Swapping the hand holding the mouse : do you have a better idea ?

Question

Spending thousand of hours in front of my computer, ergonomics became quickly a main issue.

For the monitor or the keyboard, technical solutions exist. But for the mouse, I never get used to the trackball and putting a little pillow under my wrist made me feel uncomfortable.

So I started to swap the hand that holds the mouse. It's great, one can rest while he other is working. At the beginning it was hard, but now I don't really see the difference unless I try to kick an ass at Quake III ;-)

Anyway, a lot of people would not be comfortable with this idea, do not have the time, and above all, can not afford the mental switch that comes with the use of the other hand. Indeed, using the other hand make you use the other side of you brain (logical <=> creative), making very hard to concentrate the first times.

I am happy about it but can understand that many people would not. Do you have a better idea ?

Answer 1

Take regular breaks from using the mouse, and learn keyboard shortcuts!

There is a tool called Workrave which will make you take a short break every few minutes, I use it and it seems to be helping.

Answer 2

I tried a vertical mouse but found it to be more uncomfortable because you lose the wrist support afforded by resting your hand on the mouse.

It was a waste of money for me, but your mileage may vary.

Answer 3

Yeah I had that problem too for a while. The first thing I did was modify my chair so I had a flat area where I could put a mouse and rest my arm on the padded arm wrest. Now I have an L shaped desk, and can rest my whole arm on the desk ( from elbow to hand anyway ). I found that it makes a big difference over just wresting my wrist. I still use my modified chair to hold a flight stick for gaming though ;)

Answer 4

This is classic RSI, you need to change your mentality for the sake of your body.

Personally I do not see why people have trouble with switching to Logitech Trackman's your hand does not move, just your thumb.

To me traditional track balls fail as you have to have your hand hovering over them or your hand bent upwards. However with the trackman your hand is put in a natural curve so it feels comfortable. I used to play Americas Army using one and had no issues with speed.

Answer 5

Thanks for the initiative to go back to hand switching. I learned it years back, and it took about two weeks to get accustomed. Since then, I can gladly use both hands with the mouse.

Interesting home work for sports oriented: learn to play badminton with both hands. :P

This kind of exercise is generally good for our brain. Stretching it one way makes it perform better in others, too.

Answer 6

IBM used to make keyboards with their famous track stick in the middle. Probably, Lenovo continued that product after they took over.

If you can get used to such a device, it is very useful, especially since there is then no need to take the hands off the keyboard while working.