If there is anything that I can do to make myself better and faster at typing, I'll consider it. I'm a reasonably fast typist at 85-90 words per minute, but my job is to write, and my life is spent constantly in front of a computer. It can never hurt to go faster.

For that reason, the idea of trying to adapt to Dvorak, a keyboard layout that never reached the popularity of QWERTY, has long interested me. The supposed merits of Dvorak are that one can both be a faster typist and be more comfortable while typing—Dvorak typists reach less and distribute the workload more evenly between their hands. But reports of both benefits are mixed. Nonetheless, I recently decided to try and switch.

According to accounts I'd read, the speed difference earned when switching from QWERTY to Dvorak can be negligible—between two and six percent. Considering the 15 years of consistent typing and four years of full-time writing it took to get where I am now with my current keyboard layout, the uphill road to becoming this good again is daunting. But if I can achieve a certain level of Dvorak competency, my productivity shouldn't be negatively affected.

The goal for this project is two-fold. Goal one is to attain a touch-typing level of competency with the Dvorak layout. My “technical success” goal will be 30 words per minute at around 90 percent accuracy with a reach goal of 50wpm at 90 percent accuracy. I'll be writing about this experience in three parts, each with a word per minute progress report at the end.

The second goal is more like a hypothesis: once I learn Dvorak, I want to see if I will be able to code-switch between layouts at will. If typing is like riding a bike, I’m not sure I can hold and simultaneously maintain two different ways of riding the same bike in my brain. Anecdotal evidence from various Internet forums suggests this is extremely hard to do (two different kinds of typing, not bike riding). Learning a second keyboard layout may compromise skill with the first. Being bad at a new skill I can deal with, but having it come at the cost of another skill is anxiety-inducing.

A few other accounts compare the switch to the one between different language keyboards. The transition can result in some mistakes, but it's ultimately possible to balance familiarity with both in the same brain. However, the differences between language keyboards are significantly smaller than those between QWERTY and Dvorak.

I want to take some time here and note that typing is my literal livelihood; I use no dictation software or anything to do my writing, and writing is my full-time job. With the occasional exception of reporting events, I am 100 percent fingers to QWERTY keyboard, all day, every day. This isn't to say “it's a risk, but everything I do, I do for you, Ars readers.” It's more “sorry, Nate, Ken, and Eric for taking 20 times longer than expected to do everything in the next few days. Or weeks. Or months."

Methodology

After some thought, I’ve decided not to tear apart and re-build the QWERTY layout of my keyboard. As far as the goal of touch-typing goes, being able to look down and see the right key would be a temporary solution that just fosters a bigger problem. Nowadays, that problem can be solved before it starts—with software.

Instead, I’m going to keep a photo open on my desktop of the layout, feeling my way based on the diagram. I’ll start with some basic typing lessons in Dvorak before setting off into the professional world. I don't currently plan to restrict myself completely to Dvorak—some things have to get done—but I'll try to use it as often as possible.

The layout I actually use is called "Dvorak-Qwerty ?" in OS X, where keys respond in the Dvorak layout but revert to QWERTY when the command key is pressed. This means keyboard shortcuts are preserved. My sanity reserve is only so large.

My QWERTY typing speed, my first typing lesson, and progress by the end of part 1.

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It is bonkers how much work this is. I just took 40 minutes to type 300 words and ran out of patience about 250 words ago. Getting a letter wrong makes me want to throw a chair. The S key being on the other side of the keyboard, under a pinky… I mean.

On the positive end, one hand controls common letters and the other handles vowels, creating a nice back and forth rhythm to typing. Being able to type simple words without leaving the home row helps too.

I’m taking it slow with the typing lessons given how badly I’m doing and how maddening it is. Too often I’ll feel like I’ve gotten in a groove of getting word after word right, only to realize that I typed a word wrong six words ago, didn’t realize it, and have to go back and do it all over.



I move off the home row, only to discover that the F key is in no man’s land (that is, on the QWERTY Y spot). No keyboard layout will ever convince me that this particular spot shouldn't be a giant empty crater where no finger is asked to go. Every F on Dvorak takes me about five tries to get it right.

A couple of times I've let my computer fall asleep by accident with the Dvorak layout on and experienced very real panic that I would never be able to get my login password right.

After five hours…

Typing right now is slow enough that I often give up mid-sentence when trying to engage in witty banter with my co-workers. Because it takes me so long to type anything, I get anxious at the prospect of lost time just starting a three-word sentence. If there is anyone on your staff who you would like to see fewer e-mails from, you might recommend that they try taking up Dvorak.

Typing numbers is now my favorite activity because everything is in the same place. Autocomplete becomes not just a convenience, but a godsend. I no longer try to race it to the end of the phrase, instead I type as few letters as possible and wait for a drop-down to save me from the toil.

The work is so slow and tiresome that my brain takes involuntary breaks in the middle of a word, giving up mid-thought so that it can have a rest. I space out and then—where was I? Oh yes—trying to remember where the letter D was so I can finish typing the word "purchased." I decide even the diagram I was using is too much of a crutch and try to work from memory.

Though it takes me about three total hours of typing, eventually I stop forgetting where D is. When it comes time to type a Z, I torture myself by pecking around the keyboard until I locate it by chance, only giving up and looking at the diagram after a minute or so. Sometimes I am consciously trying to type in Dvorak, but when I aim for a key, my finger repeatedly stabs the place where the QWERTY key is. This is interspersed with pecks at the delete button, over and over and over, like a malfunctioning AI.

If I could think even a step ahead of what letter I was going to type, I feel like I could get into some kind of rhythm. As it stands, I'm going key-by-key with the occasional flash of internalized letter patterns: I am a prize "t-h-e" typist.

At the end of this first part, I am at 15 words per minute. In the next two installments, I will try some new strategies to cope with the switch and will try to maintain my performance in both layouts.