As I was explaining the virtues of left-handed mousing to one of our web designers, he replied, “Yeah, but I’m not left-handed”.
Well, neither am I. So why do I use the mouse with my left hand? 3 reasons, really:
- Ergonomics - Switching to my off-hand for possible RSI-inducing tasks helps reduce their impact. My right hand and wrist don’t bear the full brunt of 10-hour days of software development.
- Balance - Call me a nerd (because I am), but I like the idea of being equally adept at doing things with either hand. Sometimes I brush my teeth left-handed, use a fork left-handed, and shave the cats left-handed, too. Ok, made that last one up.
- Economy of motion – This one was a by-product. One of the first things I noticed when I started mousing left-handed is how much more efficient it is. Here’s why: think about the distance your right arm travels as you move from the mouse to your home keys (jkl;) and back again. Unless you’re doing ten-key often (and I hope you’re not – sorry, data entry folks), that’s wasted effort. Depending on the size and configuration of your keyboard, that’s an extra 4-6 inches of motion every time you switch. If that doesn’t sound like much, think about how many times you do that during the day. If you’re like me, it’s in the hundreds. But, with resources like Smashing Magazine’s 200+ Hotkeys To Boost Your Productivity, I’m getting better all the time.
Sure, it’s hard at first. You’ll notice certain shortcuts aren’t quite as accessible as they used to be and you won’t have as much coordination as you did. That’s ok – you’ll adapt and the coordination will come. And when it does, you’ll be impressed that you got used to it as quickly as you did.
I know I was.
