Two Months After Switching to Colemak

I made my first post about Colemak two months ago. I still occasionally use QWERTY on my work computer when a task is too short and not worth booting up Portable Colemak (app).

First, I should say I cannot type one handed with Colemak at all! So if I’m taking notes with a pen in one hand, or using a mobile device, QWERTY is my go to keyboard. That means, I’m using Colemak for at least 70% of my typing time. Let’s get to my review.

Colemak is better suited for touch typing in English. Most QWERTY typists don’t truly touch type. I didn’t. You probably don’t either. We have to use all kinds of hacks to accommodate for the layout’s shortcomings—not so with Colemak. The biggest difference I noticed is I feel a lot calmer and more focused when using Colemak. There is less cross-keyboard finger travel. The keys feel closer. I agree  with what this layout often touts, “Your fingers travel less.” It may not feel so at the beginning, but you’ll definitely feel so once you can type comfortably.

Most people are only interested in speed though. So far, I’m still faster on QWERTY… even though it feels like chaos to me. My fingers are all over the place yet I can type somewhat accurately. It’s a weird stressor for me. Colemak, however, feels calmer and more comfortable. The speed on Colemak is something I expect to come with time. I typed on QWERTY for over 25 years! I’ve only been using Colemak for two months. So despite my typing speed being cut in half, I feel Colemak is the best layout for typing on a physical keyboard in English.