Hey Brian, welcome to the community.

Learning to touch type is one of the most important things to do. Learning to touch type on a layout you haven't used before could be more challenging than to learn the one you already know the key placement, that's true. But if you say you do a fair amount of typing at work, I can assure you, that you're on the right path! And this is indeed a lifelong skill that you'll never regret to have spent time on gaining (as long as you don't give up). But don't discourage yourself. It will be a bit hard in the beginning but after you remember the key placement, your progress will keep you excited, and you'll go on easier from there.

Learning touch typing is the most important step. Learning an ergonomic layout like Colemak (because it's the best :P) is probably the second. Another one would be to buy an ergonomic hardware – keyboard, which you already have. So you're basically combining the two steps in one. It will be a bit challenging but you could still do the "old" typing at on Qwerty at work, while looking down, and learn Colemak touch typing home. Once you get to more decent speed and comfort, you can switch to Colemak at work as well.

Since they're two completely different typing styles (touch and "pecking"), it won't be as confusing as if you were touch typing both. That is my suggestion, as it would probably be less frustrating and less damaging on your work in the beginning. If you really want to go all in and you're ready to (and can) sacrifice some work productivity for a few weeks, you can switch to touch typing Colemak everywhere after a few days of learning the letter positions. You will progress faster, but it could be quite frustrating since you might not be as relaxed when you have work to do and your mind is occupied with all these new things.

I think everyone here will agree with me when I say that you don't need Colemak labelled keyboard. You could, of course, get one, but having the ability to look at the keys instead of forcing yourself to remember all of them could be bad thing. Also if you use a Qwerty keyboard, while typing Colemak, your brain will automatically map each Qwerty key with the corresponding Colemak key, which will make it easier when you're at work and have to type on the Qwerty keyboard. But this isn't something you should try doing in the beginning, it just happens by itself ;)

May I ask in what way are you learning at the moment? What software do you use? Because some might be more unfriendly than others if you're not already touch typist. Also it's a good idea to do a speed test of your current typing, just to compare to your progress later on.

Please, keep us posted with your progress and don't hesitate to ask anything related. Your experience will also be valuable for others who start learning touch typing with Colemak.

Or if you want some challenge, you could share how was your day :P

Hi Brian.  I started learning Colemak on September 14, 2011.  I was a QWERTY hunt and peck typist managing only about 40 wpm at the very fastest and would constantly look at the keyboard to check my location.  When I had a few months off vacationing, I decided to try and learn to touch-type.  Initially I thought DVORAK would be the way forward and started doing some reading. Quickly I came across Colemak and and was instantly converted!  Now my average on typeracer is usually around 58 wpm, and steadily improving. I try to mostly concentrate on accuraccy, and it's paying off.  So - in summary - I did it, so you can too!

Cheers.

Hi Brian,

I never learned to touch type as a kid.   Five years ago I discovered Colemak,  learned to touch type for the first time in my life.  Been happily touch typing with Colemak ever since.  Never used a blank keyboard or Colemak labeled keyboard, just don't look at the keys now except for numbers and some special chars
. 
Love it.