Stopped clicking menus and now my fingers fly, but my pal calls it a memory tax

I forced myself to ditch the mouse for most tasks in my vector editor and only use keyboard combos. It's crazy fast once you get it, but I waste time when I forget a shortcut and have to cheat sheet it. Is going full keyboard the real efficiency hack, or does it just add mental load for minor gains?

3 comments

3 Comments

ryan_smith371mo ago

Stick with it. The cheat sheet phase sucks, but once muscle memory takes over, you're unstoppable. I only grab the mouse for super niche stuff now.

alice_shah221mo ago

Honestly, that part about muscle memory taking over is so true. I read an article once that said our brains hardwire shortcuts after like, a few weeks of daily use. Tbh, it made me stick with learning vim commands even when I wanted to quit. Ngl, the cheat sheet phase is brutal, but pushing through it changes everything. I heard from a friend that once you stop thinking about the keys, you just flow through tasks. It's like your hands know what to do before your brain even processes it.

elizabeth_garcia25d ago

Yeah, it's like learning to drive a stick shift. At first you're staring at the gear shift and stalling out, but eventually you just... do it. I see this everywhere now, like people who type without looking at the keyboard. That initial mental load feels huge, but it pays off by freeing up your brain to focus on the actual work, not the buttons. The cheat sheet phase is just the price of admission for that kind of speed later on.