How I did it: I believe it was in about 1994 when our office first got computers with mice.  At the time I was working in Word Processing and was having some significant carpal tunnel pain in my right wrist from all the typing.

Before we got the new computers and while we were evaluating systems, I visited a friend in another law firm to look at what systems they had in place and how they were using them.  I noticed my friend was using the mouse with her left hand.  I asked if she was left handed and she said no.  She used her left hand to mouse so she wouldn't have pain from mousing with her right hand.

I had heard that you can switch the mouse buttons so you can "left click" with your index finger of your left hand actually using the right button.  But my friend did not advise that because other people may come up to her desk and want to use the mouse, and that's just confusing.  It also means you can't walk up to another computer and immediately start using the mouse with your left hand - you would have to do setup first.

When we got our new computers they sent me to a Windows class where I used a mouse for the very first time.  It made sense to me that since I write with my right hand it might help my carpal tunnel pain to distribute the use of my hands by learning to mouse with the left.

My right-handedness was dominant enough though that I tried mousing with the right hand first.  I found:

1. It was awkward and difficult to learn to use the mouse in the first place;
2. my right hand was screaming in pain in less than 10 minutes of mousing; and
3. it was no more awkward or difficult to put the mouse in my left hand and use it that way.

So 10 minutes into my class I was converted to a left-handed mouse user.

Not long after getting the new computers my carpal tunnel pain disappeared.

Sometime later when we got a Windows computer at home I taught my husband to mouse with his left hand.  That's the only way he knows how to use a mouse to this day.

Today I compute without pain and with the mouse on the left.  When I have to visit a user and show them something on their computer I can easily grab their mouse with either hand and click away.

Lessons & tips:

• Learn and convert to using as many keyboard shortcuts as you can before you try switching mice.  The more you can do without the mouse the easier on your hands and the easier a transition to a left-handed mouse will be.
• Don't try to switch to left-handed mousing when you are otherwise extremely busy or stressed with work.  You need to be able to allow extra time to do things at first.
• When you are ready to switch, do not take a phased approach.  Do not say "I'll try it for an hour a day."  If you do that it will take 10 years for you to become accustomed to the left handed approach and you will give up long before then.  You have to dive right in and use the left hand 100%.
• Relax and don't beat yourself up when you are slower to accomplish tasks on the computer until you can get up to speed with the left hand.
• Do not configure the mouse as a "left-handed" one, just move it to the left side.

Resources:

• A friend who gave me good advice
• Lots of good keyboard shortcuts
• Patience
• Just your regular mouse - don't waste your money on a special one

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Sep 28, 2008, 08:54PM PDT | 20 comments | 38 cheers