7 Bad Typing Habits You Need to Stop Doing

How many words per minute do you type? Do you often have to hit backspace to correct your inputs? Or have you observed any improvements in your typing? If not, it may be time to start looking at your typing habits. 

This post identifies and describes the 7 most common bad typing habits and how you can fix them. Check which practices you think are affecting your typing speed and accuracy. 

7 Bad Typing Habits You Need to Stop Doing

◾ Hunt and peck typing

◾ Prioritizing speed over accuracy

◾ Resting wrist on the table 

◾ Slouching, hunching over your desk, and folding/ crossing your legs

◾ Not stretching

◾ Not doing eye exercises

◾ Not practicing 

Hunt and peck typing

How many fingers do you use when typing? Let me guess, about two to four at the most, right? Then you must also be looking at your keyboard more frequently than you should. Hunt and peck are what you are most probably doing. 

Hunt and peck typing slows you down more than you know. Instead of allowing you to focus on the screen, your focus is split between looking for the keys and then looking back to the monitor to check if you typed in the correct key. 

Using two fingers to type

So, what can you do about this? Learn how to touch type. The touch typing system incorporates home row keys, which are the A, S, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, and semi-colon (;). Both thumbs are only for hitting the spacebar, and each of your fingers has a designated key; See the photo below. 

Touch typing system

As the photo shows, all of your ten fingers should be involved when typing. Avoid looking at the keyboard and focus on the screen no matter how tempting it is to look. At first, you will commit mistakes, expect that and be patient with yourself. As you continue practicing, you will become more aware of where the keys are and which fingers should press them until it becomes muscle memory. 

Muscle memory is a state wherein you can move automatically or without thinking. For example, you have trained to be a swimmer for some years, and your muscle memory manifests once you hit the water and begin your scissors kick. It is like an unconscious action that you do. The same will happen if you keep on practicing touch typing. If you master this technique, your typing speed and, most importantly, your accuracy will improve. 

Prioritizing speed over accuracy

A common beginner's mistake is to aim for speed first before aiming for accuracy. If you have poor typing accuracy, your typing speed is expectedly low because you need to keep returning to the wrong character you typed to correct it. 

Photo of dart pins hitting the bullseye

Practice typing and improve your accuracy with free typing websites. 

Resting your wrist on the table or keyboard

Resting your wrist on the table or keyboard may not significantly affect your typing speed or accuracy if you are used to it, but it can cause severe wrist injury in the long run. Your injury, then, can slow down your typing. Your hands should hover over the keyboard when typing, and you should get a wrist rest both for the keyboard and mouse and only place your wrist in them when resting. 

Photo showing wrist pain

When you do not follow the proper wrist position, you are prone to a painful condition called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). CTS occurs when the median nerve in the palm of your hand gets compressed. Symptoms of CTS include pain, numbness, and tingling sensation on your wrist and hands, which could extend up until your arms. You can learn more about CTS at the Mayo Clinic website.

When typing, keep your elbows at a 90 to 100-degree angle to avoid further strain on your wrists; this can also lessen muscle strain on your shoulders. You can also try other keyboard layouts that are more ergonomic than QWERTY.

Slouching, Hunching Over Your Desk, and Folding/ Crossing your Legs

Reclining, folding your legs, and hunching are bad sitting habits whether you are typing or not. Poor posture will not only cause back pains, but it can also cause poor blood circulation. And having poor blood circulation can affect how your organs function. High blood pressure, poor urine output, and abnormal blood sugar levels are some conditions you can develop over time. 

Reclining can put pressure on your lumbar area or your lower back. Your lumbar area is responsible for more downward movement, such as bending and twisting. If you recline for long hours, there is a great chance for you to strain the muscles that are supporting your spine, which can lead to inflammation. 

A woman slouching on her office chair while typing

According to Harvard Medical School, slouching can trigger heartburn as slouching puts pressure on the stomach where acid is present. Acid reflux brings discomfort and messes up your digestive health. 

Bad sitting posture can cause tight hip flexors, eventually leading to reduced spine flexibility, as well as weakening of the muscles of your behind, according to Dr. Holds of Yale Medicine. 

In the same article, Dr. Britt Tonnessen said that long periods of sitting could lead to vascular issues wherein fluid and blood build up on your legs can occur due to poor blood circulation; you will feel your legs swelling, sore, and fatigued. If you do not change your sitting habits and lifestyle (in general), you develop deep vein thrombosis (DVT). DVT is a deadly condition wherein a deep vein in your legs develops blood clots that can travel to your lungs. This is only been said for sitting for long periods, how much more if you cross your legs or fold your legs when sitting. The ideal position when typing is keeping your feet flat on the ground; you can also use a footrest.

Not stretching

We highly recommend that you stand up and do stretches from time to time to get your blood flowing. Some people benefit from using standing desks. Apart from the health problems mentioned above, Good blood flow can also help your brain function better because your brain needs oxygen and glucose transported through the blood. So to get your creative juices get flowing, start stretching!

Woman stretching on her workstation

Not doing eye exercises

Not doing eye exercises might be the most neglected of all the bad habits listed here. Your eyesight is an asset you cannot afford to lose. Although medical advances now enable people with no 20-20 vision to somehow improve their sight through Lasik surgery, preventing and following preventive care for your eyes is still the way to go. 

Woman experiencing eyestrain

So how do you do it? Healthline suggests that you change your focus by looking at a distant object, trace figure 8 with your eyes for 30 seconds, and then change direction, or you can also do the 20-20-20 minute rule- look 20 ft away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes.

You can also close your eyes for a couple of seconds, but do not fall asleep at work! We would not want you to get into any trouble with your boss. 

Not practicing 

Sometimes, we lose interest in practicing when we observe some improvements in our typing speed and accuracy. We recommend that you still practice seeing if your accuracy, again, not only your speed improved. If you are bored, you can compete with other typists on typing websites, and you can also check out fun typing games for a more exciting practice typing experience. 

Conclusion

If you want improvement in your typing performance, you need to be intentional in learning touch typing. Be mindful of your posture to prevent injuries that can hamper your typing experience for a long time; stand up and do some stretches to have good blood flow. Please do not neglect your eyes; do the eye exercises we shared. And keep on practicing. With these tips, you can say goodbye to bad typing habits. 

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