This page I've written to express a little on my view on RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury). I have a typing profession and currently don't suffer from RSI. One thing I recognized in colleagues and haven't seen alot of articles about is keyboard clicks, the other is a bit more of an open door: don't use your mouse any more than you need to.

Every proper keyboard should click. You at least have to be able to feel the clicks when you strike a key and the key makes contact, but better even is it if you hear the clicks as well. Some people think a silent keyboard is more luxorious than a keyboard which makes noise, but actually such a silent keyboard is RSI inducing.

The reason is this: if you type you have the involuntary wish to know whether the keystroke was registered by the computer or not. With a silent keyboard this registration is visible on the screen at best, which isn't enough for most people. Therefor people will press till the point they cannot press down the key any further, which causes additional strain in the muscles and thus resulting in a bigger chance at suffering from RSI.

A keyboard which audibly and physicly shows you when you've succesfully struck a key reduces the involuntary need to continue to press to the key till it cannot be pressed any further and will therefor reduce your chance at suffering from RSI.

My point about the mouse is that you shouldn't use it any more than you strictly need to.

The first thing I did to reduce my mouse-usage is configure pointer-focus (als known as X-mouse). Many people actually hate this feature, I like it because it reduces my need to use the mouse. Pointer-focus enables you to just move your mouse with your entire hand to change the focus from one window to another. Without pointer-focus you actually need to grab the mouse firmly to be able to press the proper mouse-button to effectuate your wish to change focus from one window to another, which again enlarges your risc at RSI.

The other thing you can do to reduce mouse usage is get comfortable with using the keyboard shortcuts for actions you do often. Again, using shortcuts for changing windows is a good one, but it doesn't always go together with pointer-focus. Using the tab-key in menus is usually good enough to be able to fill them in entirely, you can even move the focus to 'OK' and 'Cancel' buttons and use the enter-key to effectuate your changes. The bottom line is: get used to keyboard shortcuts to do your work.

These are my 2 cents about RSI.