Mousing Left Handed Challenge

Mousing Left Handed Challenge

In my experience, the majority of people I see use the mouse with their right hand. I am one of those people too. I often suggest swapping the mouse between the right and left side, to share the workload between both upper limbs. In actual fact, positioning the mouse on the left hand side of the keyboard supports better postural alignment, so it’s another good reason to make the change.

One of the main reasons I am setting this challenge is to support one of my clients on her journey to becoming a master left handed mouse user. She is right handed, has a right shoulder injury and does a lot of computer based editing work. Not surprisingly making the move to mousing with the left side has been extremely frustrating for her. Understandably, when you have been using a mouse with one particular side of your body for as long as we have had mice, it is not going to be easy to make the transition.

I read somewhere recently by completing tasks with the non-dominant hand it will help stimulate development of neural pathways in the brain. Experts believe the more mental reserves individuals accumulate, the better they can stave off age-related cognitive decline. By completing frequently performed tasks with your non-dominant hand, it challenges your brain (and you).

So my challenge to you is swap the mouse to your non dominant side, and commit to mastering mousing bilaterally. Here are some tips to get you on your way:

1. Have a sense of humour. Laugh at your initial clumsiness and inaccuracy!

2. Accept that it will be frustrating. It is not easy learning a new skill with the non-dominant side.

3. You will want to quit. Be patient and persist.

4. Give yourself time to master the new skill. Practice makes perfect.

To assist you, learn keyboard shortcut keys to minimise your dependence on mousing. Whether or not you decide to change your mouse button settings is up to you. This can be done with most mice by going into control panel on your computer and flipping the controls to left handed settings. You can also change the double click speed and set up click lock which may also help in the initial stages of developing your skills. I have tried both ways and at present my preference is swapping to left handed mouse settings. You do whatever works best for you.

Think of the positives of making this change – 1) you will have mastered a new skill, 2) you have help stave off age-related cognitive decline, 3) improved your posture, and 4) eliminated unnecessary pain. Who will join me?

Get involved. Share your experiences of mousing with your non-dominant hand and your progress to mastering this new skill.