Learning, all over again

[hamletta]

I'm trying something drastic.

I’ve had lots of problems with my wrists earlier this year (carpal tunnel issues that may require a surgery sometime in the future). Recently, this has escalated (or maybe it’s totally unrelated) when I developed severe pain in my shoulders. I’m trying to have it diagnosed because it maybe anything from tendonitis to fibromyalgia. I’ve had some blood test done and trying to get an MRI so hopefully they’ll figure out what it is.

In the meantime, I dug out my Kinesis split keyboard to stop things getting worse. I love the keyboard but I stopped using it because, even though comfortable, somehow it made me type slower. See, I never learned to type. Growing up in Poland that just wasn’t something we did. I taught myself to type only when I started to work, but I’ve always been very slow.

So now, with the pain and the need to use a keyboard that makes me even slower, AND hearing *somebody* (you know who you are) mention they type 110 wpm… Then, serendipity: I stumbled on this blog post from Tobias Buckell about his experiments with keyboards and keyboard layouts. The $300 keyboard he’s using looks positively alien, though I’m not sure it’s that much better than the split keyboard I have. But I got really intrigued about shifting to a different layout.

I decided to give Colemak a try. I can immediately see how much easier it is on my wrists; it’s miles more natural on the fingers. But damn, converting is super hard. I'm doing exercises, but I first have to unlearn the old layout... After two days, my typing speed is... 10 words per minute. Honestly, it takes 5 mins to type up a tweet... I tried to participate in a slack convo and it was hard…

I’m really not sure if it's a good idea or if I'm just wasting my time. BUT I've decided I'll keep up with the exercises till the end of the week. if by then I can't type any faster than I'm going to reassess. Updates forthcoming!

Comments

[yhlee]

Ahahahah I have the same keyboard as Tobias Buckell (Kinesis Advantage) and actually, the contours do make a difference for me. I swear by it. It's spendy, though, and it's not for everyone. I do like the Kinesis Freestyle Pro for a travel keyboard--it's not super portable but I can fit it into a backpack, unlike the Advantage.

I did try Dvorak back in grad school and liked it very much, but after a couple weeks had only gotten up to 40 wpm and this was so slow compared to my usual QWERTY typing speed that I gave it up. I am fortunate enough that an ergonomic keyboard and common sense (i.e. not typing all day) and taking breaks suffice to deal with my RSI issues. My sister, who also has RSI, has to be more aggressive in managing it.

Good luck getting a helpful diagnosis, and I hope the Colemak layout is helpful for you!

[hamletta]

Oh, that makes me want to consider the Advantage...

So far I'm giving myself more RSI with typing exercises. And a headache. But, I'll continue for three ore days before deciding. :)

[yhlee]

I lucked into someone who had a decrepit dying older Advantage that they gave me for free so I could see if the keyboard worked for me. It did, and the older unit gave up the ghost fairly soon, but knowing that it worked meant I was okay spending the $300. I wish you could come visit me and try mine! It's kind of a crapshoot buying something that expensive without knowing whether it will suit you.

[hamletta]

Yes, that's what I was worried. If you order from them directly, they have a 30 day guarantee -- but even if they ship to the UK, with customs and such it might take as much time to get here. Plus if I were to return it, I wouldn't recover taxes or international shipping.

I'm going to see if there's any place here where I could try it...

[yhlee]

I don't know if there are message boards or user groups but if you can find someone in the UK willing to let you try it out, that would be ideal, yeah.

[howsmyenglish]

Good luck! I hope it works out and am looking forward to updates, because of similar problems.

(what i do when i have wrist pain from typing (which, thankfully, is not often) is doing typing exercises where each finger is working, it helps me a lot)