Like most engineers, I am a huge fan of lifehacks. Why not improve HOW we work? Well the latest experiment I tried was switching from the dated QWERTY keyboard layout to Colemak.
Context
When I switched to the Code Keyboard, I was very inclined to love it. I wanted to adore it, it was designed for me; it was beautiful, nerdy and well designed. Unfortunately over the first week the joints in my fingers began to ache- I believe due to the resistance of the cherry MX Clears. I wasn’t ready to give up on the keyboard so I did some research into reducing the strain of typing. It turns out QWERTY is known for being inefficient; lo and behold, there was a readymade solution in the form of overhauling the keyboard layout.
So I declared to the world that I was making the switch.
Why?
- Hopefully eradicate finger pain
- Improve my typing performance (speed, accuracy)
- Be an early adopter of what I believe to be an important movement
I do expect to be making some sacrifices, such as
- Decreased productivity during learning curve
- Need to install software on my machines