My Colemak Journey

I switched from QWERTY to Colemak while working full-time as a developer. Here’s how it went.

Why Switch?

  • Less finger travel - 35% less movement than QWERTY
  • RSI prevention - My wrists were starting to complain
  • The challenge - I wanted to prove I could

The Method

I went cold turkey. No QWERTY fallback.

“This is fine” - Me, typing at 10 WPM

Week by Week

Week 1 (10-15 WPM)

  • Everything hurts
  • Meetings become typing nightmares
  • Started using voice-to-text for Slack

Week 2 (20-30 WPM)

  • Muscle memory starting to form
  • Still frustrating but manageable
  • git commit became muscle memory

Week 3-4 (40-50 WPM)

  • Feeling more natural
  • Stopped thinking about key locations
  • QWERTY muscle memory fading

Month 2-3 (60-80 WPM)

  • Back to near-original speed
  • Fingers feel more relaxed
  • No more wrist pain!

The Combo: Colemak + Split Keyboard

I use a Sofle v2 split keyboard with Colemak. Benefits:

  • Shoulders not hunched
  • Wrists straight
  • Custom thumb clusters
  • Layers for everything
Standard keyboard:  [============================]
                         ↑ hunched shoulders

Split keyboard:     [=====]           [=====]
                         ↑ natural position

Tips If You Try This

  1. Don’t switch on deadline week
  2. Use keybr.com for practice
  3. Print a layout cheat sheet
  4. Accept the temporary slowdown
  5. Tell your team so they understand slow responses

Was It Worth It?

100%. My typing is more comfortable, my wrists don’t hurt, and I proved to myself I can rewire my brain.

Plus, nobody can use my keyboard now. Security feature!