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    Cold Turkey approach in action (NLP)

    • Started by Adriannqld
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    05-Aug-2017 01:40:15#1 Cold Turkey approach in action (NLP)

    Hi all. I found the shares here to be very useful. Thought I would share mine as I go Cold Turkey.
    10.05Am 5 August. Day 4. Kinda loving and hating it!
    I work as a coach and take a lot of notes so I want to do this change quick.

    To assist
    *I'm using some 'learning music' (Kelly Howell or google learning music).
    *Bought a new ergonomic keyboard. 
    *I take notes from my client calls on paper with a pen, then type up slowly. So I can maximize learning time and still do my work. 
    *Installed it on phone to but removed it for now. This could be something to consider.
    Maybe 5hrs a day total typing.
    Using https://thetypingcat.com/ to learn and achieving 15wpm now. But slower here. I imagine constant use of a program could become a anchor.
    I completely confirm almost everything I read on this forum prior to starting.
    I find it very reassuring now although I'm slow, I'm seeing that my fingers actually rarely leave the home row. Qwerty seems so silly now. I did think about quitting. Several times but as I'm struggling, I can see, I can really hit my REAL Goal of typing as fast as I think! Or at least use this period as a time to also anchor better posture and self belief. I imagine few will fully convert as it's simply challenging and human nature is lazy.

    If you start:
    Consider how many ways you can make it harder to quit. (Hence I'm writing here & on Facebook)
    And how many ways you can make it easier, funner, efficient and a streamlined part of your year.
    Maybe do it one phone first. (Love to hear if someone tries this approach)

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    05-Aug-2017 17:47:32#2 Re: Cold Turkey approach in action (NLP)

    Heya!

    First off, congrats on taking the first step to a better typing experience :)

    Second, I just wanted to mention one thing.  The phone layout probably won't help you much at all.  Using your thumbs has its own set of muscle memory completely separate from the muscle memory you use with all your digits for touch typing.  I type 100% of the time on Colemak on my computers, but 100% of my time on my phone(Blackberry Keyone) typing qwerty.  I can switch back and forth with zero issues.  However, if I type on qwerty keyboard on a computer for even 5 minutes it throws me off for DAYS. 

    Not sure if that is everyone's experience or not, but it is mine :)  I type around 100wpm on colemak at the moment.  I used to be up around 140wpm when I practiced everyday, but I'm not that way anymore by any stretch.  I'm a software engineer for a living too, so typing special characters all day really messes with your brain lol.

    Have a great day, and type me a reply on colemak...
    Joshua Austill

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    06-Aug-2017 02:01:08#3 Re: Cold Turkey approach in action (NLP)

    I'm replying just for practice! That is awesome. After I read 100WPM  and 140WPM I'm fired up!!!!

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    06-Aug-2017 05:03:22#4 Re: Cold Turkey approach in action (NLP)

    Qwerty is silly, indeed. Excelling in qwerty touch-typing is very practical in this world, but that hurts a perfectionist inside me. Keep practicing, you will overcome the 15WPM very soon.

    Last edited by ckofy (06-Aug-2017 05:04:27)
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    07-Aug-2017 10:09:47#5 Re: Cold Turkey approach in action (NLP)

    Yeah, some people use Colemak on their phones just because they like to have the layout they love there, but I don't think it helps much. In my main Big Bag topic you can read about MessagEase which I use, and my "Colemakoid" layout for that app. That lets me use a keyboard app optimized for touch screens while also getting a Colemak-type layout.

    If you need to type faster while learning, consider a Tarmak transition. It's more elaborate than cold turkey, but allows for a smoother ride.

    Last edited by DreymaR (07-Aug-2017 10:11:18)

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    07-Aug-2017 18:59:23#6 Re: Cold Turkey approach in action (NLP)

    I actually am using colemak on my nexus 6p and now I can't go back to qwerty in any place. Now I like colemak on my Android too... like having colemak everywhere .

    Last edited by abhixec (07-Aug-2017 22:11:15)
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    08-Aug-2017 12:48:28#7 Re: Cold Turkey approach in action (NLP)
    abhixec said:

    I actually am using colemak on my nexus 6p and now I can't go back to qwerty in any place. Now I like colemak on my Android too... like having colemak everywhere .

    I had Colemak on my phone for a while, but I quite like the word-swipe feature, and that doesn't work well with Colemak. Even then, I dislike using a flat screen for input, so I try to avoid it if possible, using it for only brief messages.

    There are ways of making interesting Colemak-like virtual keyboards (assuming a conventional button-style layout). For example, by slicing the keyboard in half and rotating it, it would give the most common keys easily accessible via thumbs on each side. Don't know if anything like that exists?

    Q A Z     / O : 
W R X     . I Y 
F S C     , E U 
P T V     M N L 
G D B     K H J

    Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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    08-Aug-2017 13:15:19#8 Re: Cold Turkey approach in action (NLP)

    I think things like that exists. But I also think that not using the power of swiping on a touch screen is a crime. ;-) Repeatedly tapping on glass is tiresome for your fingertips. It's fine to do it with the most common letters, but shouldn't be used for everything imnsho. And keys/buttons shouldn't be too small.

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    08-Aug-2017 23:55:56#9 Re: Cold Turkey approach in action (NLP)
    DreymaR said:

    I think things like that exists. But I also think that not using the power of swiping on a touch screen is a crime. ;-) Repeatedly tapping on glass is tiresome for your fingertips. It's fine to do it with the most common letters, but shouldn't be used for everything imnsho. And keys/buttons shouldn't be too small.

    actually I do use swipe on android and it isn't bad certainly not the best like when you use it with qwerty but it works pretty reasonably

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    09-Aug-2017 08:26:48#10 Re: Cold Turkey approach in action (NLP)

    Swype is more popular than MessagEase, but I think the latter is a lot more powerful. ;-)

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    09-Aug-2017 17:37:59#11 Re: Cold Turkey approach in action (NLP)
    DreymaR said:

    Swype is more popular than MessagEase, but I think the latter is a lot more powerful. ;-)

    I actually use Google's default swiping and it works pretty well for me, I haven't had any issues with it so far.

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    10-Aug-2017 12:13:34#12 Re: Cold Turkey approach in action (NLP)

    Always glad to see another convert, good luck mate! I found using a variety of different websites and such to be helpful, keeps things interesting.

    Haven't tried Colemak on a mobile device myself, but it seems like the close knit keys would be irritating - misclicks galore I bet. I'm pretty happy with QWERTY on a mobile device. The semi grouped keys are helpful so you don't have to go back and forth all the time with one hand; and homerow is negligible on mobile so Colemak's benefits seem somewhat useless. I'm sure there are other possibilities that would be better but the fact is I probably type one one-hundredth as much on mobile as PC so the effort to switch wouldn't be worth it either. Typing with thumbs feels like an almost entirely different skill to typing with fingers.

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    11-Aug-2017 13:56:59#13 Re: Cold Turkey approach in action (NLP)

    I really like MessagEase, and have gotten pretty fast with it. But the fact that its completion and correction are so bad that they're better turned off limits the top speed. My top speed with ME and SwiftKey are about the same, though they take opposite paths to get there. With ME, I type individual letters faster; with SK, I type individual letters slower, but get to type fewer letters. If ME's completion and autocorrection were only as good as AOSP 5.x, it would be significantly faster than SK for me.

    ETA: Colemak layout actually makes things worse in SK, because the layout of common letters on the home keys makes it harder for gesture typing (swiping) to distinguish words.

    Last edited by jfmcbrayer (11-Aug-2017 13:58:24)
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    22-Oct-2017 15:18:07#14 Re: Cold Turkey approach in action (NLP)

    Like to give an update as it makes better sense right! So I GOT IT!!!
    I really thought about giving up. But got through the change in just under 4 weeks of strain, and pulling out hair! Jokes. Wasn't as bad as I thought thanks to programs but the biggest breakthrough came by writing out client notes. I found some touch typing programs I had speed but when it came to coaching on the phone and typing it was too much. About week 5 I can coach and type notes.
    Went on holiday/travel at week 5 till now, which is week 10 now. Test say 40 words a minute. I'm going to practice once a day most days with some learning music. I want to get over 55 WPM before December 31.

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