It is sort of like learning a piano. You learn cords. You break words into chunks and work out from there. Now after this whole thread I am conscious of it (grr). Also there are two little nubs on most keyboards on the f and j keys to get you into position quickly. Feel for the nubs and type away. Miss them and it is jumble city.
Yes! The app that I used for learning touch-typing even had a metronome built in, and it encouraged you in the instructions to enable it when practicing.