Ask HN: Temporarily using one hand, help
I cut a tendon in my hand at the weekend and I won't have use of my dominant hand for 6 to 8 weeks. I live in Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint and the browser.Any advice on how to live with one hand temporarily?
6 comments
Windows has two things that can help you.
First, you can turn on sticky keys. (I think you can activate it by pressing "shift" five times in a row.) This means that keys like shift, control, and alt "stay pressed" if you press and release the key, so that you can press control, release it, then press p (or whatever), and Windows reads that as cntrl-p, even though you weren't holding down the control key when you pressed the p key.
Second, you can reverse the buttons on the mouse, if that makes it easier for you.
But, you're just going to be slower for 6 to 8 weeks. There's no way around it. (On the plus side, you might gain some dexterity in your non-dominant hand.)
We don't think of ourselves as "people who work with their hands", but we do...
First, you can turn on sticky keys. (I think you can activate it by pressing "shift" five times in a row.) This means that keys like shift, control, and alt "stay pressed" if you press and release the key, so that you can press control, release it, then press p (or whatever), and Windows reads that as cntrl-p, even though you weren't holding down the control key when you pressed the p key.
Second, you can reverse the buttons on the mouse, if that makes it easier for you.
But, you're just going to be slower for 6 to 8 weeks. There's no way around it. (On the plus side, you might gain some dexterity in your non-dominant hand.)
We don't think of ourselves as "people who work with their hands", but we do...
Thanks, have already reversed the mouse, sticky keys is a good one, will try it. Dictating emails in outlook is proving quiet accurate needing only minor touch ups. Excel and PowerPoint are proving tougher though.
I haven't spent the time to read this, but it's hot off the press and maybe relevant: https://twitter.com/JoshWComeau/status/1379438688602570753
Just google "one handed keyboard" or "half keyboard". There's plenty of options, from single hand hardware keyboards, to software that mirrors your existing keyboard so you can use both sides with one hand (usually holding down the space bar turns mirroring on).
I tried one of the mirroring apps many years ago and it didn't take long to become pretty quick using it.
I tried one of the mirroring apps many years ago and it didn't take long to become pretty quick using it.
I don't use any of those applications and can't guarantee that they'll play nicely, but a browser extension that allows you to use vi keybindings, like VimVixen, is generally useful for one handed navigation. Especially the link highlighting feature.
a trackpad like the magic trackpad 2 will be a lot easier to use than a mouse