Most of us wish we could be more productive at work. And we try all kinds of things, from special desks to a phone full of apps, to achieve that. What you may not have thought about is switching out a piece of hardware you use every day for a slightly more unusual seeming option.
Have you seen gaming mouses (or should that really be gaming mice??) on tech websites? They are multi-buttoned, multi-functioned powerful little gadgets that are designed to help gamers put in their best performance. An increasingly lucrative performance too, as at the highest levels of competitive gaming the prize money now runs into the multiple millions.
But you are not a professional gamer. However, what you might not realize is that by switching your standard mouse for a gaming mouse you can increase your productivity significantly AND safeguard the health of your hands and wrists as well.
How a Gaming Mouse Can Boost Your Productivity
Your mouse is usually the most-used device while using your computer, and the decision can absolutely boost or ruin your productivity. Although far too many people don't think too much about it, there are four main aspects to consider for any mouse:
Ergonomics
You will be using your mouse probably +8 hours a day, so you certainly need something comfortable for your hand. There is an infinite number of forms, sizes, and distributions, but there is a reason why a gaming mouse shines versus any other.
The reason? They were designed to allow gaming pros to play for hours and hours at a time - many matches go on for days - and still maintain maximum performance, which they can't do if their hands hurt. So every aspect of a good gaming mouse has been designed for maximum ergonomic comfort.
Buttons
Believe it or not, the more buttons a mouse has, the better, at least in terms of productivity. The more regularly used functions you can program to be executed with a single click the better, and as most good gaming mouse options offer between 12 and 15 programmable buttons the potential is there for your usage productivity to skyrocket.
Scroll wheel
You will use the scroll wheel dozens of times per day so, again, you need something durable, comfortable, and customizable. Great gaming mice have excellent scroll wheels.
These features allow you to switch the scroll wheel between a hyper-fast mode (perfect for websites, Word documents, PDFs, and the like) and ratcheted scrolling in case you need more precision. Harder to explain but when you try it, there is no coming back.
DPIs
Similar to buttons, in general, the more DPIs the better. In the real world, it is difficult that you will ever use a gaming mouse at its maximum DPI capacity, as it can very uncomfortable to use (every small mouse movement will reflect a huge movement in the screen). Depending on the task, you can usually switch between 1.500–3.000 DPI in case you need more precision/speed.
Mouse Recommendations
So you are interested in making the switch from standard 'office mouse' to a gaming model. But which one should you choose?
There are lots, but one of most popular is the Logitech G604. It debuted is 2019 as the successor to one of the best-selling gaming mouse models of all time, the Logitech G700 (which is still a great option if you can find one, as it was discontinued)
The reason so many gamers opt for this model is that it is has 15 programmable buttons, a very responsive and customizable scroll wheel, feels great in the hand and the batteries last at least four times longer than a standard mouse (and most gaming mice)
The Logitech G604 retails for about $100. That might sound like a lot, but don’t save money on a mouse. Buy a good one. The mouse probably will be, by far, your most-used device while working with your PC.
Gaming mice are the best match between ergonomics, buttons, scroll wheels, and DPIs, which all equals increased productivity and better hand health. Which will benefit anyone who uses a computer for work, not just those whose work involves shooting bad guys and saving wizards!