With left-handed people making up just 10% of the world’s population, most have learnt to adapt to using products designed for righties – like controlling a mouse with their non-dominant hand. Here are some tech tips to navigate the world of right privilege without having to rewire your brain.

Pain-Free Workstation

Your landline: Hayden Searle, an ergonomist at Ergotherapy, recommends lefties position their landline on the right-hand side of the desk so they don’t end up propping the phone between their ear and shoulder to free up their dominant hand for taking notes while on a call. If you work in an office, this may require a call to maintenance, but your neck will thank you.

Extra-long cables: Computers are typically designed with ports positioned to favour a right-handed set-up and good luck trying to switch it around with standard-length cables. Searle suggests getting extra-length cables so that you can set your workstation up in a way that feels comfortable and natural.

Cable organiser: Of course, extra-length cables also mean unwanted clutter. Cable organisers will help prevent your workstation from becoming a tangled mess.

Try this: Volkano Bind Adhesive Cable Clip 9 Piece R69, Takealot.com

Lefty-Friendly Data Capturing

Number pad: If your job entails using a number pad, you’re going to pay a premium for a keyboard with a number pad on the left. Instead, opt for a 60 percent keyboard – which doesn’t have arrow keys and a number pad – and get a free-standing keypad that you can use with your left hand. This also works for gaming, says Sean Nicol, product specialist at Syntech and left-handed gamer. “It allows more space for my mouse to move, which allows for more precise aiming and easier control.”

Try this: Port Wired USB-C & USB-A Keypad R349, Incredible Connection

Gaming For Lefties

If you mouse with your left hand, steer clear of any mouse advertised as “ergonomic”, advises Nicol. “It’s tiresome, your hand doesn’t feel comfortable and you get cramps in your hands.” The Razer Naga Left-Handed Edition was created for lefty MMO (massive multiplayer online) gamers, but try getting your hands on one outside of the US! Instead, Nicol uses a symmetrical mouse from Redragon. “The number of buttons on the left-hand side is the same as on the right-hand side so I now have two additional buttons that I didn’t have before – which helps with office applications and gaming.”

Try this: Redragon Phoenix 2 R599, Redragon.co.za

Tips For Left-Handed Set-up

Windows and iOS: Recent versions allow you to customise the set-up of your mouse so you can right-click to select instead of left-click. “It sounds silly, but it’s huge!” says Nicol. Good news: many games are starting to offer this, too.

Smartphone: When you enable “one-handed keyboard” in your settings on iphone or android, you can choose a left-handed option.

Go Wireless: “Especially for headsets,” says Nicol. Most cables run down the left so you’re either getting your mouse hand tangled in the wire or having a cable running across your body. Do yourself a favour and ditch the cables and altogether.

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