One of my new year’s passions is to be gentle with my body. If you use a computer a lot, and want to be gentle with your body too, use the mouse with your left hand. It hurts less. I am about to present two compelling reasons for this. I believe they are irrefutable (please tell me, if you think you can refute them). And it only takes a day or so to switch. I can go both ways now, but use my left hand far more than the right, even though I am right-handed.
Mouse and Keyboard in the Right Place
You use your Right Hand More on the Keyboard than your Left
Most keyboards have navigation keys, and a numeric keypad. Because these almost always protrude to the right of the keyboard, the right hand gets to operate these (and ‘backspace’), as well as its share of the alphabetical character keys. If you use your right hand for the mouse as well, your poor right hand is dashing all over the place, while the left sits idle. Give your left hand a share of the work. You can’t move the navigation and numeric keys, but you can move the mouse.
Mouse a Long way to the Right
There is More Room for the Mouse to the Left of the Keyboard than to the Right
If you like to have the alphabetical keys equally easy to reach by your right and left hands, the navigation and numeric keys already stick out to the right, leaving a mousepad sized gap to the left. If you use the mouse with your right, you must reach even further to the right.
Keyboard to the Left
