Your keyboard is one of the most important tools in your working day. There are many factors to consider. I think the most overlooked attribute is keyboard selfishness. I’ve had a few keyboards in my time and one thing I have trouble with is that the more ergonomic their design, the more selfish they tend to be with regards to desk space. Ergonomic keyboards tend to be pretty big which is fine if all you use is a keyboard but you also have to fit a mouse (or equivalent) on your desk, and this makes a lot of ergonomic keyboards very unergonomic. It hurts to constantly reach to the side that little bit more to use my mouse. If I was designing a keyboard I’d make the numerical keypad detachable, so you could put it where-ever you wanted. Or no keypad at all (you can buy them seperately). At the moment my keyboard is slightly off to the left and at a slight angle and my wrists keep ending up at slighlty bent angles. This completely defeats the purpose. So consider the ergonomic qualitys of a compact “unergonomic” keyboard.
Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard 4000
I currently have a Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard 4000. I needed a split keyboard* and just wanted something quick and relatively cheap (I sometimes think if I was rich I wouldn’t have RSI). There was a lot of thought put into the design and it will do me for now but the keys are surprisingly loud and once again it’s just too big, full reviews on everythingusb.com and cnet.
Update: I’ve been long since, happily using a Goldtouch.
Kinesis Evolution
The best keyboard I’ve owned was a Kinesis Evolution. It was completely split so you could put each side at whatever angle and width apart suited you. It might look weird but was very natural to type on. I didn’t get the version with the touchpad but I stuck a Cirque touchpad on with blu tac. This was a great setup because all my input devices were directly in front of me without needing to stretch to either side. Unfortunately over time I developed an adversity to the abrasion of my fingertips using the touchpad (not to mention having fingers in an exact position for long periods). This developed into another painful complaint over time. To this day I can’t bear to use touchpads, not for any great lenght of time anyway. I’d strongly advise to avoid overuse of touchpads (and laptops are the work of satan).
Macros
Another great feature of the Kinesis Evolution keyboard was that it could record macros, so for example, I could log on every morning with one keystroke. And other repetitive keyboard actions could be recorded and recalled with a key combination. This extra funtionality is invaluable but this model don’t seem to be on the Kinesis site at present and the site also looks suspiciously dated – but there are other split keyboards there.
Amongst this setup, I also had a foot pedal which I used to click my mouse – but the wicked project manager wouldn’t let me take any of these with me when I left that job to go to college, even though I know for a fact they’re still in a box under her desk.
Height
Height is such an important factor to setup, not only of your keyboard but for your workstation in general. I will be doing a separate post but I’ll touch on it briefly here; a lot of ergonomic keyboards can also be fairly high unfortunately. As most of us don’t have the luxury of adjustable desks, this can cause a lot of problems. Always make sure your wrists are slightly below your elbows and are never bent up or down when typing. Adjustable keyboard trays are a good option, more to come on that. The other option is to get your seat up as high as possible, then compliment by using a footrest and adjusting monitor height.
There are a few key exercises that you should add to your daily exercise routine. The main one is called angel wings. Both my own physio and Dr Casparelli highly recommend it, it’s both a strenghtening exercise and a postural realignment exercise. Like a lot of the exercises you will find here, it’s much harder to do than it looks, depending on the state of your arms.
Your feet should be a little bit apart and a few inches away from the wall
Your shoulders should keep in contact with the wall
Do three sets of 10 or a straight run of 30 if you can manage it
Do a few times a day if you can. They’re easy to do in a bathroom cubicle
I’m usually groaning with pain by 30 but see if more or less is more suitable to you
It’s important to keep your shoulders horizontal, a mirror helps, or you can use the straight line from tiles on a wall.
And no laughing at my video! (even if it does have a creepy anonymous mask.)
(Video should have stop and play buttons, not showing up – I’m working on it)
A Lumbar roll is good for supporting your lower back, while keeping your spine in a natural position. Although it directly improves your posture it also acts as a gentle reminder to sit properly. I use the classic McKenzie Original Roll. The four inch one. It’s not very expensive and very worthwhile. You can get one at www.physiosupplies.ie or http://www.backshop.co.uk. Or have a look at some other lumbar rolls at the backcare warehouse.
It might seem a bit ironic for me to say so but when it comes to your health, or indeed many other subjects, the Web is no competition for a well researched book written by an expert in the field. And that’s exactly what Dr Pascarelli’s book is. My copy was printed in 2004 so some of the hardware and software is a bit dated but the medical advice isn’t. If you are having problems, then you really should educate yourself on what causes the various conditions under the RSI umbrella. The cost is a pittance compared to your health or indeed compared to what you may be forking out for the latest ergonmic input device. Here are the contents;
Mousetool is a total lifesaver. If you use a regular mouse and clicking hurts you, you need Mousetool. It takes a little bit of getting used to but it’s well worth persevering. It’s a small utility that clicks for you when you stop moving the mouse. For example, if you move the cursor to the back button in your browser, then mouse tool will click the button for you.
It’s well worth investigating the different setup options specially the Context Options, which instruct Mousetool to act differently in different programs. For example I have it set to disable when I’m using Word or Photoshop. It can get a bit messy when you’re trying to type.
I tend not to use Mousetool when I’m using a graphics tablet. I switch quite regularly between my graphics tablet and mouse. Regularly changing aspects of your setup and work practice can be another key to not overusing the same muscles and is another good way of beating RSI.
Windows Accessibility is an option in control panel you never go near because you’re not disabled. Then one day you realise you are. If you’re on a PC, open the control panel and click on Accessibility Options. The option I find most useful is called Mousekeys.
Go to the mouse tab and turn on Mousekeys. What it does is turn your keypad into a mouse controller. So you can move your mouse with the arrows – but the main thing I really use it for is clicking the mouse with the number 5. Now and then you find yourself in a situation where you want to keep clicking the mouse without moving it, like a next button on a series of web pages. I’m sure you know that repetitive mouse clicking is really bad and key pressing is a lot easier, so this is where Mousekeys can be really useful.
Tip: Used in conjunction with a foot pedal you can click with your foot. More on that in another post.
The nodding dog is one exercise you really don’t want people to see you doing. It’s very silly looking but works really well for strenghtening your neck. If you get a sore neck either at the computer or while reading a book, do this exercise for about a minute every day.
Nod your head up and down with small but fast movements (like a nodding dog in a car)
Slowly turn your head all the way to the left, then all the way to the right while nodding
Keep this up for less than a minute
Do a few times a day if neccessary, maybe while you’re in the loo (but wait until you’re finished!)
Don’t forget everything in your body is connected. The position of your head and neck will effect the rest of your body. Therefore monitor height is very important. Most people have their monitors way too low causing your neck to be at a slight angle all day. The top of your screen (not top of monitor) should be level with your eyes, while you are sitting up straight. One sign that your monitor is set up properly is when people start commenting that “your monitor is at a weird height, that can’t be good for you!”. I am blessed and cursed with a biomechanical feedback system (I mean because I have severe RSI)… so if my monitor is at the wrong height, the pain in my neck will inform me very quickly.
Luckily, modern monitors have adjustable stands. But monitor stands and drawers aren’t that expensive. And old telephone books are free. You can see in my (dodgy cameraphone) photo that I use a drawer and the box that it came in.
We all know drinking plenty of water is good for you so that’s a bonus but this is a great trick for getting you away from your desk as much as possible. Drink lots and lots of water and you’ll be forced to go to the toilet frequently. Getting away from sitting in that same position for long stretches of time is very important.
Download Workrave from www.workrave.org. It’s free. Its great. Its a lifesaver. Workrave is highly customizable stretchbreak software. You can use micro breaks and longer breaks. You can use the animated stretches. I just use the micro breaks mostly. I crank it up or down depending on pain levels. At time of writing I have it set to make me take a break every 5 minutes for 25 seconds.
Make sure you block the screen. Your eyes need a break too.
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A Lumbar roll is good for supporting your lower back, while keeping your spine in a natural position. Although it directly improves your posture it also acts as a gentle reminder to sit properly. I use the classic McKenzie Original Roll. The four inch one. It’s not very expensive and very worthwhile. You can get one at 
