Keyboard Shortcuts That Prevent a Mouse Arm
You work on the computer a lot? Then the constant clicking with the mouse can lead to repetitive strain injury syndrome (RSI). Don’t let it get that far, and learn the essential keyboard commands to take the strain off your arm.
When I still had a full-time job, I had to do a lot of mouse clicks for many hours every day. Mainly it was about copy-paste, creating and deleting folders and documents. Our entire document archive had to be reorganized.
After a few weeks, my right forearm hurt immensely. I could hardly grip anything and took several painkillers a day.
My doctor finally diagnosed the Strain-Injury-Syndrome (RSI) and signed me off for two weeks.
I had to do physiotherapy and smeared ointment on my arm every day. I took painkillers for a few more days. When I went back to the office after two weeks, I knew that I could not go on like this. I researched on the Internet how to avoid using the mouse for the most part and found what I was looking for.
What is a mouse arm?
The term mouse arm is colloquially used to describe discomfort and pain in the upper extremities caused by working with a computer mouse.
The pain and other sensations (e.g., unpleasant tingling or numbness) are caused by clicking the mouse thousands of times or typing on the keyboard. The technical term for this is Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI).
The symptoms become more severe over time until the affected arm and hand can no longer be used without going to the ceiling in pain.
Keyboard commands relieve the arm
Many people who work with computers at work do not know that almost everything that can be done with the mouse can also be done with keyboard commands.
In the following, I will introduce you to the most essential and useful keyboard commands with which you can avoid getting RSI.
The commands are aimed at Windows users. Since I don’t work with a Mac myself, I have no experience with this system and therefore don’t write about it.
Open the Windows Explorer
To open the Explorer, most people use the mouse. Usually, we click on the Explorer icon pinned to the taskbar to open the Explorer.
Alternate keyboard shortcut: WINDOWS + E
Show Desktop
If we want to see the desktop, we can minimize all open windows one after the other by clicking with the mouse on the minus symbol at the top right of the respective window. Most people I know do it this way. This can be quite a lot of clicks if you work with many programs.
Alternate keyboard shortcut: WINDOWS + D
Pro-tip: You can press Windows +, if you just want to have a quick look at your desktop. Rereleasing the keys will immediately return you to the previous view.
Switch between open windows
Instead of enlarging, viewing, and minimizing all minimized windows one after the other, you can switch between all open windows at lightning speed using a keyboard shortcut.
Alternate keyboard shortcut: ALT + ESC
PRO-Tip: Use ALT + TAB instead to get an overview of all open windows, within which you can then navigate using TAB.
Create a new folder
The cumbersome way to create a new folder is to use the right mouse button. With one click, a drop-down menu opens, where another menu opens after pointing to “NEW”. Only now can the item “Folder” be selected.
Alternate keyboard command: CTRL + Shift +N
Delete a document or folder
This action is often initiated by pressing the right mouse button. A drop-down menu opens from which the command “Delete” can be selected. However, this method is very cumbersome, slow, and puts unnecessary strain on the arm.
Alternative keyboard command: CTRL + D
Copy or paste a document or folder
I used to copy and paste with the right mouse button. Many office workers still do that, especially if they have little computer affinity.
Alternate keyboard shortcut: Mark the folder or document you want to rename and press F2.
Pro-tip: To use the F keys on a laptop, you need to press the fn key if it is available.
Select text
When we want to select text in a document, we usually hold down the left mouse button and then move the mouse over the following text we want to select.
Alternate keyboard command: Position the cursor at the beginning of the text you want to select and then press and hold SHIFT. Now use the arrow keys to select the text.
Pro Tip. If you want to select the whole text at once, press CTRL + A.
Copy and paste text
Here, too, many still work with the mouse. With the left mouse button pressed down, the text is first marked, and then a right-click switches to the drop-down menu, where again the copy function must be searched for. When pasting, the drop-down menu is also accessed with the right mouse button to search for the paste function.
Alternate keyboard command: Press CTRL + C to copy, CTRL + V to paste.
Conclusion
There are many more keyboard shortcuts for both Windows and Mac. I have limited myself here to those most frequently used for standard office work.
With Google, you can easily find more shortcuts that are useful for your individual tasks.
From my experience, I know that working with keyboard shortcuts is the only way to be permanently safe from RSI. Once the arm is damaged, it takes a long time for the pain to disappear completely. Do not run the risk of getting RSI and thoughtfully work with keyboard commands.
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