If you’re right handed, mouse with your left!? - Sun, 1 Mar 2009

Twenty years of using a mouse, and until I saw it I never even thought of it.

I’m right handed and I’ve always used my right hand to hold the mouse. But then when I saw a righty doing it, it made so much sense. If a right handed person holds the mouse with their left hand, their right hand is free to write notes or enter numbers on the keypad while they still have control of the mouse.

Do you (right handed people) hold the phone with your left hand? I do. Again, it allows my right hand to do other things while I’m on the phone. So why do I mouse with my right?

I thought I’d try it awhile and see how it feels and if the change would make me more efficient.

First thing I noticed is the left and right mouse buttons feel like they’re on the wrong side. There’s one of two choices. Get used to it, which wouldn’t be too hard, or go into the control panel and switch the button configuration. I’d recommend getting used to it, since then you could go on (almost) anyone else’s computer and just start working without an extra step required to change the other person’s configuration.

I was all keen and gung-ho for it, when I discovered the one flaw for me that makes it less than perfect. I am a bit of a keyboardist and use a lot of shortcuts. The ones I use very often are the simple two-fingered left hand shortcuts that I don’t even think about anymore: Ctrl-X, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V (cut, copy and paste), Ctrl-A (select all), Ctrl-B (bold) and Ctrl-Z (undo). With the mouse in my left hand, I lose access to these which I often do in combination with mouse selections.

But I do bring this up because you may find it useful.

Similarly, if you are left handed and hold your mouse in your left hand, you can try switching to your right. Then you’ll be able to write with your left hand while you mouse. Plus you’ll gain what I lose, the ability to use your left hand for the shortcuts, but you will lose the use of the keypad.

Here’s a cute and humorous thread about it.

And in my case, maybe instead I’ll learn to write with my left hand (or maybe not).