How much should you practice typing per day ?

Typing practice daily is important if you want to see improvements in your typing speed. But a question comes in the mind that how much time should we practice per day to see improvements, this is what we are going to discuss here.

The per day practice time depends on several factors like what type of words are you practicing, does that includes punctuations, numbers, easy words or hard words, your target speed, you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced typist, and much more personal factors.

There is no fixed time that works for everyone. Some people can improve with only 15-20 minutes of focused practice daily, while some people may need 1-2 hours if their goal is very high WPM like 100+ or more.

So, the right typing practice time depends on your current level and what you want to achieve.

Why You Need to Set a Practice Time for a Day?

As human we not only have a brain memory but also muscle memory which decides your reflexes and helps you in repeating voluntary tasks.

This muscle memory is what you are going to be dependent on while typing. As a beginner, since your muscles are not trained for typing, you need to set a training time for them. This lets your muscles to be more active and ready to learn something new during those time.

Setting a practice time also lets your muscles and brain to build a great muscle memory as your muscles and brain both are fully focused and engaged in typing activity.

If you practice randomly without any fixed time, you may not see proper improvement. Some day you practice for 1 hour, then you skip 3 days, then again practice for 10 minutes. This kind of irregular practice can make your progress slow.

Typing improvement needs consistency more than just long practice. So, having a fixed daily practice time helps you stay consistent and focused.

How Much to Practice?

As we earlier talked, this depends on several factors including are you a beginner or intermediate, what type of practice are you doing easy, medium or hard, your current typing speed, your goal WPM, and other personal factors that we are going to discuss.

But in general, if you are a beginner, 15-20 minutes per day is enough to start. If you are intermediate, 30-60 minutes per day can be good. And if you are trying to reach a very high typing speed like 100 WPM or more, then you may need 1-2 hours of focused practice depending on your routine.

The main thing is that your practice should be focused. Practicing for 20 minutes with full focus is much better than practicing for 1 hour while being distracted.

Beginner or Intermediate

As a beginner, you need to focus on pressing correct key while you practice. Practice time should be medium at this stage, because the more you practice, the more your muscles will get tired which will need more time to recover.

So, in your early 10-15 days, you should practice for 15-20 minutes a day. This lets you build a good brain memory first.

Now after you get about 30-40 WPM, you can gradually increase your practice time like 25-30 minutes for the next 4-5 days and 35-45 minutes on next 5 days. This will develop a great brain memory and also helps your muscles to get used to typing activity as you go on.

As a beginner, you should not try to type fast from the first day. Your main goal should be accuracy and correct finger movement. If you try to type fast too early, you will make many mistakes and may build wrong muscle memory.

As an intermediate, you can even practice for 1-2 hrs a day if you want to improve speed, accuracy or typing flow.

Intermediate typists already know the keyboard layout and finger placement, so they can handle longer practice sessions. But still, the practice should be divided properly. Practicing 1 hour in two sessions of 30 minutes can be better than forcing one long session.

As a beginner, if you try to practice medium or hard level then you may need to give some more time per day as medium or hard level slows your typing speed because it contains punctuations, numbers, capital letters, and difficult words.

Your Current WPM

Your current typing speed also allows you to manage your practice time. If your typing speed is about 30-50 WPM, as a beginner this is good and in this case to keep improving you can set a focused practice time of 20-30 minutes.

This lets you improve an average of 5-7 WPM per week, and develop a good typing flow. Note this is not always gonna happen as your speed reach to 80 WPM or higher, you may see a very little 2-3 WPM improvement or sometimes no improvement for some days.

At lower speed, improvement looks faster because you are learning the basics and your fingers are getting used to the keyboard. But after reaching a higher speed, every small improvement needs more effort.

For example, improving from 30 WPM to 40 WPM may feel easier, but improving from 80 WPM to 90 WPM may take much more time.

This is normal. It does not mean you are not improving. At higher speeds, your typing needs better accuracy, rhythm, finger control, and typing flow.

So, if your current WPM is low, short daily practice is enough. But if your current WPM is already high and you want to go even higher, then you may need more practice time and more focused training.

Your Goal

You can also adjust your practice time per day depending on your goal WPM. If your goal is 100+ WPM, then you may need to set the practice time on higher side as 1-2 hrs a day.

Though as a beginner you need to set less time as it will let your muscles to not get too much tired or make you loose your mind over your typing speed as you are going to do a lot of mistakes in your early days.

If your goal is only to type comfortably for normal work, then 20-30 minutes daily practice can be enough. A speed of 40-60 WPM with good accuracy is already good for many normal tasks like writing emails, chatting, assignments, and office work.

But if your goal is to become very fast like 80 WPM, 100 WPM, or more, then you need to practice more seriously. You need to work on weak keys, difficult words, accuracy, punctuation, numbers, and long typing sessions.

Higher goals need better consistency.

Type of Practice Matters

How much you should practice also depends on what type of practice you are doing.

If you are practicing simple words, then you may type faster and feel less tired. But if you are practicing difficult words, punctuation, capital letters, numbers, or symbols, then your typing will slow down and your brain will need more focus.

So, 20 minutes of hard typing practice can feel equal to 40 minutes of easy typing practice.

That is why you should not only count practice time. You should also look at the quality of practice.

If you are doing easy typing lessons, you can practice a little longer. But if you are doing difficult lessons, keep the session shorter and more focused.

For beginners, easy lessons are better in the starting days. Once you become comfortable, then slowly add medium and hard lessons.

Accuracy Practice vs Speed Practice

There are mainly two types of typing practice: accuracy practice and speed practice.

In accuracy practice, your goal is to type correctly with fewer mistakes. You should type slowly and focus on pressing the right keys. This type of practice is very important for beginners.

In speed practice, your goal is to push your typing speed higher. But this should be done only when your accuracy is already good.

If your accuracy is below 90-92%, then you should not focus too much on speed. First, improve your accuracy. Try to keep accuracy around 95% or more.

Once your accuracy becomes stable, then you can start working on speed.

So, your daily practice should include both accuracy and speed, but the ratio depends on your level.

For beginners, 80% practice should be accuracy based and 20% can be speed based.

For intermediate typists, you can keep a balance like 50% accuracy practice and 50% speed practice.

Should You Practice Typing Every Day?

Yes, if you want to improve typing speed, you should practice typing every day. Daily practice helps your fingers build muscle memory faster.

But daily practice does not mean you need to type for hours every day. Even 15-20 minutes daily can be enough if you are consistent.

The important thing is to not take long gaps. If you practice for a few days and then stop for a week, your progress may become slow.

Typing is like training your fingers. If you train them regularly, they become faster and more accurate. If you stop training, your speed may get stuck.

So, daily practice is better than irregular long practice.

Take Breaks During Long Practice

If you are practicing for more than 30-40 minutes, you should take small breaks. Typing continuously for a long time can make your fingers, wrist, and mind tired.

When you are tired, your accuracy drops and you start making more mistakes. This can make your practice less useful.

So, if you want to practice for 1 hour, you can divide it into two sessions of 30 minutes. Or you can practice 25 minutes, take a 5-minute break, and then continue again.

Breaks help your hands relax and keep your focus fresh.

Typing practice should not feel like punishment. It should be focused and comfortable.

Do Not Overpractice as a Beginner

Many beginners get excited and try to practice for 2-3 hours in one day. But this is not always good.

As a beginner, your fingers are not used to typing movement. If you practice too much, your hands can get tired and you may start making more mistakes.

Too much practice can also make you frustrated because beginners usually make a lot of mistakes in the starting days.

So, keep your practice time simple. Start with 15-20 minutes daily. Once your hands become comfortable, then slowly increase the time.

Typing improvement is a long journey. You do not need to finish everything in one day.

Best Daily Typing Practice Routine

A good daily typing routine should include accuracy, speed, and weak area practice.

For example, if you are practicing for 30 minutes, you can divide it like this:

First 10 minutes: basic accuracy practice.

Next 10 minutes: normal word or sentence practice.

Last 10 minutes: speed test or weak key practice.

This type of routine gives balance. You are not only chasing speed, but also improving control.

If you are practicing for 1 hour, you can add punctuation, numbers, and long paragraph practice also.

The goal is to make your typing complete, not only fast in easy words.

Listen to Your Hands

Your hands can tell you when you are practicing too much. If your fingers feel tired, stiff, or painful, then you should stop and take rest.

Do not ignore wrist pain or finger pain. Typing should be smooth and relaxed. If you force your hands too much, it can create discomfort and slow down your progress.

Use a comfortable keyboard position, keep your wrists relaxed, and press keys lightly.

If you feel tired, take a break. Rest is also part of improvement.

My Personal Suggestion

In my personal experience, a practice time of 15-20 minutes is considered good for beginners. This is enough to build a habit and improve slowly without getting too tired.

After some days, when you feel comfortable, you can increase it to 30 minutes per day.

If you are already typing at 50-70 WPM and want to improve more, then 45 minutes to 1 hour per day can be good.

And if your goal is 100+ WPM, then you may need 1-2 hours per day, but only if you can practice with focus and without hurting your hands.

Remember, the best practice time is the time you can follow consistently.

Verdict

Typing practice time depends on your level, current WPM, goal speed, practice type, and personal routine.

If you are a beginner, 15-20 minutes daily is enough to start. If you are around 30-50 WPM, then 20-30 minutes daily can help you improve. If you are intermediate and want to reach high speed, then 45 minutes to 1 hour can be good. And if your goal is 100+ WPM, then 1-2 hours of focused practice may be needed.

But do not only focus on time. Focus on quality practice. Accuracy, correct finger placement, weak key practice, and consistency matter more than just typing for long hours.

In short, practice typing daily, but do not overdo it. Start small, stay consistent, and increase your practice time gradually as your typing level improves.