I've been writing code for a long time. In fact, I started when I was 7 with QBASIC on MS-DOS 6.22. That's nearly 28 years.
So, I've by extension been typing for a long time, but never the "right" way. I never learned touch-typing. Yep. A programmer who doesn't touch-type. Madness!
Now, for the most part I stopped having to actually look at the keyboard years ago. I use a typing style that's 5 or 6 fingers and average about 50 words per minute. Not abysmal, but not great either. But it is about the fastest I will be able to get with that "technique". Accuracy is also absolute rubbish.
Therefore, I decided it's time to change all that by learning to type the proper way. I've been at it for 2 days now and am sitting at an abysmal average of 12 words per minute using this proper style at the time of writing. Oof.
I am forcing myself to practice with everything I do right now (except my work for obvious reasons). I even wrote this article that way. Yes, it was quite painful and slow. The day my typing speed using this new technique catches up to my old rate, I will switch completely and never look back.
Improving this is something I no longer feel is optional as it is not only limiting but I fear also dangerous; as this improper form also leads to my hitting the keys entirely too hard which could lead to other issues down the road.
I will report back with my progress after 1 month and see where I land. Wish me luck!