
Week 3: real words and rhythm
Now practise words and sentences, not single letters. Fast typists do not think about letters: they type common words and letter pairs as one smooth movement. Short common words such as "the", "and" and "you", and endings such as "-ing" and "-tion", are worth typing until they feel automatic.
Try to keep an even rhythm. A steady pace with few pauses is faster in the end than bursts of speed followed by corrections. A game helps here, because the pressure to keep going makes you stop looking at your hands. In Zombie Shooter you type the word above each zombie to shoot it, and in Slime Stampede every correct letter keeps you ahead of the slimes while every typo makes you stumble.
Week 4: push your speed
This week, type slightly faster than is comfortable for a few minutes, then drop back to a pace you can keep accurate. Alternate the two. When your accuracy stays above 95 percent at a new speed, that speed becomes your normal one, and you push again.
- Start each session with a one-minute warm-up at an easy pace.
- Do two or three timed runs, and write down the best one.
- Finish with a slow, accurate run, so the last thing you practise is clean.
Online matches are a good test of this week's skill. Press Match, and you play against other people; the first player to finish the whole text wins, so speed counts, but only correct letters count towards your speed, so accuracy still matters.
Habits that make the plan work
- Practise a little every day. Fifteen minutes a day beats two hours once a week, because your hands need sleep and repetition to learn.
- Keep a good position at the keyboard. Our guide to posture and hand position shows how to avoid strain.
- Use a keyboard you like. The layout should match the one you will use every day.
- Do not chase one big number. Look at your weekly average on the progress page.
How much faster can you expect to get?
It depends on where you start. Someone who looks at the keys and uses two or three fingers often gains the most from learning touch typing, because they change the method itself. Someone who already types at 60 WPM gains more slowly. A realistic goal for a month of daily practice is a noticeable rise in both speed and accuracy, and most of all a feeling that your hands know where the keys are. After that, keep practising a few times a week to keep the gains.
Try it on TypeLemon
Practise what you just read: type a sentence in the typing test, play Zombie Shooter or Slime Stampede, or press Match on the home page to play against other people. It is free, and you can play as a guest.