Going Keyboard-Centric

I have spent a slightly embarrassing amount of time trying to avoid moving my hands away from my keyboard.

I still use a mouse. Some things are easier with one, and I am not interested in turning ordinary computer use into a test of ideological purity. I just don’t want to reach for it every few seconds to open an application, move a window or click a small button.

Getting here wasn’t one big change. Each tool removed one more reason to leave the keyboard.

It starts with the keyboard

My keyboard is a ZSA Moonlander. I have already written about the longer and more expensive journey towards it in Finding the End Game Keyboard, but the important part here is its layers.

I have numbers, symbols and shortcuts arranged around the home row. I can reach what I need without moving more than two keys away. Instead of stretching for the number row or hunting for a symbol, I hold a layer key and press something that is already under, or close to, one of my fingers.

It took time to get there. My layout now has nine layers, and I kept changing them as I noticed awkward movements. Once the keyboard stopped making me reach for keys, I started noticing how often the rest of Windows made me reach for the mouse.

Opening things by typing

PowerToys Run was the first tool that changed this for me. I could press a shortcut, type the name of an application and open it. The same approach worked for switching between applications. I no longer had to find an icon on the taskbar or click through the Start menu.

Microsoft has since evolved PowerToys Run into Command Palette, but I now use Raycast as my launcher.

Raycast does the same basic job, then keeps going. I use it to search my clipboard history, save text snippets and run small conversions without opening another application.

Time zones are a good example. I used to open World Time Buddy, add the city I needed and read across the page to work out the conversion. Now I type the time and city into Raycast and get the answer where I already am. It is a small saving, but these are all small savings. They add up because I do them repeatedly.

Moving windows without dragging them

I used virtual desktops for a long time. They gave different kinds of work their own space, but I was still arranging the windows inside them.

Now I use GlazeWM, a tiling window manager for Windows. New windows fall into a layout, and I can change focus, move them around or send them to another workspace from the keyboard.

Configuring it was a pain. GlazeWM uses a YAML configuration file, and getting the rules and shortcuts to behave the way I wanted took some trial and error. It works well once it is set up, which means I now spend far less time dragging windows into place.

Clicking the things that still need clicking

Some software still assumes you have a pointer. There will always be a button without a useful shortcut, a menu item buried in an interface or a tiny target that needs to be clicked.

I used to handle those with Fluent Search. Its screen search placed letter labels over clickable parts of the screen, so I could type the label instead of guiding the mouse to the right spot.

I have since replaced it with neverClick. It uses local computer vision to find interface elements and puts keyboard hints over them. For what I need, it is less bloated than Fluent Search, quicker to appear and more responsive.

That catches most of the moments when a mouse would otherwise be unavoidable. I trigger neverClick, type the letters on the target and carry on.

The tools will probably change

This list is already a record of replacements. PowerToys Run led to Command Palette, then I moved to Raycast. Fluent Search gave me screen search, then neverClick did the part I cared about better. Virtual desktops worked until GlazeWM gave me more control.

I expect some of these tools to change again. The setup is ongoing because I keep noticing small bits of friction and trying something else.

The mouse is still on my desk. I reach for it when it is the easiest option. It is no longer the default answer to every small movement around my computer.