How Much Should You Practice Typing? And What’s the Best Time to Practice?

The fastest way to get better at typing is not doing one huge session once a week. It is doing small, repeatable practice that fits into your life. In this post, you will get a realistic answer to: how many minutes to practice, how often, and when to practice so it sticks.

How much typing practice is “enough”?

For most people, typing improves best with short sessions. Your hands learn patterns through repetition, not exhaustion. Here is a practical range that works for beginners and intermediate typists:

More than 20–30 minutes can help, but it has diminishing returns. Past that point, fatigue tends to raise your error rate, and practicing mistakes is not the goal.

What matters more than minutes: frequency

Typing is like learning an instrument. Ten minutes daily beats one hour on Sunday. Daily practice keeps your muscle memory “warm,” and your progress feels smoother week to week.

• Best: 5–6 days per week
• Good: 3–4 days per week
• Not ideal: random long sessions with big gaps

The best session structure (so you don’t just grind)

A good practice session has a purpose. You want a mix of control and speed, plus a tiny bit of targeted work. Here are two routines you can use immediately.

10-minute routine (simple and effective)

1. 2 minutes: warm up slowly (easy words, relaxed rhythm).
2. 4 minutes: accuracy run (aim 97–99% accuracy).
3. 2 minutes: speed exposure (push a little; stay calm).
4. 2 minutes: weakness drill (punctuation, Shift, or problem keys).

15–20 minute routine (for faster progress)

1. 3 minutes: warm up (clean and easy).
2. 6 minutes: accuracy (slow enough to stay clean).
3. 6 minutes: speed (2–3 short runs with breaks).
4. 3–5 minutes: targeted drills (your top 1–2 weak spots).

So… what’s the best time of day to practice typing?

The best time is the time you will actually repeat. But if you want the “most effective” time, think about your energy and your environment:

Morning (often best for technique)

• Your mind is fresh, so you focus better on accuracy and form.
• It is easier to build a daily habit before the day gets busy.
• Great for slow, clean practice and rebuilding technique.

Afternoon (great for short sessions)

• Perfect for a 5–10 minute “skill snack” between tasks.
• Useful if you already type a lot and want a quick improvement block.
• Try it after lunch only if you are not sleepy (post-lunch fatigue is real).

Evening (good for consistency, but watch fatigue)

• Good if your day is stable and you can practice at the same time daily.
• Bad if you are tired: fatigue increases errors and encourages “death-gripping” the keyboard.
• If your wrists feel tense at night, do accuracy-only and stop early.

The “best” time is when your hands feel relaxed

You can test this quickly: do one 1-minute run at three different times (morning, afternoon, night) and note:

• accuracy
• how tense your hands feel
• how often you look down

Pick the time that gives you the cleanest typing, not the highest one-off WPM.

Micro-practice: the underrated shortcut

If you hate “practice sessions,” do micro-practice instead. It works surprisingly well. Two minutes here and there keeps the skill alive.

• Before work/school: 3 minutes accuracy
• Midday break: 2 minutes punctuation drills
• Evening: 5 minutes mixed typing

The total time is still 10 minutes, but it feels easier to start.

How to avoid overtraining (yes, typing can be overtrained)

If you practice too long while tired, you teach your hands bad habits. Watch for these signals:

• You start smashing keys harder.
• You miss the same keys repeatedly.
• Your wrists feel stiff or sore.
• Your accuracy drops and stays low.

When that happens, stop. A clean 10 minutes beats a sloppy 40.

A practical answer (if you want one rule)

If you want a simple default:

• Practice 10–15 minutes per day,
• 5 days per week,
• at the same time (morning if possible),
• and include 2–3 minutes of drills for your weakest keys.

The main idea

Typing improves when practice is regular and relaxed. Choose a duration you can repeat, pick a time when your hands feel calm, and keep sessions short enough that your accuracy stays high. Do that for a few weeks, and faster typing becomes your new normal.