It took me two weeks. 2 hours per-day and 4 hours on weekend. Here is what has worked for me
- I practiced mostly on real words (https://colemak.com/wiki/index.php?title=Typing_lessons) and not on weird letters combinations (e.g. hhh ppp iia ooes)
- I don’t time myself typing. It is way too pressurizing to see your speed while learning (how fast or slow you are doing). Just type and don’t think about your speed/progress.
- Type as accurately you can. Don’t compromise quality for speed.
- As soon as you know where each letter is positioned on the keyboard then switch completely.
- Use a softer keyboard. It is painful when you learn typing on a hard keyboard.
- Play some background music when you are practicing typing.
- Type in short bursts, for e.g. not more than 15 minutes per sitting. Here is my timetable: Type for 15 minutes, then go and cook dinner. Then type another 15 minutes and then have dinner. Type another 15 minutes and then do the dishes. Type another 15 minutes and then watch the tv. See, the typing has to revolve around your life and not your life around typing.
- When you get discouraged, go to the colemak forum to read some success stories to motivate yourself. ;)
I am sharing these tips with you because they have worked for me. I have tried switching to colemak multiple times but always failing. I am now 100% using the colemak keyboard and only getting better by days.
Still wont time myself. Lets just say that I am typing at a very comfortable speed.
Hope this helps. Thank you for reading.