I have been using laptops for most of my computing needs for over 15 years. Before that I always had desktops: keyboard, mouse, tower, screen. Although I am right-handed I ended up using a mouse with my left hand.

I had some issues with my right shoulder about 20 years ago, linked to how I sat at a new workstation. My preference in most environments is to sit slightly inclined to the left. In a theatre or cinema, or in a church, I will always sit on the right hand side so that I am looking at the action slightly to my left. I do not like to be straight in front of what’s going on, and it feels unnatural to be on the left hand side of a room looking to the right. Bear that in mind if you want to book a trip to the theatre or cinema with me.

Much of my working life before 2001 involved training and coaching, so I was not sat at a workstation day after day. From 2001 I spent at least 70% of my working days seated, using a keyboard and mouse. Our workstations were designed so that our bodies were inclined slightly to the left or right. I didn’t realize until I moved to a new spot just how unnatural it was for me to face slightly to my right. I can’t do it for any length of time.

Within two weeks I had inflammation in my right shoulder. I switched to using a mouse with my left hand, but I only fully recovered when I went back to my more natural posture, at a different workstation.

The problem with using a mouse, for most of us, is that we rest our hand on it for longer than we need to, and that unnatural position can cause all sorts of issues in your arm and shoulder. A touchpad, on a laptop, does not have the same effect. We use the touchpad as we need it, and then move our hands away. My current laptop has a dodgy touchpad. It makes the cursor oscillate slightly, and is over-sensitive when I click on it. The touchpad has a solid surface, without specific buttons. The different options to click, double-click and “right-click” are achieved by where you position your fingers and what you do with them: there are no buttons to press. Sometimes after a single click the touchpad will register multiple clicks and keep highlighting the same part of the screen. If it gets much worse I’ll have to dig out my old mouse and mouse-pad again. And use them very carefully.