Switching to Colemak for Typing: What worked

First of all, What’s Colemak? To put it simply, it’s a more efficient arrangement of the keys on your keyboard. Yes, more efficient than Dvorak. Plus, unlike Dvorak, it keeps all the most common keys used in keyboard shortcuts in place. It’s a keyboard layout for people who make their living using a computer. I touch type with it after using a “QWERTY” keyboard layout for years and years.

I was just talking to someone about my Strategy for learning to type with Colemak and realized I should post a quick update with what actually worked for me.

1. Practice touch typing 0.5–2 hours a day (I started out at 2 hours and over a week went down to half an hour) with the drills in Master Key
2. and copying a piece of text using Colemak for about 5 minutes every day
3. Switched full-time to Colemak in 3–4 weeks when I felt up to it.

That’s what I did. That’s what worked. Are you tired of using an outdated, inefficient keyboard layout? Are you worried about RSI and would like to move your fingers less when you type? And just type more comfortably? Give it a shot.

You can see more about my experience with Colemak by checking out posts tagged as Colemak on this blog.